1. A street vendor thinks that the bond notes can be used for illegal purposes. _____
2. A software engineer claims that more people would use bitcoin if the system to use wasn't so difficult. _____
3. A retired teacher believes that people should be rewarded depending on the type of job they do. _____
4. A small business owner believes that the Bristol pound is not so useful for passing tourists. _____
5. An antiques trader thinks that the swap sites require a lot of patience. _____
KEY
1. F (he thinks that they will go the same way as the failed currency they had before)
2. T (The software needed to use it is pretty complicated, though, which probably puts a lot of people off using it)
3. F (you get rewarded for your time. It's a very fair system, because everyone's time is worth the same)
4. T (For people who don't live here that could be a disadvantage, as it's not legal tender (legal money))
5. F. (A stamp collector)
Script
Unit 6: Made of Money
Track 6.1
N: Listening, Unit 6, Page 88, C
ExN: You will hear five short extracts in which different people talk about different kinds of currencies.
Task 1. For questions 1 – 5, choose from the list (A – H), the person who is
speaking.
Task 2. For questions 6 – 10, choose from the list (A – H), the main disadvantage of
the currency mentioned by each speaker. While you listen, you must complete
both tasks.
ExN: Speaker One
MAN: We used to have Zimbabwean dollars, but they abolished them back in 2009
because of the hyperinflation. Back then a trillion-dollar note wasn’t even enough
for a bus fare! Now they are bringing in something called bond notes, and everyone
thinks these will go the same way. I have a market stall, and if my customers pay me
in bond notes, how can I pay my suppliers? They want dollars, not this money, so it’s
no use to me. People here would rather use real money than this kind of note which
we call ‘ghost money’.
ExN: Speaker Two
MAN: I’m in IT and when I’m not writing software for banks and other financial institutions, I love gaming. I use bitcoin quite a lot. It’s the most famous digital currency and it’s accepted by a surprising number of companies for payment. You can also pay people really easily, I mean transactions are fast and safe when you know their bitcoin address. Unlike conventional currencies, bitcoin isn’t issued by central banks or controlled by governments and all transactions are completely anonymous; a factor
that appeals to a lot of users. The software needed to use it is pretty complicated, though, which probably puts a lot of people off using it.
ExN: Speaker Three
WOMAN: After retiring from teaching I was keen to do some kind of volunteering. I was going to volunteer in a local school, helping children to read but then I discovered the time bank. It’s not really volunteering as we know it, because you get rewarded for your
time. It’s a very fair system, because everyone’s time is worth the same. I can help a
child with their homework for an hour say, and get an hour’s worth of gardening
work or hairdressing in return. Of course, it’s the labour that is shared and it works
for services, but not goods. You have to buy any materials that are needed, but the
service is free, provided you have given your time, too.
ExN: Speaker Four
MAN: I accept the Bristol Pound, yes, of course I do. In my café, lots of customers use it to pay. It’s a great idea, I think, because it keeps the money flowing inside our local
economy and helps our town, Bristol, to grow. A lot of money stays inside the town
and goes back to support our local community in this way. It stops money literally
leaking out of the area. For people who don’t live here that could be a disadvantage,
as it’s not legal tender, obviously they’d have to spend all their local currency before
leaving the area, the same way as tourists do when they leave a holiday resort
abroad.
ExN: Speaker Five
MAN: It’s a great thing now with the Internet; there are loads of good sites where you can
swap your unwanted stuff. Antiques traders are all over these sites of course,
looking for bargains that they can then sell on in their shops. For me, well I’m an
amateur and I’ve been collecting stamps since I was a lad. I’ve got a pretty large
collection, but I’m always on the lookout for the odd ones that are missing. On the
swap site I can swap my unwanted stamps for some that I do want. Sometimes I
swap other collectables like medals and coins, too. In this way it’s a hobby that
doesn’t cost me money. The main problem is that you have to spend hours online
searching for what you want and it’s often hard to find the exact swap you need.
