English banknotes and coins

The official currency of the United 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, £ 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 backs 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 the 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.

1.2. Для перевірки правильності розуміння прочитаного тексту виконайте наступні ситуаційні вправи:

Ситуація 1. Складіть історію із наступних фрагментів, але ви, як оповідач, віддаєте перевагу офіційним і лаконічним висловлюванням:

1. Pieces of paper money are for you. For the country’s central bank that has the right to issue them, they are called otherwise.

2. The bank can supply you with foreign banknotes and coins; it is the usual practice.

3. The Bank of England has the right to manufacture the coins on their own.

4. Today a lot of our branch-bank customers request for notes of less than $100 value.

5. He has told me definitely that he can help me in my bank transaction, so I expect.

6. Last year, the firm became suspicious about the bonds and asked the people who owned them to submit confirmations; some bank staff were in that history.

7. The Bank Secretary has always strictly expected from his children the highest standards of behavior. In any situation, he educates future bankers.

8. The backs of English banknotes show portraits of different famous people that are part of national history.

Ситуація 2. Людина, яка промовляє наступні фрази, часом, не могла згадати деякі англійські сова. Допоможіть їй/йому знайти їх:

The one pound (банкнота)………… features Isaac Newton a well-known English (вчений)………….who made a few very important (відкриттів)……… including gravitation law. The back of the five pound note (зображає)………… the Duke of Wellington, a (відомого) ………….Irish general who (розбив)………… Napoleon at Waterloo, Belgium in 1815. On the back of the ten pound note one can see Florence Nightingale, (засновницю)………. of the nursing profession. She (добровільно поступила) ………….as a nurse to Turkey to take care of the (поранених солдат)………… from Crimean War, war of England and France versus Russia. And the back of the twenty pound banknote features William Shakespeare, the greatest (драматурга)………….. of all the time.

2.1. Прочитайте текст 4, намагаючись зрозуміти його якомога точніше та повніше.

TEXT 4