Current account withdraw bargain
Buy in bulk savings account mortgage
Salary bank statement bank loan
Rip-off on credit deposit
Overdraft fee discount
Refund be in the red receipt
Haggle outright fare
In a bank you usually have a (a) _______, which is one where you pay in your (b) _____ and then (c) _________ money to pay your everyday bills. The bank sends you a regular (d) ________ telling you how much money is in your account. You may also have a (e) _______ where you (f) _______ any extra money that you have and only take money out when you want to spend it on something special. You usually try to avoid having an (g) ______ or you end up paying a lot of interest. If your account is overdrawn, you can be said to (h) _______ (as opposed to in the black or in credit).
Sometimes the bank may lend you money - this is called a (i) ______. If the bank (or building society) lends you money to buy a house, that money is called a (j) _____.
When you buy (or, more formally, purchase) something in a shop, you usually pay for it (k) ______ but sometimes you buy (l) _______ (on installments). Sometimes you may be offered a (m) ________ or a reduction on something you buy at a shop. This means that you get, say, £10 off perhaps because you are a student. You are often offered a discount if you (n) _________. It is not usual to (o) ______ about prices in a British shop, as it is in, say, a Turkish market. If you want to return something which you have bought to a shop, you may be given a (p) _______, i.e. your money will be returned, provided you have a (q) _______.
The money that you pay for services, e.g. to a school or a lawyer, is usually called a (r) ______ or fees; the money paid for a journey is a (s) _____.
If you buy something that you feel was very good value, it's a (t) _____. If you feel that it is definitely not worth what you paid for it, then you can call it a (u) _____ (very colloquial).
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English Money
Pound or Pound Sterling, monetary unit (currency) of the United Kingdom, is represented by the symbol £.
Historically, the terms pound and pound sterling originated in Anglo-Saxon Britain during the 8th century when the basic monetary unit, called a “sterling,” was made equivalent to 1/240 of a pound of silver and 240 sterlings became known as a “pound of sterling.” The pound was convertible into silver until 1717. The British system of money used to be rather difficult. The British pound used to consist of 20 shillings, each of which was worth 12 old pence. Besides these, there were also halfpence (1/2 p), twopence ['tʌpens], three halfpence (or a penny-halfpenny, 1 1/2 p) [ɵri:'heipəns], threepence ['ɵrepnəs], sixpence (6 p), farthings (1/4 p), two-shilling piece, and half-crowns (2 shillings and 6 pence).
On February 15, 1971, the pound’s coinage equivalent was changed to the decimal system, from 20 shillings to 100 pennies, replacing the traditional shillings and pence that had been used since 11th-century Anglo-Norman times.
At present they use 1-pound, 5-pound, 10-pound, 20-pound, 50-pound notes and coins – 1 penny, twopence, 5 pence, 10 pence, 20 pence, 50 pence (p [pi:] for pence in prices: 50 pence – 50 p), 1-pound and 2-pound coins.
American Money
The American unit is the dollar - $. In the dollar there are 100 cents (c), 1-cent coin is often called penny. А 5-cent coin is called a nickel, and a 10-cent coin - a dime, a 25-cent coin – a quarter.
Weights and Measures
For general use the smallest weight is 1 ounce (oz.), and there are 16 ounces in a pound (lb.). The English buy sweets, tobacco, and sometimes cigarettes by the ounce while most groceries or fruit, such as apples, pears, strawberries, by the pound, half-pound or quarter-pound (there are some kinds of fruit that are bought piecemeal, or loose).
14 pounds make up 1 stone. The English always give people’s weight in stones and pounds. For example, a man weighs 11 stone 9 lbs (not 163 lbs).
112 lbs make up 1 hundredweight (cwt), which equals 50 kg. So there are 20 cwt in a ton.
Liquids are measured in pints (app. 0.5 liter), quarts and gallons. There are 2 pints in a quart and 4 quarts in a gallon.
Finally, for length the principal measurementsare the inch (2.54 cm), the foot (30.48 cm), the yard (91.44 cm) and the mile (1.6 km).
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a thing, a machine, a tool;
stuff, liquid, powder, material, cloth;
material/ liquid/ powder/ stuff for …-ing;
square, round, oblong, oval, curved, flat, pointed, sharp, blunt;
big, medium-sized, small, tiny, narrow, wide, heavy, light, short;
metal, glass, plastic, rubber, stone, wood(en), wool(en), rough, smooth, soft,
shiny, transparent, unbreakable, inedible, warm, waterproof;
fragile, hard, flexible, rigid, fast, slow;
extremely, very, rather, quite, fairly;
neither … nor, not at all, about the size of a …, a bit bigger than a …, not quite
as heavy as a …, small enough to hold in your hand;
a point, an end, a hole, a handle;
a thing with a hole/ handle, etc.;
a thing/ tool/ machine for making …, cutting …, etc./ to make …, to cut …;
a thing that you .. with/in/on, etc.;
a thing that goes on top of/ under/ .. .;
you use it for … -ing;
it is something to write on.
What does it feel like? What’s it made of?
What shape is it?
What size is it?
ACQUIRING COMMUNICATION SKILLS
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The Baxters Go Shopping
The other day my wife took me on a usual shopping round. In fact I hate going to the butcher's, grocer's and other shops of this sort, but of course I have to help my wife about the house.
First, we bought some pork and beef at the butcher's. Then we dropped in at the grocery and greengrocery. Jill wanted to buy salt, tomatoes and cucumbers. We also called at the baker's where we bought a loaf of brown bread, some buns and biscuits.
On our way home, we were passing Selfridge’s. “Let’s drop in here for a while. You need a suit for everyday wear”, my wife said. I agreed. Selfridge’s is still one of the biggest and most popular stores in London. They sell everything here. All the things for sale are on the counters. The customers walk round and choose what they want. The store has several departments: Women's clothes, Men's clothes, Shoes, Toys, Sports goods, Umbrellas, Leather goods, China and glass, Food, etc.
When we entered the shop, we went straight to the men’s department. A salesgirl showed us a number of suits, but we didn’t like any of them. One of them was a bit loose on me, another was too tight. As to the third one, our opinions were quite different. I liked the suit. My wife found it too expensive. She wanted a suit as good as that one but less expensive. The salesgirl showed us a cheaper suit. It was of good quality, but I didn't like the style. We were about to leave the counter when they delivered a new selection of goods. They were not only suits but different kinds of clothes: coats, raincoats, shirts, jackets and trousers. I tried on twoorthree suits. The last one was all right. It was just my size and fitted me perfectly. We both liked the suit and the price was not high. “We’ll take it, wrap it up, please!” I said to the salesgirl.
After we left the men's department, my wife spent the rest of the morning trying on hats. She wanted a pink straw hat to match one of her summer frocks. There was such a good selection of hats in the shop that in the end Jill bought two.
Questions:
1. Whats stores did the Baxters visit before going to Selfrige’s? What did they buy there?
2. Why did they go to Selfridge’s? Did they buy something they wanted right away? Why?
3. What did Jill buy for herself in the end? What is your attitude to hat-gear?
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