Edward Thomas
Nahoru1. BANKING
Look at the table below. Can you find the antonym-type words and phrases that are commonly used in the banking sector? Find the correct spaces, and the correct forms, for these words in the sentences below it. (Some may be only forms of these words eg. credited - past form of verb.)
Correct answers are here
A) Billy was surprised to find that his ………………………. had been ………………………. whit € 100,000 more than he expected. His employers had made a mistake with his monthly wage.
B) Each month I ………………………. about € 2,000 into my account, but I ………………………. about the same amount.
C) I want to ………………………. some money in a new business. I´ll ………………………. some from my friends and some from my bank.
D) Banks ………………………. money to customers at certain rates. Sometimes they agree a borrowing limit when an account is opened called an ………………………..
E) When you are thinking of investing money in a business, pay careful attention to the balance of ………………………. against ……………………….. This tells you how healthy a company's finances are.
F) British people used to ………………………. more money than they do today - these days they are encouraged to ………………………. it all to keep the economy growing though retail sales.
G) I think it would be better to put your ………………………. in a ………………………. rather than them in an old sock under your bed.
H) My investment in this company is adding so much to the ………………………. column of my portfolio of shares that I am thinking of ………………………. from it.
Correct answers are here
Nahoru2. BANKING BARBARA, THE PERSONAL FINANCE AGONY AUNT
(an „agony aunt” is a newspaper writer who offers advice to readers on interesting topics.)
Question: „Dear Barbara, I am a young person who wishes to open a bank account for the first time, because I'm nervous about where to keep the money I am getting for my part-time job. Please tell me what to do. I am lost!”
Answer: „Don't panic! One thing I've noticed is that young people often have very different ways of dealing with the first money they earn. When I was young, I and my friends used to earn money from little jobs like babysitting. Some of my friends couldn't wait to go shopping and ………………………. all their money as soon as they had it.
Others were very disciplined and ………………………. every penny they made. I like to think
that I found a good approach when I opened my own ………………………. while at secondary school.
Actually, I already had a special ………………………. that my grandparents had opened for me when I was born. I put birthday and Christmas gifts from them and other relatives into this
account to ………………………. for special purchases, like a new computer. All or part of my
babysitting earnings could be ………………………. directly into my new account.
I really enjoyed managing my own money. Because of the bank account, I found I was more
likely to ………………………. a larger amount of my earnings.
If you like the idea of starting your own bank account, the first thing to do is call around to your local banks, or visit their websites. Most of them have accounts that do not charge monthly 1) maintenance fees. Try to find a bank without 2) charges for 3) withdrawals You also need to decide how much you will deposit in the bank every month.
Another thing you need to look at is whether you need to keep a minimum 4) balance in the account – for example €100 to avoid maintenance fees.
If you're older, and living away from home, for example at university, you should also see if
the account offers an ………………………. 5) facility, and if so, is it free?
While you're doing this, you can try to find an account which pays a reasonable amount of 6) interest. This can be difficult when you open a current account, as these offer very little interest. Savings accounts though may not let you access your money quickly.
When you open your account, you should make sure you receive a 7) debit card, 8) cheque book, and a book of 9) paying-in slips. You will receive a 10) pin number which you will need to memorise. You can change it to something memorable, like your first pet's name, or something!
These days, you will also receive a password for an internet site where you can check your balance at any time. You can do a lot of things by internet now- depending on your bank's level of modernisation. The one thing you should make sure is that you learn the location of a few 11) cashpoints, so that you can ………………………. money in cash form quite easily. Oh, and don't forget to look out for your detailed monthly 12) statement which details all the ………………………. and ………………………. to and from your account, which can make interesting and important reading! That's really all you need to know at present. Happy personal banking!”
Read the above response from advisor „Banking Barbara”, and fill the gaps with the words we have already studied in 4.1. Remember that you might need a different form of a word, eg. you might need the past form of a verb, or to use the plural noun form of a word which you have learnt in its verb form eg. „earnings” (n) instead of „earn” (vb). Some words are repeated.
Look also at the highlighted words, which haven't been introduced yet in this unit. Maybe you can guess their meaning from context if you don't know them. You will be able to test your knowledge of them in next exercise!
Nahoru3. (NON) - COMMUNICATION LEAFLET
You receive a leaflet from the bank, and in it the terminology of their service is explained. The language is the same as that used by „Banking Barbara”. Unfortunately…