unit12.ppt

Unit  12             Money Matters  

Part  A                            

 Communicative Function   Dealing with the Bank

      While we go to the bank mainly to deposit or withdraw money, we may also change money, cash checks and do many other things. 

Listen to the conversation and then choose the right answers to the questions you hear.

1.  Which of the following things did the man not do in the bank?

               a. Change money.                    c. Find out the exchange rates.

               b. Open an account.  d. Deposit money.      

2.  Which of the following currencies is not mentioned in the conversation?

               a. US dollars.                          c. Japanese yen.

               b. Hong Kong dollars.              d. Russian roubles.

Script

A:  Good afternoon. May I help you?

B:  Can you change some money for me, please?

A:  Certainly. What currency do you want to change?

B:  Here it is: some Hong Kong dollars, American dollars and Japanese yen. How much will they be in English pounds?

A:  Just a moment. Let me find out the exchange rates.

B:  Thank you.

A:  Here we are. That'll be £456 altogether. How would you like the money?

B:  I'd like to open an account. I want to deposit the money in it.

A:  A deposit or current account?

B:  Current account, please.

A:  If you could just complete this form, we'll be happy to arrange that for you.  

B:  Thank you. 

Useful Expressions to Talk about Banking

l  I'd like to open a checking / savings account (Am.E).

l  I'd like to open a current / deposit account (Br.E).  

l  Could you tell me my balance?

l  What's the annual interest rate?

l  Will $100 be enough for a minimum deposit?

l  Could you tell me the exchange rate between ... and … today?

l  What's the rate of exchange between ... and … today?

l  Could you give me 100-yuan notes?

l  Please give me three $50 notes.

l  I want to cash this money order.

l  I'd like some traveler's checks, please.

l  Would you please change these British pounds for me?

l  Can you change some money for me?

l  Could you tell me the current rate for the Euro, please?

l  What’s the dollar going for today?

l  What’s your selling rate for Japanese yen / Euros / US dollars in notes today? 

l  I want to deposit $1,200 in my account.

Notes

1.  There are a great variety of currencies in use in the world. There are US dollars, British pounds, Russian roubles, Japanese yen, Chinese RMB and so on. The exchange rates between most of these currencies vary from day to day.  

2.  A bank is not just a place where one deposits or withdraws money. It offers a lot of other services, such as various kinds of investment policies and loans, including special loans for students' education and mortgage loans for home buyers. 

Listening  Strategy

Describing  Time

Listen to Barbara Smith talking about her day and then fill in the blanks with the missing time expressions. 

         Hello, my name is Barbara Smith. I'm the personnel manager of the Bank of America and I'm going to tell you what I did yesterday. I got up at 7:15 and left home for work at 7:55. After a 35 minutes' drive I arrived at my office at about 8: 30. The first thing I did was to turn on my computer and check my mail. At 9 sharp work began. I interviewed two candidates in the morning, one at 9:30 and the other at 10:40. At 12:20, I went down to the cafeteria for some lunch. In the afternoon I interviewed two more candidates, one at 2 o'clock and the other at 3:15. At 4 o'clock I attended a staff meeting, which lasted for about three quarters of an hour. By then it was time to go home. The traffic was so bad that it took me more than an hour to get home. It was already 7:30 when I finally sat down to my dinner, completely tired out.

Part B  

Pre-listening   Task

Questions for Discussion    

You are going to talk about your experience of going to the bank. Read the following questions and discuss them with your partner.

1.       Do you often go to the bank? What do you do there?

2.       Is the bank near your campus usually crowded? Do people wait for their turn patiently?

3.       Are the bank clerks helpful?  

4.       Do you sometimes withdraw money from an ATM machine?

5.       What is the maximum amount of money you can withdraw from the machine?  

6.       How do you operate the machine in order to take out the amount of money you want?

7.       What do you do with your money?  

8.       Do you deposit your money in the bank or do you make other investments with it? 

9.       Suppose you had a large amount of money, what would you do with it?

Demo

2. Is the bank near your campus usually crowded? Do people wait for their turn patiently?

      Yes, the bank near our campus is always crowded. People are always waiting behind the yellow line for their turns. I can tell they are impatient and sometimes they are angrily complaining about the service. I guess there are two reasons for this phenomenon. One is that the bank service is not efficient enough and the other is that people now have more money and they want to dispose their money wisely and safely. 

