Money Matters [PDF]

Zitiervorschau

1. You and your money 1. Do you spend more than you earn? 2. What do you most enjoy spending money on? 3.What do you least enjoy spending money on? 4. What do you think is good value for money? 5. What do you think is a waste of money? 6. What can you afford that you most appreciate? 7. What can’t you afford that you would most like to have? 1. Here are the answers two people gave to the questions at the top of the page. Can you match their answers to the questions? What can you tell about each of the people? A a Life insurance - I’m not planning to die just yet. And expensive haircuts. b I like being able to buy good quality food and clothes, and not having to look around to find the cheapest of everything. c A really nice, old, classic car. My first choice would be a Jaguar XK 150 d No, but I don’t save anything, either. e Take-away restaurants which take your order over the phone and deliver the food right to your door - free. f Boring things like suits and white shirts and ties to wear to work. And buying train tickets every day to get to work and back. g A really good night out at the weekend. Or preferably two. B a Potatoes, rice, pasta, things like that. They’re cheap, and they fill you up! b A plane ticket, when I can afford it. That gives me a really great feeling. c Oh, lots of things - fur coats, caviar, designer shoes and unnecessary make-up, for example. And tobacco. d This stupid Government tax. I don’t think students should pay taxes. e A round-the-world plane ticket, with lots of stopovers in nice places. f Yes. I have to borrow from my parents, and also from a student loan company. g I’m pretty lucky to have enough money to study, and to do a bit of travelling. 2. Spend some time thinking of your own answers to the questions. 2. Exchanges 1. You will hear five short conversations about money. Look at the remarks given. Which two remarks do you think you will hear in each conversation? 1. Can you give me change for a £10 note? 2. I can pay you back on Friday. 3. Did you bring your receipt with you? 4. Can I just buy some chewing gum, please? 5. Do you think you could lend me £ 20? 6. I’d like to pay my bill, please. 7. You’ll need to sign them just here, please. 8. Do you take credit cards? 9. I’d like to cash some travellers’ cheques. 10. I’d like a refund, please.

Now listen to the recording, and see if you were right. 2. Work in pairs. Choose one of the remarks and develop it into a conversation of your own.

XI-96 Fill in : value; cost; price VALUE : worth, marketable price, estimation COST : price to be paid for a thing PRICE: money for which a thing is bought or sold 1. He learnt the ..... of a friend. 2. The oil ..... are falling in the world market. 3. The OPEC countries have agreed to reduce oil production to keep the ..... on the same level. 4. Synthetic materials have become cheaper, since the .... of production is lower now. 5. The ..... of living has risen, whereas wages have remained the same. 6. The ..... of this information is enormous. 7. He set a high ..... on his time. 8. At Christmas sales one can buy goods at reduced ........ .

XIII-97 Make up sentences by matching phrases in A with those in B. Answer the questions given below. One can ..... A

1)accumulate money; 2)borrow money; 3)charge money; 4)donate money; 5)earn

money; 6)invest money in something; 7)lend money; 8)loan money; 9)make money; 10)owe money; 11)pay money; 12)raise money; 13)save money; 14)spend money; 15)waste money 16) win money B

a) that is to get money as salary or wages;

b) when one buys something as a customer; c) when one wants to buy something expensive, or when one lives economically; d) and then he grows rich, acquires wealth; e) that is give money at an interest (in a bank); f) that is to take money promising to pay it back in future; g) that is give it to somebody for a period of time; h) in a lottery / in a quiz programme i) that is borrowing money one becomes a debtor, and owes it to the lender; j) that is store up a large amount of money; k) that is to give it to a good cause; l) i.e. collect it in somebody’s favour; m) i.e. give it to someone in exchange for services or goods; n) i.e. put money into shares or business; o) i.e. spend it on something which is not worth it; p) for goods and services. Answer the following questions: 1. What is the difference between salary and wages? 2. What does “buying something expensive” mean to you? 3. When do / What makes people live economically? 4. What might be the “good cause” mentioned in k)? 5. Would you easily borrow money? Have you ever done it? Give some details. 6. Would you ever risk and invest your money? What would the project be? 7. Would you easily lend money? What does it depend on? 8. Do you buy lottery tickets? Have you ever won money? 9. What do you do with money more often? Regularly? Never? 10. What would you like to do with money if you had more than the barest minimum? Much of it? 11. What is the wisest way to deal with money?

A. USING MONEY Fill in the missing sentences in these conversations, using one item from group A and one from group B below. 1. At a hotel 2 In a shop. A I’d like to pay my bill, please. A ............................................ . B Certainly That’s £340 altogether. B They’re £4 each. A ................................................... . A ........................................... . B Yes, sir. What have you got? Visa? B Right. That’s £8 altogether ... Thank you. Mastercard? A ............................................ . B Yes, of course. I’ll just write one out for you. 3. At an exchange office. A ........................................... . B Yes. If I could see your passport ... Please. A ........................................... . B Just there. Where it says “Signature” A. 1.Could you give me change .... 2. Could I have .... 3.Do you accept .... 4.How much .... 5.I’d like to pay .... 6. Is there .... 7. Where do I .... 8. Can I cash .... 9. I’ll have ....

