Ex 3. Now complete the text with the correct form of the verbs in the box. There may be more than one possible answer so try to use each verb only once
concentrate, do, learn, overcome, organize, study, take, teach, review, revise
Even the most studious among you will probably have difficulty studying at some stage in your academic career. If or when this happens, the only way to (1)......................... this problem is to go back to basics. First, make sure you have a comfortable environment to (2)......................... in. Some students need to have a quiet space to themselves and can’t (3)......................... if there are too many distractions. Others need some sort of background noise, such as music or the company of friends. Whatever your personal preference is, you need to (4)......................... this first of all. Next, make sure you have all of the equipment or tools that you need. For example, if you are (5)......................... a geography course and you have to (6)......................... about countries and their capital cities then you will need to have your atlas to hand. If you’re (7)......................... your math homework then be sure to find your calculator, ruler, protractor and compass before you start. Perhaps you’re not preparing a homework assignment or project, but are trying to (8)......................... for an exam. If so, you need to know exactly what is on your curriculum. You should also (9)......................... your notes and make sure that you have a clear understanding of what your lecturers have (10)......................... you. Of course, people with a learning disorder such as dyslexia may need to work harder than others at their studies as they often struggle to read even relatively simple texts.
Ex 4 Now read the text again and find a word or phrase to match these definitions.
1 describes someone who studies a lot ……
2 things that stop you from working ……
3 a sound you can hear, but do not actively listen to ……
4 two different types of homework or school task …… and ……
5 to study for an exam ……
6 another word for syllabus ……
7 to check your work ……
8 to do something with great difficulty ……
Ex 5. Work in pairs. Make up dialogues comparing your ways of studying to your friend’s. Do you think your ways will help your future career?
Unit 8
Part 1
A History of English Clearing Bank
lending, debtor, creditor, interest, safe custody, facilities, goldsmith bankers, receipts, cheque, promissory note, demand and time deposits, cash reserves, Bills of Exchange, joint stock banking, branch banking, the Clearing House, diversification
Text A
Introduction
Although banking as we know it has its roots in the seventeenth century, many of its features can be traced back to ancient times.
Before the introduction of a monetary system there were many instances of transactions involving credit in primitive communities. Early Pacific civilizations used strings of beads as a means of recording debts, even before they were a means of exchange. The Chinese dynasties are full of instances of note issues recorded back as far as 14BC under the Emperor Wu-Ti, who used a form of paper money made from stag skin.
In Greece, Babylon and the Roman Empire an extensive international trade demanded banking facilities, such as the lending of money, its exchange in foreign trade and travel, and the safe keeping of deposits. The Greek system was adopted by Egypt and also influenced Rome. The breakup of the Roman Empire led to a decline in banking, and, at the same time, usury laws imposed by the Church put restraints on lending.
However, banking did not cease completely as the Lombard merchants developed banking in Venice and Genoa in the 12th century.
Lombard Street, which is still today the heart of London's financial quarter, takes its name from Lombardy in Italy. Their vocabulary has left us with the words cash, debtor, and creditor. Perhaps the most significant is the fact that these merchants conducted their business on benches or 'bancos' and it is from that work that our 'bank' is said to be derived.
The Italian merchants arrived at a time when England was changing from a feudal community, with virtually all its wealth in land, to a commercial society in which surplus money needed to be stored and used for profit. This happened in the sixteenth century after a long and stable government under the Tudors, which saw an age of discovery and the beginnings of colonization; a time of expansion of trade at home and abroad. Moreover, as the Reformation spread throughout Europe, King Henry VIII, at the end of his reign in 1546, repealed the usury laws. Before this the Church disallowed the lending of money with interest; now money could be lent "upon interest according to the King's Majesty's Statute at 10 per cent".
This Act was carried further by his daughter, Queen Elizabeth I, and so the foundation of the modern banking system was laid.
Englishmen of business followed the example of the Italian merchants. In particular, Sir Thomas Gresham, who as a pioneer of lending and borrowing money in the country, became the greatest of the London merchants and is now looked upon as the "Father of English Banking". He founded the Royal Exchange in Cornhill, London, as a meeting place for merchants to conduct their business.
Goldsmith to Banker
In the early days the goldsmith had exchanged foreign currency, keeping some in hand to supply travelers abroad and melting down the rest in the course of their basic trade. They had also become recognizable and reliable keepers of money and values for people without their own safe custody facilities.
The new men were bankers but they were still goldsmiths.
Goldsmith bankers, as they were known, had developed into an efficient system of private banking in London and were to develop into the famous banking firms, of which some still exist today. Coutts & Company, now affiliated to the National Westminster Bank, dates from 1692.
The receipts given by goldsmiths for deposits have been compared to modern day cheques. However, it would seem that their similarities, as with Bills of Exchange, were their negotiable nature. Drawn notes only became known as cheques a century later.
The cheque could be compared with a drawn note, by which a depositor addressed a letter to his goldsmith authorizing the payment to his creditor of the sum owed. The creditor would then take this 'note' to the depositor's goldsmith and there receive the sum in cash.
The earliest known cheque dates 1659
Mr Morris and Mr Clayton
Pray pay the bearer hereof MrDelboe or order four hundred pounds I say £400 - for yours NicoVanacher.
London the 16th February 1659.
Mr Morris pray pay until Mr Oliver Cromwell (a goldsmith in Townstreet) the sum of sixtie[sic] value received of Mr Thomas Colebrook and place to the account of - Yrs Nicholas Vanacher
Amberley December
the 13ths - 1665 -
At Flying Horse in Cornehill, London
In the history of British banking the goldsmiths development of the promissory note and cheque, demand and time deposits, balance sheets and cash reserves provided the primitive but nevertheless essential elements of a modern banking system.
Vocabulary list
1. lending – выдачаденегвдолг, кредитование
v. to lend
n. lender
syn. creditor
2. toputrestraintson – налагать ограничение (на что-либо)
3. wealth – состояние, благосостояние
4. surplus money – избыточныеденьги, излишки
syn. excessive
5. interest – процент, процентныйдоход
to lend at (with) interest
interest rate – процентная ставка
6. borrowing - заимствование
v. to borrow
n. borrower
syn. debtor
7. safe custody – безопасноехранение
syn. safekeeping
8. facility – услуга, возможность
bankingfacilities – банковские услуги
9. goldsmithbankers – ювелиры, занимающиеся хранением и обменом денежных средств
10. receipt - расписка
11. cheque (check) – чек, платежное поручение
12. bill of Exchange – переводной вексель
13. negotiable – обратимый (покупаемый и продающийся)
14. to owe somebody/something – быть должным (кому-либо что-либо)
n. debt, debtor
15. to authorize – разрешать, уполномочить
n. authorization
16. promissory note – долговоеобязательство
syn. debt obligation
17. deposit – депозит; банковскийдепозит
v. to deposit
n. depositor
demand deposit – депозитдовостребования
time deposit – срочныйдепозит
18. cash reserve – резерв наличности
Notes
1. usury - ростовщичество
2. to be derived (from) – происходитьот
n. derivative
3. in the course of basic trade – зд. занимаясьобычнымремеслом
4. adrawnnote – выписанное платежное поручение
Ex 1. Suggest the Russian equivalents:
transactions involving credit; a means of recording debts; banking facilities; safe keeping of deposits; merchants developed banking; a feudal community; a time of expansion of trade at home and abroad; the usury laws; the foundation was laid; to follow the example; exchanged foreign currency keeping some in hand; to supply travelers abroad; people without their own safe custody facilities; Englishmen of business; to date from 1692; to be compared to modern day cheques; essential elements.