Unit 16 What are the World’s Major currencies? lead-in

Exercise 1. Be ready to answer the question.

The Forex market, also known as FX or foreign exchange market, has eight major currencies that are by far the most popular among investors and traders. What are these currencies?

Exercise 2. Choose the correct variant.

To determine обозначать определять подразумевать The same тот (же) самый самый некоторый Pawn shop антикварный магазин ломбард магазин уцененных товаров Diverse разнообразный распознаваемый разбирающийся

To derive производить происходить проводить Considerable обозначенный значительный обознавшийся Value ценность оплата бесценный Precious необходимый нужный ценный

Comprehensive reading. What are the World’s Major Currencies?

The currencies of the world’s major economies have names and backgrounds that are as diverse as the countries themselves. The dollar, used in many countries including the United States, Canada, and Australia, gets name from a silver coin minted during the Middle Ages in a small valley, or “Thal”, in Bohemia called Joachimsthal. Just as a sausage from Frankfurt came to be called frankfurter, the coins from Joachimsthal were called “Joachimstaler” or simply “Thaler”, and came to be called “dollar” in English. The pound, used in Britain, Egypt, and Lebanon among others, refers to the weight used in determining the value of coins, based on precious metals such as gold or sterling. The penny has the same origin as the word pawn, found in terms such as pawn shop, and originally meant “to pledge”. A penny, like any currency, is a “pledge” of value.

In Italy the currency was called lira. The word was based on the Latin libra, meaning” pound” and once again refers to the weight of the original coins. In Spanish, the word meaning “weight” peso was used to describe the coins that were based on a certain weight of gold or silver. Originally, there were gold coins called peso de oro and silver ones called peso de plata. In Spain the currency was called peseta, meaning “small peso.” The word peso is used to describe the currency in many Spanish-speaking countries in Latin America.

The riyal, in Saudi Arabia and Qatar, and the rial in Iran, are based on the Spanish word real – which, in turn, was derived from the Latin regal(is) – referring to earlier “royal” coins. The dinar, used in Iraq and Kuwait among others, derives its name from “denarius”, a Roman coin that was worth “ten bronze asses”, an item of considerable value in days of old. In India, Pakistan, and other countries of the subcontinent, the currency is called rupee (in Indonesia, rupiah), based on the Sanskrit word rupya, meaning “coined silver”. The ancient Chinese word yiam meant “round”, or “small round thing”. The name of the Japanese currency, the yen, and the name of the Chinese currency, the yuan, both derived from the old Chinese word, refer to the round shape of the original coins.