9. Suppose you had a large amount of money, what would you do with it?  

    I would like to use the money for three things. First, I would like to go to graduate school at one of the top universities in the United States. A graduate education in the US is very expensive as we all know it. The cost would take a large amount of money, say, about 15,000 US dollars each year. Second, when I'm there, I would also want to travel to different parts of the country and see the country with my own eyes. That would also take a lot of money. And third, if there's still money left after those expenses, I would like to buy a car and a house there so that I'd have a place of my own. Isn't that a wonderful plan?

Language Focus 

Here are some sentences and structures that you might find handy in discussing the above questions:

l  Every month / Once in a while / Occasionally I go to the bank near our school either to deposit or withdraw money.

l  I think it's wise to put your money in a bank. It's safer and your money also earns interest.  

l  I have so little money that I don't need the bank to take care of it. 

l  I need to withdraw / take out some money for my daily expenses next month. 

l  The clerks at our school bank are very helpful / quite patient / efficient / very slow / talk too much with each other…

l  I like to withdraw money / check my balance from an ATM machine. There are usually fewer people queuing up there. 

l  ATMs are so much more convenient / save time / save the trouble of filling in forms.

l  All you need to do is press some buttons and there comes the money you ask for.

l  I don't trust / hate operating ATM machines. They eat up your card if you enter the wrong code number / are not always reliable / are often out of order.

l  It's a good habit to save money on a regular basis. 

l  I always deposit my money in the bank to earn interest.  

l  I deposit the money I get from my parents and relatives during Spring Festival.

l  I like to save money for a rainy day. 

l  If I have money to spare, I donate it to charity.

l  I never deposit money in the bank. If I have money to spare, I use it to buy stocks.

l  Don't look for large, short-term profits. They're dangerous / too risky. 

l  If I had a large amount of money, I would use it to travel around the country/ to further my education/ help the needy…

Listening   Tasks

A Conversation

At the Bank

Word  Bank

boy           int. expressing surprise, joy, excitement, etc.(表示惊奇，欣喜，兴奋等) 好家伙

guy           n.   an informal term for a man 家伙，青年

automatically   ad.   working of itself  自动地

issue          v.   to give out  发给

memorize      v.   to learn and remember sth. on purpose  记住

withdrawal button    取款键

secret code         personal identification number 密码   

come to think of it   (用于想要说刚想起的话)想起来了, 的确

account number      账号

make a note of       to write down or record  记录

Script

At  the  Bank

Customer 1: Boy, it's busy today.

Customer 2: I wish that guy up there would hurry up. He sure is taking a long time.  

Customer 3: Huh? That's strange. Why did that happen?

Bank clerk: Excuse me, sir, is there a problem?

Customer 3: Well, yes, I don't really understand it. When I put my card in, the machine ate it.

Bank clerk: Ate it? You mean it didn't give it back?

Customer 3: Yes, that's right. It kept it.

Bank clerk: Did you press the withdrawal button and the amount you want?

Customer 3: Yes. 

Bank clerk: How about your secret code? Did you enter your number?

Customer 3: Well… come to think of it, it did ask me three times to enter my code.

Bank clerk: Are you sure you entered your correct number?

Customer 3: Hmm, I think so, but maybe I made a mistake.

Bank clerk: I see. Well, you probably entered the wrong number. When a machine receives a wrong number three times it automatically keeps the card.

Customer 3: Oh, I didn't know that. So how do I get another card?

Bank clerk: That's no problem… first you need to fill in a form so we can get you a new one. Could you come over to the counter? 

Customer 3: Very sorry about that. (To the other customers) Sorry to keep you waiting.

Bank clerk: OK, please fill this in with your account number and today's date. Then we can issue you a new card. You'll get it in about a week.

Customer 3: OK, thanks very much, and I'm sorry for the trouble.  

Bank clerk: Not at all, sir. And when you receive your new card, it's a good idea to memorize the number or make a note of it somewhere.  

Customer 3: Right, I'll do that.  

Language and Culture Notes  

1. Background information  Money can be withdrawn from electronic cash machines at banks and elsewhere by two types of encoded plastic cards: debit cards and credit cards. A debit card allows money to be withdrawn directly from the holder’s bank account. Certain credit cards also allow the holder to withdraw money from cash machines, but as a loan on which interest is charged. Both types of card can also be used in place of cash for purchasing goods and services, and for this reason are commonly referred to as “plastic money.”  

