Say the prices of different things you usually buy

10 (4). Listening. Listen to three people talking about the cost of living in their city. Write the name of the cities in the table below (a-c). Then listen again and fill in the prices in the table.

City	A	b	c
Monthly rent for a one-bed apartment	¥550,00	4.	7.
Dinner for four at a top restaurant	1.	€1,000	8.
A newspaper	¥130	5.	70 pence
A Big Mac hamburger	2.	€2.94	9.
A cinema ticket	3.	6.	£8
Bread	¥120	90 cents	10.

11. Speaking. How much do the items in the table cost in your country? Is the cost of living high in your country? Where is the cost of living low?

Read the text and explain the words in bold.

Money

Money is anything that is accepted as payment for goods and services and repayment of debts. The main functions of money are as follows: a medium of exchange, a unit of account, a store of value, and a standard of deferred payment.

The money supply of a country usually consists of currency (banknotes and coins) and demand deposits or 'bank money'. Bank money exists only in the form of various bank records. Bank money performs the basic functions of money, as checks are generally accepted as a form of payment and as a means of transferring ownership of deposit money.

Many items are used as commodity money such as naturally scarce precious metals. Commodity money value comes from the commodity out of which it is made. The commodity itself constitutes the money, and the money is the commodity. Use of commodity money is similar to barter.

In 1875 economist William Stanley Jevons described " representative money," i.e., money that consists of token coins, or other physical tokens such as certificates, that can be reliably exchanged for a fixed quantity of a commodity such as gold or silver. The value of representative money stands in direct and fixed relation to the commodity that backs it. But it is not composed of that commodity.

Fiat money or fiat currency is money whose value is not derived from any intrinsic value or guarantee that it can be converted into a valuable commodity (such as gold). Instead, it has value only by government order (fiat). Usually, the government declares the fiat currency (typically notes and coins from a central bank) to be legal tender. It is unlawful not to accept the fiat currency as a means of repayment for all debts, public and private.

Commercial bank money or demand deposits are claims against financial institutions that can be used for the purchase of goods and services. A demand deposit account is an account from which funds can be withdrawn at any time by check or cash withdrawal. You shouldn’t give the bank any prior notice. Banks have the legal obligation to return funds upon demand (or 'at call').

Commercial bank money is created through fractional-reserve banking. This is banking practice where banks keep only a fraction of their deposits in reserve (as cash and other highly liquid assets) and lend out the remainder. But they maintain the obligation to redeem all these deposits upon demand.

Commercial bank money differs from commodity and fiat money in two ways. Firstly it is non-physical, and secondly, there is some element of risk that the claim will not be fulfilled if the financial institution becomes insolvent.