Discussion points
Ex.19. Discuss the following:
If you have to send money to someone, a family member or your friend in another city or country, what do you normally do? What way of sending money do you choose: by air mail or transfer with companies like Western Union or MoneyGram? Why?
You’re going to buy a car, a flat or just an expensive present for somebody but you don’t have enough money at present. Which source of finance would you use:
- borrow it from a member of your family, your friend or a colleague,
- try to get a loan from a bank or
- use another source?
As you know, barter is sometimes practiced nowadays. Do you think there is some difference between direct barter in pre-market economies and modern barter?
Why is inflation a matter of concern to us?
Ex.20. Read the following proverbs, sayings and quotations about money. Which do you like best? Express your viewpoint.
1.
Time is money.
Benjamin Franklin, Am. statesman and philosopher, 1706-1790
“Money never made a man happy yet, nor will it. There is nothing in its nature to produce happiness. The more a man has, the more he wants. Instead of its filling a vacuum, it makes one.” Benjamin Franklin
“Beware of little expenses; a small leak will sink a great ship.” Benjamin Franklin
“When it is a question of money, everybody is of the same religion.” Voltaire, French writer, 1694-1778
Money is the root of all evil. (proverb)
“Money isn’t the root of all evil. Poverty is.” Silva Hartmann, UK author and lecturer on psychology, born 1959
Money spent on the brain is never spent in vain.
Money doesn’t grow on trees.
Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.
Out of debt, out of danger.
“Money is like an arm or leg – use it or lose it.” Henry Ford, Am. industrialist and founder of the Ford Motor Company
“Money is a universal passport to everywhere except heavens, and a universal provider of everything except happiness; however, it helps.” Evan Esar, (1899–1995), an American humorist who wrote Esar's Comic Dictionary, 1943
Ex. 21. Choose the answer and test yourself. Then write two or more questions to add to the quiz below and ask your partner to answer them.
1. Do you know how much cash you have with you at the moment?
a. I know exactly.
b. I know approximately.
c. I don’t know at all.
2. How do you spend your money?
a. I often spend more than I earn.
b. I spend less than I earn and even manage to save a little.
c. I always try to spend as much as I earn, in other words, I stick to my budget.
3. Do you normally check
a. your receipts when shopping?
b. your change?
c. prices in several shops before you buy something?
4. What would you do if your friend or colleague borrowed some money from you for a short period of time and forgot to pay it back?
a. I would say nothing.
b. I would remind them politely that they owe me money.
c. I would do a kind of trick on them and ask to lend me a small amount of money.
5. If you got a big sum of money as a present, would you
spend it all immediately?
spend some and invest the rest?
invest it all in a high-interest account?