2. Boy  An informal interjection, expressing excitement or before saying something with emphasis, used especially in American English.

3. the machine  The ATM. ATM stands for automatic teller machine. Card holders can use the machine to withdraw money, check balances or even deposit money.  

4. secret code  Meaning your PIN number, which stands for personal identification number, a secret number that can be read by a computer to prove who you are. For example, you can say "I punched my PIN number into the ATM and took out 200 yuan." 

Exercise 1:  Listening for general understanding  

Listen to the recording once and choose the right answers to the questions you hear.

1. Who were heard speaking?

      a. A customer and a bank clerk.

      b. Customers and a bank clerk.

      c. A student and a bank clerk.

      d. Students and a bank clerk.

2. Which of the following is true?

      a. Some customers were quarrelling at a bank.

      b. Some customers were complaining about the bank's ATM service.

      c. Some customers were queuing to withdraw cash from an ATM machine.

d. Some customers were discussing with a bank clerk about how to operate an ATM machine.

3. What is the main idea of the conversation?

  a. The bank issued a new card to a customer whose card got stuck in an ATM machine.

      b. Some customers were annoyed at the person who used the ATM machine too long.

      c. A bank clerk was very efficient in dealing with customers' problems.

d. A bank clerk helped a customer whose card got stuck in an ATM machine.

Exercise 2:  Listening for details  

Listen to the recording once again and complete answers to the following questions.

1. What was the major event in the conversation?

      A customer's card got stuck in an ATM machine.

2. How did that happen?

The customer had entered a wrong code number three times.

3. What did the bank clerk ask the customer to do? And for what purpose?

      She asked him to 1) go to the counter;   

        2) fill in a form with his account number and the date.

      Purpose: to get the customer a new card.

4. When would the customer get his new card?

      In about a week.

Speaking   Tasks

Pair Work

Listen to the conversations and repeat after the recording. Practise the conversations with your partner, playing the role of A or B. Then work with your partner to create your own conversations by replacing the underlined parts with your own words. 

Conversation  1

A:    Let's stop at this bank. I need some cash.

B:    What do you need the cash for?

A:    1) Just general living expenses for the next month.

B:    Oh, right. 2) Fortunately it's not so crowded.

A:    3) Yeah. There are usually a lot of people queuing.

B:    I think the withdrawal slips are 4) over on that desk by the wall.

A:    5) Oh, yes. I'll just get one.

B:    There's only this one line, which leads to all the tellers' windows.

A:    That guarantees "First come, first served."

Teller: Good afternoon.  May I help you?

A:    Good afternoon. I'd like to withdraw 500 yuan from my account.

Teller:    May I see your ID, please? Thank you. 6) One moment please….. (Verifies the account, counts out and hands over the cash.)  Thank you for your business. Have a nice day.

A:    You too.

Conversation  2

A:  Hello, Xiao Wang.1) I hear you are doing some part-time job.

B:    Yes. I'm 2) working two nights at a city restaurant.

A:    Do they give you decent wages?

B:    3) Not too bad.

A:    Well, I’ve been accepted for a part-time job at 4) the news agent’s.

B:    Have you? 5) That’s good. So you’ll be earning some extra money, too.

A:    Yeah, that’s exactly what I want to ask you about.

B:    6) Go ahead.

A:    May I ask a personal question?

B:    7) It depends.

A:  8) What do you do with the money you earn? Do you spend it immediately or do you save it?

B:    Well, I spend some of it on 9) books. And I also save some for future use.

A:    In a bank?

B     Yes.

A:    Which one?

B:         10) The one by the school

A:  Is it any good?

B:         11) Not bad. 12) Very friendly, but a bit slow at times.

1.         They say / I was told

2.         working during weekdays in the school bookstore / tutoring two high school students on Saturdays

3.         Not bad at all / Just so-so.

4.         a travel agency / an accounting firm

5.         That’s great / That’s wonderful.

6.         What is it? / OK.

7.         You can try. / What do you want to know?

8.         How do you handle the money you earn?

9.         reference books / novels / traveling

10.     The one across the street / The one two blocks away from our school.

11.     Quite good / Pretty good.

12.     Good service but a bit crowded sometimes / The clerks are very helpful but there is sometimes a long queue.