课文听力文本 Unit 8 Cash or Cheque

Unit 8 Cash or Cheque?

Part ⅠGetting ready

Exercise B

1.

Man: I'd like to open a savings and a checking account.

Woman: Our minimum deposit for a savings account is $25.

Man: What is the interest rate?

Woman: It's 4.5%.

Man: Do you charge for cheques?

Woman: Each cheque that you write will cost 20 cents.

2.

Woman: I'd like to withdraw some money from my savings account. Teller: First you'll have to fill out one of these withdrawal forms. Woman: Oh, no. It asks for my account number. I forgot my bank book. Teller: I'm afraid you'll need that first.

3.

Man: Can I cash a cheque here?

Teller: Do you have an account with us?

Man: Yes, I have a checking account here.

Teller: Please write your account number on the back of the cheque. Man: Is that all you need?

Teller: Could I see one more piece of identification?

Man: Will a driver's license do?

Teller: Yes. That'd be fine.

4.

Man: I would like to ask about taking a loan.

Loan Officer: Do you have an account here?

Man: Yes, I've been a customer here for several months.

Loan Officer: How much do you want to borrow?

Man: Three thousand dollars.

5.

Clerk: Yes?

Man: I want to cash this traveller's cheque.

Clerk: Do you have your passport?

Man: Yes.

Clerk: Thank you. Sign here, please. Here you are.

Man: Thank you.

Exercise C

Charlie is a short way of saying a man’s first name, Charles. It is what his friends or family might call him. Cheap means something that is low in cost, not expensive. It can also mean someone who is not willing to spend money. So the expression “Cheap Charlie” means someone who will not spend money.

The Random House Historical Dictionary of American Slang lists words and expressions used in American English. Slang words are not used in standard English, but may be used by a special group of people/

This dictionary lists tow expressions that mean someone who does not want to spend much money. They are “Cheap John” and “Cheap Charlie”. The dictionary says “Cheap John” was first used as an expression in about 1827.

The dictionary says “Cheap Charlie” developed as an expression much later. It may have first been used in 962 in South Vietnam. A popular eating place on Hai Ba Trung Street in Saigon was called the Chong Nam Restaurant. It provided good food at a very low price. Americans who ate there began calling it “Cheap Charlie’s”.

After a while, in South Vietnam, anyone who would not spend a lot of money was called a “Cheap Charlie”. A suit of clothes that did not cost a lot of money was called a “Cheap Charlie”suit. Inexpensive shoes were called “Cheap Charlie” shoes. You get this idea.

Part ⅡUsing a bank account

Exercise A Transcript

Foreign exchange dealing is, as its name implies, the exchange of the currency of one country for the currency of another. The rate of exchange is the value of one unit of the foreign currency expressed in the other currency concerned. A bank may make gains on buying and selling currencies on the inter-bank market. Making a profit on the transaction is the basic idea of foreign exchange dealing.

Exercise B

Alex: Good morning.

Cashier: Good morning.

Alex: I would ... I would want to know how to make out this cheque.

Cashier: Right. Erm ... do you want to draw out some money?

Alex: Yes, ￡20.

Cashier: ￡20 OK. (Yes) Well, the first thing you need to do, is to write today's date in the top right-hand corner where you see the line (Yes) at the top you write just today's date (Yes) and the year. You must put the year in. And if you want to draw out money after it says pay ... can you see over on the left-hand side?

Alex: The first ... er ... line?

Cashier: That's it. On the first line it says PAY and you write "Cash" afterwards.

Alex: In letters.

Cashier: Yes. CASH (Yes) you write cash. OK. Then underneath that, right underneath, you have to write the amount of money you want. So just twenty pounds and then you write ONL Y at the end in words. Then at the end of that line where you can see the box, see over on the right-hand

side, you have to write the amount you want in numbers.

Alex: In numbers?

Cashier: Mm-mm.

Alex: Yes.

Cashier: And then underneath that box, the last thing you have to do in the bottom right-hand corner is just write your signature.

Alex: Thank you very much.

Cashier: OK. Bye-bye then.

Alex: Bye.

Part ⅢMaking phone calls to chase late payments

Call 1

Smythe: This is Paul Smythe calling from Birmingham.

Martinez: Good morning, Mr. Smythe. How are you?

Smythe: Fine, thanks. And you?

Martinez: Yes, I'm fine, too.

Smythe: Mr. Martinez, I'm ringing about our last invoice.

Martinez: Yes, I remember we got it before the summer.

Smythe: Exactly, Mr. Martinez. The invoice was raised more than three months ago.

Martinez: I'm sorry, I don't quite follow you.

Smythe: We sent you the invoice on the 13th of July.

Martinez: On the 30th of July.

Smythe: Not the 30th. The 13th. And we still haven't received payment.

Martinez: OK, Mr. Smythe. I'll check and get back to you.

Smythe: When can you contact me?

Martinez: This afternoon.

