Comprehension

1. Answer the following questions.

1. What is money?

2. What are the most important functions of money?

3. What is the official currency of the UK?

4. The pound sterling is the highest valued of the major currency units, isn’t it?

5. Are there any portraits on the banknotes? Describe one of them.

6. What is the official currency of the USA?

7. Where is the dollar used?

Vocabulary

2. Match the words from column a with the words from column b to make a phrase.

A	B
1) standard unit of	a) exchange
2) to provide	b) cost
3) to improve	c) currency
4) a medium of	d) a loan
5) commodity	e) living conditions
6) to keep	f) outstanding debts
7) to make	g) accounts
8) to hold	h) a store of wealth
9) to pay	i) any income
10) to calculate	j) markets

3. Underline the correct word.

1. She earns/wins a lot of money in her new job.

2. I need to lend/borrow some money from the bank to buy a new house.

3. When can you owe/pay back the money I gave you?

4. The restaurant cost/charged us too much for our meal.

5. I saved/wasted my money on that film, it was very boring.

6. I don’t have any change. Can you borrow/lend me two pounds?

7. I can’t afford/pay this car. It’s too expensive.

8. When my grandfather died I inherited/invested 5000€.

4. Read the text and complete the sentences with words from the text.

Personal finance

All the money a person receives or earns as payment is his or her income. This can include:

a salary: money paid monthly by an employer, or wages: money paid by the day or the hour, usually received weekly;

overtime: money received for working extra hours;

commission: money paid to salespeople and agents - a certain percentage of the income the employee generates;

a bonus: extra money given for meeting a target or for good financial results;

fees: money paid to professional people such as lawyers and architects;

social security: money paid by the government to unemployed and sick people;

a pension: money paid by a company or the government to a retired person.

Salaries and wages are often paid after deductions such as social security charges and pension contributions.

Amounts of money that people have to spend regularly are outgoings. These often include:

living expenses: money spent on everyday needs such as food, clothes and public transport;

bills: requests for the payment of money owed for services such as electricity, gas and telephone connections;

rent: the money paid for the use of a house or flat;

a mortgage: repayments of money borrowed to buy a house or flat;

health insurance: financial protection against medical expenses for sickness or accidental injuries;

tax: money paid to finance government spending.

A financial plan, showing how much money a person or organization expects to earn and spend is called a budget.

1. If you hire a lawyer, you have to pay a … .

2. The owner has just increased the ... on our flat by 10%.

3. You get a 10% ... on everything you sell.

4. My wages aren't very good, so I do a lot of ... .

5. I want to buy a house, so I applied for a ... .

6. She always pays her electricity ... on time.

7. I recieved a £100 Christmas ... for good job.

8. Nearly 40% of everything I earn goes to the government as … .

9. ... are paid on Fridays.

10. My grandmother lives on ... .

11. After I lost my job, I was living on ... for two months.

12. Write down your income and ... .