Упражнение 5. Заполните таблицу на словообразование.

Упражнение 6. А. Прочитайте текст и постарайтесь догадаться о значе­нии следующих слов и словосочетаний: unit of account, value, grains, print, consider, cease, cash, withdraw, bank account.

Money as a Unit of Account

The most difficult aspect of money to understand is its function as a unit of account. Money is difficult to define, because the value of anything changes with time and circumstances.

Sir Isaac Newton defined the pound sterling (£) in 1717 as 113 grains of pure gold. By the end of the nineteenth century the gold standard had spread around most of the trading world, with the re­sult that there was a single world money. It was called by different names in different countries, but all these supposedly different cur­rencies were interconnected through their particular definition in terms of a quantity of gold.

The end of the gold standard began with the introduction of the agreement in 1946. This fixed the value of all world currencies rela­tive to the US dollar, which in turn was fixed to a specific value of gold (US $ 0.35/oz.) However, in 1971 the US government finally refused to exchange US dollar for gold, and other countries soon followed. Governments printed as much paper money or coinage as they wanted, and the more that was printed, the less each unit of currency was worth.

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The great advantage of the nineteenth-century gold standard was not just that it defined the unit of account, but that it operated throughout almost the entire world. A price in England was the same as a price in Australia or any other country.

Today we can determine price differences between countries by considering the exchange rate of the day.

The great advantage of having a single stable world money is that such money has very high information content. It tells people where to invest their time, energy and capital, all around the world, with much greater accuracy and predictability than would other­wise be possible.

Nowadays many specialists believe that within the next decade money, as we know it will probably cease to exist in technologically advanced countries. The familiar coins and notes will soon be re­placed entirely by plastic money — plastic cards of various kinds. And the shops of the future will be linked directly to the network of banking computers. The shop assistant will simply key in your bank account code number and the amount you have spent, and thank you politely.

Banks have invested huge amounts of money in new technol­ogy. Credit cards are issued by credit card companies such as Visa and MasterCard. These companies work closely with all the major banks. A credit card enables you to pay for goods or services imme­diately without cash or cheque. You are given free credit for an agreed period. At the end of this period you are charged high inter­est. Every credit card holder is given a credit limit.

Most banks provide their customers with banker's cards. Using PIN (personal identification number) you can use this card to with­draw cash from the ATMs (Automated Teller Machines).

Some banks have already introduced «first generation» smart cards. A smart card contains a computer «chip». It can do all the things other cards can do but it can also store and display each transaction. In the near future you may be using these cards for «home shopping», satellite TV, telephone charges, and as passports and identity cards.

В. Подберите к каждому слову и словосочетанию из колонки А соответ­ствующее ему по значению из колонки В.

А В

unit of account a. take into account

bank account b. take out money from the bank

value с money in coin or notes

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grains' d. keeping one's money at a bank

print e. stop, come to an end

consider f. unit of counting

cease g. worth of smth.

cash h. tiny, hard pieces

withdraw i. make books, pictures, etc.

Упражнение 7. Заполните пропуски терминами, переведите.

... is money that may be used to start a business.

... is the type of money used in a country.

... is money in coin or notes.

... are metal money, ... is system of coins in use.

... are paper money.

... money is different kinds of plastic cards.

... is to be worth in terms of money.

... is price asked for goods or services.

To ... means to ask smb. to pay.

To ... money means to keep some of one's money, e.g., for a new computer.

To ... money means to use it badly on things that one does not need.

12. The ... of living means how much people pay for things. 13.... of living is the level of money and comfort people have.

Упражнение 8. Заполните пропуски синонимами или антонимами.

value ... waste

condition ... lend

quantity ... cheap

common, often see or heard ... unstable

various ... minor

Упражнение 9. А. Назовите 20-25 ключевых слов и словосочетаний на тему: «Business and finance».

В. Speak about:

The state of the economy at the moment. Is it strong or is it in recession?

The current rate of inflation in the country. Has the govern­ment reduced company taxes or personal taxes lately? Has public expenditure risen or fallen recently?

New technology and money.