English banknotes and coins

The official currency of the Unites Kingdom is the pound sterling which is equal to one hundred pence.

English banknotes are issued by the Bank of England. As to coins they are minted also by this state bank.

There are banknotes of the following denominations: £ 1, £ 5, £ 10,

£ 20, £ 50 and £ 100.

The following coins are in circulation: halfpenny, one penny, two pence, five pence, ten pence, fifty pence.

On the face of English banknotes one can read the denomination given both in figures and in words.

Then the inscription on the face of the banknote reads: I promise to pay the bearer on demand the sum of... And then there are two signatures. The first signature is that of the person authorized by the Government and the Bank of England.

The second signature is that of the Chief Cashier.

The back of English banknotes, like many other banknotes, feature portraits of different famous people.

The one pound banknote, for example, features Isaac Newton (1642 - 1727) a well-known English scientist who made a few very important discoveries including gravitation law.

The back of the five pound note portrays the Duke of Wellington (1769 - 1852), a famous Irish general who defeated Napoleon at Waterloo, Belgium in 1815.

On the back of the ten pound note one can see Florence Nightingale (1820 - 1910), founder of the nursing profession. She volunteered as a nurse to Turkey to take care of he wounded soldiers from Crimean War, war of England and France versus Russia.

And the back of the twenty pound banknote features William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), the greatest playwright of all time.

Exercises:

№ 1. Find the answer to the following questions in the text:

1. What is the official currency of the U.K. ?

2. What is the smallest unit ?

3. How many pence are there in one pound ?

4. What banknotes and coins are in circulation in the U.K. now ?

5. What famous people are featured on the back of various English banknotes ?

№ 2. Sum up what the text says about:

English banknotes

English coins

№ 3. Write words in the sentences and translate:

On the face of English banknotes one can read the denomination given both in

… and in words.

On the back of the ten pound note one can sea Florence Nightingale, … of the

nursing profession.

№ 4. Imagine you are speaking with an Englishman about money. Compare two banknotes (coins) of the two countries. Act out this dialogue.

Тема: “Из истории денег”.

Words:

glimpse glimpses of history commodity to serve to serve as smth./ smb. to come into existence to weigh to weigh out above-mentioned goldsmith to supersed portable to underline durable

быстрый взгляд немного об истории предмет потребления служить служить как что-либо/ кто-либо возникнуть, появиться нагружать взвешивать вышеуказанный ювелир замещать портативный, компактный подчёркивать, выделять надёжный, длительного пользования

to divide leather quality precious cattle sheep fur fish shell piece receipt fairly

делиться кожа качество, свойство драгоценный крупный рогатый скот овца/ы мех рыба ракушка кусок квитанция, расписка довольно

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