Money

Cattle, shells, rice, tobacco, knives, whales’ teeth

What do you think all these things have in common?

It’s unbelievable, but all these things used to be forms of money many years ago!

Now look at the pictures. All these pictures are connected with money. Match the words with the pictures.

a) What’s this? – … Right! Coins – Монеты.

b) What can you see? – … Banknotes. Banknotes are paper money. – Купюры (бумажные деньги).

c) Any ideas? – Wallet. – Бумажник.

d) What do you think it is? – It’s a purse. – Кошелек.

e) What can you see in the last picture? – Credit cards. – Кредитные карты.

Which of them do you use 1) every day; 2) often; 3) sometimes; 4) never?

What do you know about money?

Choose the correct answers to the following questions.

1. What does “barter” mean:

a) make money;

b) exchange (обменивать) the things you have for the things you need;

c) buy something you need for money;

d) use money?

2. Which of the following have people used as money:

a) shells and whales’ teeth;

b) knives

c) rice and tobacco;

d) all of them?

3. Where did the first coins appear:

a) in China;

b) in Ancient Rome;

c) in Ancient Greece;

d) in Babylonia?

4. Which European country was the first to make paper money:

a) Italy;

b) France;

c) Greece;

d) the UK?

5. Where was paper money invented:

a) in China;

b) in Ancient Rome;

c) in Ancient Greece;

d) in Babylonia?

6. What country has got schoolchildren on its banknotes:

a) Nigeria;

b) Brazil;

c) Norway;

d) Taiwan?

7. Which is the currency of the UK:

a) euro;

b) dollar;

c) rouble;

d) pound?

Have you ever thought how strange the money is?

Small pieces of metal or paper passed from person to person for trading food, clothes or … furniture.

Today we don’t need paper or metal money at all, because today money is a stream of ones and zeros endlessly circling around the world.

How did it happen?

Why did people start using money?

Listen and check your answers.

At first people bartered, which means they exchanged things they had for things they needed. A farmer who had cattle wanted to have salt, so cattle became a form of money.

People used to have different things as money: knives and rice in China, cattle in Babylonia, tobacco in America, whales’ teeth and shells on the Pacific islands.

The first government to make coins that looked alike and use them as money was probably the city of Lydia in Ancient Greece.

The coins were made from mixture of gold and silver. But they were heavy and difficult to carry, and the cities and the roads of Europe were dangerous places to carry big purses with gold.

Paper money, as well as first coins ever, was invented in China, where traveler Marco polo saw it in the 1280s. They were called “flying cash” as it had a tendency to be carried away by the wind.

In the early 1700s, France’s government became the first in Europe to make paper money – banknotes.

When you go to a foreign country, one of the first things you may see is what money looks like.

Banknotes of different countries show queens and presidents or other famous people. But you also may find a tiger or an elephant (India), cows and fruit (Nigeria), a map (Norway), or even schoolchildren (Taiwan).

Many countries in Europe now have the same money; all their coins and paper money are euros.

People in France and Italy miss their money – francs and lire. But they agree that now money travels easily from one country to another.

Great Britain, however is still using pounds.

The British currency is the pound sterling. The sign for the pound is ____.

They do not use the Euro. Although a few of the big shops will accept Euro, it is rarely used across Britain.

The pound (___) is made up of 100 pence (p).

The singular of pence is "penny". The symbol for the penny is "p" (пи);

50 pence is often pronounced "fifty pee" rather than "fifty pence".

They have both coins and banknotes.

Current coins are:

1 penny, 2 pence, 5 pence, 10 pence, 20 pence, 50 pence, 1 pound, and 2 pounds.

Current banknotes are:

The 5-pound note, the 10-pound note, the 20-pound note and the 50-pound note.

Money in the USA

The official currency is the US Dollar (USD), which is broken down into 100 cents.

The sign for the dollar is _____.

Notes are: 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 dollars

Coins are: 1, 5, 10, and 25 cents

US currency has former presidents on it, such as George Washington, John F. Kennedy, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Alexander Hamilton, Andrew Jackson, Ulysses S. Grant and Benjamin Franklin.

Money in Russia

Russian Ruble (RUB) is the official currency of Russian Federation. It is also referred as Rouble sometimes.

The new symbol " ___ " for Russian Ruble replaced the old symbol of “руб” in 2013.

The ruble is broken down into 100 kopeks.

Notes are: 5, 10, 50, 100, 500, 1000 and 5000 rubles.

Coins are: 1, 5, 10, and 50 kopeks; 1, 2, 5, 10 rubles.

In 1946 the first credit cards were introduced.

Nowadays people carry plastic credit cards in their wallets instead of cash, which makes travelling safer and more convenient.

With your credit card you can take money from the cash-machine any time you need it.

As people began surfing the net electronic money appeared in 2009. It is known today as Bitcoin.

We have come a long way from trading cattle for salt to bitcoins.

What does the future hold for us?

Will we use paper and metal money or become completely digital?

Or will we come up with even stranger way of buying things we need?