Words and word combinations you may need

consumer society - общество потреб-

ленин

marked udj— заметный, явный improvement п -~ улучшение according to - согласно, в иоответст-

вии с

Ex. 20. Sum up Text C (orally/in writing).

Situation: Discuss with your partner how your families spend their incomes. Do you contribute in any way to your family's income? Do your parenls give you any " pocket money"?

Ex. 21. Discussion questions.

1. What is the main purpose of the economy?

2. What economic agents populate the modern market economy?

3. Does the pattern of consumption and consumer spending have an impact
on the level of economic activity?

4. How do people earn money?

5. Do you consider " living on credit" a normal way of life?

6. Is hire purchase practised in Russia?

7. How do consumers distribute their incomes?
8. What factors affect consumers' decisions?

9. Does your family have a budget for your money? 1 0. Do you (your family) keep money in a bank? 1 1. What major accounts do banks offer to their clients? 1 2. Do many people in Russia buy shares? 13. Is investing in shares a reliable way of getting an income?

History of Money

At different periods of time and in different parts of the world many dif­ferent commodities have served as money. These commodities were: cattle, sheep, furs, leather, fish, tobacco, tea, salt, shells etc. The experts underline that to serve effectively as money, a commodity should be fairly durable, easily divisible, and portable. None of the above-mentioned commodities possessed all these qualities, and in time they were replaced by precious metals. First they were replaced by silver and later by gold.

When a payment was made the metal was first weighed out. The next stage was the cutting of the metal into pieces of definite weight and so coins came into use.

Paper money first came into use in the form of receipls given by gold­smiths in exchange for deposits of silver and gold coins. After goldsmiths be­came bankers their receipts became banknotes. That's how the first banknotes came into existence.

Ex. 23. a) Read the text aloud.

B) Look up the words you do not know in the dictionary.

C) Translate the italicised sentence in writing.