SPENDING

A. AN IDIOM A LESSON
Idiom: “Break the bank”
This English idiom is a verb phrase that means something costs too much money.

Example: That phone is very expensive. It will break the bank.

B. VOCABULARY

Name Value Written as:

1 penny one cent 1¢ $.01
2 nickel five cents 5¢ $.05
3 dime ten cents 10¢ $.10
twenty-five
4 quarter 25¢ $.25
cents
5 half dollar fifty cents 50¢ $.50
6 silver dollar one dollar $1.00

Name We sometimes say: Value Written as:

7 (one-) dollar bill a one one dollar $1.00
8 five-dollar bill a five five dollars $5.00
9 ten-dollar bill a ten ten dollars $10.00
10 twenty-dollar bill a twenty twenty dollars $20.00
11 fifty-dollar bill a fifty fifty dollars $50.00
12 (one-) hundred dollar one hundred
a hundred $100.00
bill dollars

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C. Practice listening and speaking English for daily

communication – Money
Money

I keep my money in the bank.

I have saved up my money.

I saved all my pennies in a jar.

A penny is only worth one cent.

I have nickels.

A nickel is worth five cents.

A dime is worth ten cents.

A quarter is worth twenty-five cents.

A quarter is a quarter of a dollar.

Four quarters make up a dollar.

A dollar is worth one hundred cents.

I saved up all of my dollars.

Our dollars used to be paper, but now they are coins.

We call our dollars loonies.

It is a funny name.

We also have two dollar coins.

We call those toonies.

We have five dollar bills and ten dollar bills.

If you are lucky you will have twenty dollar bills, fifty dollar bills and even hundred dollar bills.

Our bills in Canada are different colours. That makes them easy to recognize if you go somewhere
to spend them.

It is wise to save your money.

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If you save enough, you could have hundreds or thousands of dollars.

D. LISTENING English Vocabulary Exercises for A2 - Spending power - English

Practice Online (english-practice.net)

1. Listen and write the numbers. Use the correct symbols: £, €, $, and ¥.

a €1,000,000 e …………………..
b ………………….. f …………………..
c ………………….. g …………………..
d ………………….. h …………………..

2. Where can you buy these things? Complete the names of the shops with the correct
words.

4 b…………………..
1 D…………………..
s…………………..

5 c…………………..
s…………………..
2 b…………………..

3 g………………….. 6 c………………….. s…………………..

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7 g…………………..
c…………………..

9 s………………….. s…………………..

8 p…………………..
o…………………..

10 s…………………..

3. Where can you do these things? Complete the answers with the words below.
bank charity shop deli (delicatessen) estate agent’s

launderette DIY store optician’s takeaway

Where can you …

1 buy cold meat, cheese, olives, etc.? ………………………………

2 buy a hot meal to eat at home? ………………………………

3 keep your money? ………………………………

4 get glasses for your eyes? ………………………………

5 buy cheap second-hand things? ………………………………

6 find houses and flats for sale? ………………………………

7 wash your clothes? ………………………………

8 buy things to decorate your house? ………………………………

4. Listen to four dialogues. Which shops are the people in?

1 ……………………… 3 …………………………
2 ……………………… 4 …………………………

5. Complete the dialogues with the words below.

1 bargain discount price tag sale

Emma Are those jeans new?

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Kelly Yes, I bought them in a 1……………………….

Emma How much were they?

Kelly Well, I looked at the 2………………………. and it said £45. But when I got to the
till, the sales assistant gave me a £20 3………………………., so they were only £25.

Emma That was a 4……………………….!

2 coupon receipt refund special offer

Fred I’d like to buy this scarf, please. Can I use this 5……………………….? It says I can
have a £5 discount.

Sales assistant No, I’m afraid you can only use it on full-price items. This scarf is already
on 6……………………….

Fred OK. I’ll buy it anyway. Actually, it’s a present. If my friend doesn’t like it, can she
bring it back and get a 7……………………….?

Sales assistant Yes, if you give her the 8……………………….

D. SPEAKING
PREPARING THESE QUESTIONS

1. How much money is enough?

Well, it’s hard to answer this question as there is no exact measurement to say whether money
is enough or not. It’s up to the perspectives and goals of different people. Some people want
to earn more money so they can save up but some just need a certain amount of money to
sustain their lives.

2. Why do people care too much about money?

I think the reason is simply that money equals power. The more money you have, the more
things you can do, the more influence you have over people. No one refuses power so that’s
why they give priority to money. Also, people just want to keep up with the Joneses.

3. Is money important to you?

Absolutely. I can buy things with money and give presents for my family on my own money.
It makes my life more meaningful. It’s motivation to push me forward and make me work
harder to enhance my life. For me, money is just never enough and if I’m satisfied with what I
earn, I’ll fall behind with my fellows.

4. What do people in your country save money for?

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I suppose it’s up to different purposes. While the young save money for travelling or paying
tuition fees, the elderly tend to keep the money for health service and their kids. However,
young people have more desire than the seniors so they often spend more than their savings.

Describe a method to save money

You should say :

 What the method is

 When you started to use it

 How you knew it

 and explain why it is helpful

F. GAMING / SINGING TIME

Kahoot: test vocabulary and how they can understand the subject