Smythe: That's fine. I look forward to hearing from you.

Martinez: Bye.

Smythe: Bye.

Call 2

Martinez: Well, Mr. Smythe, I've looked into your invoice and found out why it hasn't been paid. Smythe: And why is that?

Martinez: We asked our bank to transfer the money but they couldn't. They said that your bank details are wrong.

Smythe: What do you mean, our bank details are wrong? They are printed on our invoice. And you received the same invoice as all our other customers.

Martinez: I'm sorry, what did you say?

Smythe: I said our bank details are printed on the invoice.

Martinez: Well, I have the invoice here. Can we just check? The account number is 40211686. Is that right?

Smythe: Yes, that's right.

Martinez: At the Bank of Scot land at 46 Portland Street in …

Smythe: Hang on a minute, did you say "Bank of Scotland"?

Martinez: Yes.

Smythe: It's the Royal Bank of Scotland-not the Bank of Scotland.

Martinez: You mean there are two?

Smythe: Exactly.

Martinez: OK, Mr. Smythe. I'll ask our bank to transfer the amount to the Royal Bank of Scotland. Smythe: As soon as possible, Mr. Martinez.

Martinez: Manana, Mr. Smythe, as soon as the bank opens. And, Mr. Smythe, I'm sorry about the mistake.

Smythe: Well,I'm glad we sorted it out.

Martinez: Yes! Bye.

Smythe: Bye.

Call 3

Clerk: Account enquiries.

Smythe: Good afternoon. I'd like to check if a transfer has been received from Spain.

Clerk: Could you give me your account number and the account name please?

Smythe: Yes, the number is 40211686 and the company name is Paul Smythe and Partners. Clerk: Could you spell Smythe, please?

Smythe: Yes, it's S-M-Y-T-H-E.

Clerk: And your address,please?

Smythe: Unit 7, Parkdown Trading Estate.

Clerk: And when did you expect the money to be credited?

Smythe: This week.

Clerk: One moment, please. Yes, we received a credit of ￡3 476.28 on Wednesday.

Smythe: Sorry,could you repeat the amount?

Clerk: Yes, ￡3 476.28.

Smythe: I was expecting a round figure of ￡3 500. Did the bank make a charge?

Clerk: I'm afraid I can't see that from my screen. I've only got the final figure which was credited to your account.

Smythe: But we get lots of payments from abroad and we never have to pay charges.

Clerk: Let me check, sir ... Yes, the amount was transferred in Spanish pesetas. We had to convert it into pounds. So, after bank charges, your account was credited with ￡3 476.28.

Smythe: I see. OK, thank you.

Clerk: You're welcome.

Smythe: Bye.

Clerk: Bye.

Part ⅣMore about the topic: E-money--Money of the Future?

When we think of money today, we picture it either as round, flat pieces of metal which we call coins, or as printed paper notes.

However, the earliest method of exchange was barter in which goods were exchanged directly for other goods. Problems arose when either someone did not want what was being offered in

exchange for the other good, or if no agreement could be reached over how much one good was worth in terms of the other.

Valuable metals such as gold and silver began acting as a medium of exchange. Governments then decided to melt down these metals into coins. By the seventeenth century people were leaving gold with the local goldsmith for safe keeping. Receipts of ￡1 and ￡5 were issued which could then be converted back into gold at any time. Soon these receipts were recognized as being "as good as gold" and were readily taken in exchange for goods. Goldsmiths became the first specialist bankers and their receipts began to circulate as banknotes.

Nowadays, however, notes are not usually used to buy expensive items such as cars. The buyer is more likely to write out a check which instructs his bank to transfer money from his account into the account of the seller. Hence bank deposits act as money.

Part ⅤMemory test: Judy's Weekly Spending

Transcript:

Judy: Let me see, first I did the weekly shopping at the supermarket, that was about ￡9.50, as far as I remember, a bit up from last week, we must be more careful. Then I bought some petrol for the car, didn't I? Yes that's it, ￡7 or so. I must have had lunch a couple of times, yes I went to Browns, that was ￡3.20, and then there was that terrible meal in a pub in Headington, ￡2. I think I paid the newspapers, that's usually about ￡3, really we shouldn't spend so much but I think it's important to know what's going on in the world. Oh I went to the cinema, terrible film, and that was a waste of ￡2. I don't think there was anything else, a couple of coffees, say 50p and a chocolate bar, 20p, not very healthy but I do need a bit of luxury from time to time! Hold on a minute, there was a T-shirt ￡5.95, not bad at that price really.

Questions for memory test:

1．How much did she spend in all?

2．Did Judy spend more or less than last week at the supermarket?

3．How much did Judy pay for petrol?

4．Where did she go for lunch?

5．Why does Judy buy newspapers?

6．Did she enjoy going to the cinema?

7．Does she drink tea or coffee?

8．Does she really think chocolate is unhealthy?

9．How much did she spend on a T-shirt?

10．Was it of good value?