American money

The official currency of the United States is the dollar, which is subdivided into one hundred cents. The dollars are issued by the Federal Reserve System, established by Congress in 1913.

The dollar is named from a silver coin first minted in 1519 in St. Joachimsthal. This coin was called Joachimsthaler. This name was changed to thaler in Germany, and to dollar in England.

There are banknotes of the following denominations: $1, $2, $5, $10, $20, $50, $100, $500, $1,000, $5,000, $10,000. On the face of American dollars, one can see the portraits of the following famous persons:

• G. Washington, who became the first President of the USA after the successful war of 13 British colonies for independence;

• A. Lincoln, who was President from 1861 to 1865 after the war between the northern and southern states;

• A. Hamilton, a famous American political leader, who fought in the Independence War together with General G. Washington. Later, he became the first Secretary of the Treasury;

• A. Jackson, who was President from 1829 to 1837, when Texas won independence from Mexico;

• U. Grant, who was President from 1869 to 1877;

• B. Franklin, a very popular public figure, writer, diplomat, and scientist.

(Do you know whose portrait is featured on the face of the twenty-dollar banknote?)

On the back of banknotes, various famous buildings are featured such as:

• Lincoln Monument, one of the monuments in Washington;

• US Treasury Building, in Washington;

• White House;

• US Capitol, which houses the Senate and the House of Representatives;

• Independence Hall, in Philadelphia, where Independence of the 13 British colonies was proclaimed.

All the banknotes bear the words: In God We Trust.

Bicycle kingdom is turning to cars

People in China are fond of bicycles, but these days, they are falling in love with cars. Not many people can buy a car because it's very expensive. The average wage a year is $759, and a car costs much more. However, a large number of businessmen and professionals getting high salaries start buying cars. The car is a symbol of high status and just a convenient means of transport.

The number of private cars is growing by 30% a year. In the financial center of Shenzhen, near Hong Kong, car sales are booming and increase by 200% a year. Many foreign car-makers (General Motors, Toyota, Citroёn and others) are trying to enter China's car market. To avoid high import taxes, some foreign companies began producing inexpensive cars in China.

According to statistics, 3 million cars are already on the roads. Nowadays China can be compared with America of the 1950s when cars were flooding the streets of the cities. There are drive-in movie theatres, restaurants, banks; private driving schools; auto-service centers. Chinese without cars can hire them thanks to rental agencies opened in big cities.

Trying to increase car sales, the government offers low-interest loans and low taxes. Large sums of money are being invested into construction of highways and expressways. However, the cities and towns are not ready for a great number of cars. The streets are narrow, and there are often traffic jams and accidents. Most drivers have little experience; they run red lights and park on sidewalks.