4. In the street. A Excuse me. .................................. . B No, I’m sorry, I can’t A ................................................. . B Yes - there’s one just round the corner.

B. a.... some traveller’s cheques, please b.... do these ties cost? c... my bill please. d.... a receipt, please. e…. these two, please. f.... sign them. g.... credit cards? h.... for this £10 note? i.... a bank near here?

B. THE (________) OF LIVING Write the missing words in the text. They say that people’s standard of living is going up all the time. Well I don’t know about the standard or living, but the (___________) of living is certainly going up. Before I even see my salary, the Government takes about 30% of it away in income (__________). Then I have to pay the (___________) for the apartment, which the landlord’s just put up again. And on the top of that there are all the (________) for heating, phone and electricity. It’s no better at the shops, either. The (_________) of food is unbelievably high these days. I used to be able to (________) money, but last year I had to close my savings account, because there was no money left in it. And it’s getting worse: last month I (_________) my whole salary in just one week, and I had to ask my (________) manager for a loan to last me till the end of the month. It’s enough to make you want to jump in front of a train. Only I haven’t got any (________) insurance. I can’t afford it - It’s too (_______). C. Similar meanings Rewrite each sentence using a form of the word in brackets, so that they have similar meanings. E.g.: It’s expensive (cost) It costs a lot. 1. It’s too expensive for me. (afford) 2. It’s not worth buying. (waste) 3. it’s cheap. (cost) 4. Can I borrow £5 from you? (lend) 5. He’s borrowed more than £1.000 from his parents. (owe) 6. They pay him £800 a week (earn) 7. He bought that jacket for £300 . (pay)

LISTENING: A WASTE OF MONEY 1. You will hear two people talking about things they think are a waste of money. Before you listen, check that you know what these words and phrases mean: a status symbol, to show off, a treat, extravagant, perfume, dressing table, ostentation 2. Listen to the recording. What do you think the main point of their argument is? a Expensive cars, meals and perfume are a waste of money. b. It’s a waste of money to buy expensive things just to show you can afford them. c. People have to spend more than they can afford. d. Most people can only afford expensive things on special occasions. 3. The speakers give several examples of extravagance. According to the speakers, why a do people go to expensive restaurants? b do people buy expensive cars? c do men buy women expensive perfume? d do women buy expensive perfume? MONEY TALKS 1. Test your money expressions! Choose the correct option in the sentences below and say what each underlined money expression means. Refer to a dictionary if you need to. a). They’re quite an unusual couple. So when they had a baby, he gave up his job. Now she’s the main breadwinner/breadbasket/breadmaker, while he stays at home to look after the children. b) Last year I inherited some money from my grandmother, but I haven’t spent it yet. I’m saving it for a wet day / a rainy day / a storm. c) Have you got any wealthy friends? – No, all my friends are break / broken / broke like me. d) Did you hear about Alan winning £2,000 last week? – No! Lucky thing! What’s he going to do with it? – Oh, you know Alan. He’s already thrown it / flown it / blown it on a weekend in New York. e)You’ve been wearing the same suit for years. Don’t you think it’s time you blashed out / splashed out / rushed out on some new clothes? f) Number 28 for sale! – How much for? – I don’t know, but it’s the biggest house in the street, and they’ve got a swimming pool, sauna and Jacuzzi. – It must be worth a fortune / a goldmine / a mountain. LISTENING AND SPEAKING 1. Match the questions and answers a) It’s impossible to have too much money – do you agree? b) Would you prefer fame or fortune? c) Were you given or did you earn pocket money as a child? d) What was the first thing you saved up for and bought yourself? e) If you could buy yourself a skill, talent or change in your appearance, what would it be? f) What can’t money buy? 1. Happiness. I tend to think that once I have enough money to buy some new clothes or a better car, then I’ll be happy. But it never works out like that. 2. A set of toy soldiers. Not the plastic ones you get nowadays, but little metal ones, beautifully handpainted. It took me nearly a year to save up for them. If I’d known that they would be valuable antiques today, I would’ve kept them. They’d probably be worth a fortune now. 3. Yes. If you have dreams, money makes them possible. Personally, I can’t imagine having too much money. I’m always broke. Anyway, if I ever felt I had too much money, I’d give it away to charity. 4. Well, there are lots of things I’d like to be better at, but if I had to choose one, it would have to be football – I’d like to be a brilliant football player! 5. Being practical, I’d say fortune, but if I were single with no kids and no responsibilities, I’d go for fame. 6. I was given two shillings a week by my father, but on condition that I behaved myself. If I didn’t behave well, I didn’t receive it. Parents were much stricter in those days. 2. (T.16) Listen to the interview with Patti, Eric and Lee, and check your answers to 1. 3. (T. 17) How do you think Patti, Eric and Lee would have answered the following two questions? Discuss with a partner, then listen and check. a) Does it matter if a wife earns more than her husband? b) If you were given £ 1,000 to save, spend or invest in just one day, what would you do with it?