I. Before reading the text learn the following words.

THE DOLLAR

The dollar is the basic unit of United States money. It is worth 100 cents. Its symbol is $. So, $1-00 means one dollar.

The dollar is also the main currency unit of:

Australia,

Canada,

Jamaica,

New Zealand,

Singapore,

Zimbabwe

and some other countries.

The dollar was adopted in .the USA in 1792. The first US dollars were issued in silver and gold. After 1934, however, all gold coins were taken out of circulation. A silver dollar was issued at various times from 1794 until 1935.

The dollar was adopted in Canada in 1878. Australia adopted the dol­lar in 1966, and New Zealand in 1967.

THE POUND

The basic unit of money of the United Kingdom is the pound, also called the pound sterling. The symbol of Britain's pound sterling is £. Today the pound is equal to 100 pence. The British adopted the decimal system in 1971.

Things were far more complicated in the past. The pound was subdivided into 20 shillings. The shilling was subdivided into 12 pennies. The guinea was equal to one pound one shilling. It was a gold coin used in fixing prices of valuable goods. There also were crowns, 5-shilling silver coins; half-crowns worth 2 shillings and 6 pence; florins, 2-shilling silver pieces; bobs worth 12 pence. A sixpence was a 6-penny coin and a 3-penny piece was called a "threepence".

There also were "ha'pennies", copper coins, worth half a penny, and farthings, or quarter-penny copper coins.

You may ask what you need to know all this for. Perhaps you don't have to remember any of it. Unless, of course, you collect coins. Or read the great works of English literature.

II. Answer the following questions:

1. What is the basic unit of money in the USA?

2. How much is the dollar worth?

3. What is the dollar's symbol?

4. Where does the dollar circulate?

5. When was the dollar adopted in the United States?

6. Were the first dollars issued in copper?

7. Do gold coins circulate now?

8. When was the dollar adopted in Canada?

9. When did Australia and New Zealand adopt the dollar?

10. What is the basic unit of money in/of the UK?

11. When was the decimal system adopted in Great Britain?

12. How many shillings were there in the pound before 1971?

13. Was the guinea equal to one pound sterling?

14. What was the crown equal to?

15. Were there any copper coins in circulation?

16. What is the symbol of the British pound sterling?