In the UK the currency (= type of money used) is sterling; in America it is the dollar; in much of Europe it’s the euro. notes coins e.g. ten pounds, twenty euros | e.g. fifty pence, a pound a ten-pound note a 50p coin, a one-pound coin HEE, Common verbs spend £££ on (sth) | Last week I spent £100 on food, and £20 on books. pay £££ (for sth) | I paid £200 for my new desk. (= it cost me £200) cost My new desk cost (me) £200. (= I paid £200 for it) charge They charged me (= told me to pay) £10 to repair my watch. lend and borrow | Could you lend me some money? or Could I borrow some money? waste £££ (on sth) | Parents often think that children waste their money (= use it badly sweets and other things they don’t need. save (up) (for sth) | I'm saving (up) (= keeping some of my money when I receive it) for my holiday ~ I'm hoping to go to Greece. HES) Adjectives These arc all used to describe the price of something (= the amount of mone: pay for sth), e.g. This watch was cheap; the hotel was reasonable; my suir w: expensive, etc. u have to quite free cheap reasonable quite very incredibly expensive expensive —_expensive E £ S £ ce £ HED) Talking money I can't afford (= don’t have enough money) to go on holiday this year. A: How much is that watch worth? (= What is its value?) _&: I's worth about £50. The cost of living (= how much people pay for things) is high in Sweden and Norway, but people still have a good standard of living. (= the level of money and comfort people have) His car cost a fortune (= was very expensive), but he can afford it; he’s well-off. (= rich) 110. English Vocabulary in Use (preinermediace & invermediate)58.1 58.2 58.3 $8.4 Exercises Fill the gaps using the past tense of verbs from the box. Be careful, most of them are irregular. buy spend —_ lose pay cost sell win waste find give itand . a new one. 2. Iwas very sad when I. "my watch because it was a present from my wife and ir . her a lot of money. Fortunately, somebody ita few days later and took it to a police station. Bil _ over £2,000 for my computer, but it isn’t worth very much now. 4 My father me £50 last week but I. most of it on Friday when I went to the concert. 5. Last week somebod quite exciting. 6 Pm afraid | played them more than once. 1 My car was five years old, so I. £1 million in a game show on television. It was my money on those computer games ~ I don’t think I’ve Complete the sentences without using the underlined words and phrases. Don’t change the meaning. Example You want to tell a friend that your uncle is very rich. My uncle is vey wull-off. 1 You want to know the value of your friend’s gold ring. You ask: How much is your .. 2A friend wants to go to a restaurant but you don’t have enough money. You sa I'm afraid 1... 3. You want to borrow some money from a friend. You ask Could you 4, You want to know how much a friend paid for her dictionary. You ask: How much 5 You want to erin to someone that a disco is ins expen You sa ye That disco rn How quickly can you answer these questions, YES or NO? Write down answers to all of them, then go back and check. If possible, ask someone else the same questions. Is the currency in America called the dollar? Is a five-pound note worth less than a 50p coin? If you lend something to someone, do they borrow it? If you waste money, do you use it well? Is the ‘euro’ a currency? If you ‘can't afford’ something, do you have enough money for it? Does ‘cost of living’ mean the same as ‘standard of living"? If someone tells you a hotel is reasonable, is it very expensive? eNAUawHE Write down the approximate price of six things in your country, c.g. a daily newspaper, a short bus journey, a cup of coffee in a bar/café, a ticket for the cinema, a takeaway burger, a pair of jeans, etc. Do you think the price is expensive, reasonable, cheap? Compare with someone else if possible. Englsh Vocabulary in Use (pre-intermediate & intermediate) 119