Unit 8                  Money

I单元导读

经典引用   The love of money is the root of all evil.   爱钱是万恶之源。   The love of money and the love of learning rarely meet.   爱钱与爱知识几乎不能并存。                                        T                                 The Bible 圣经

 

思考问题

What is your attitude towards money? 你如何看待金钱？

You may ask yourself the following questions:

· How do you obtain your money? · How do you spend your money? · If you won a lottery and became a millionaire overnight, how would you spend your money? · Do you think money is the root of all evil? · Do you make a monthly budget（预算） for you expenses? · Do you think it is all right to borrow money from your friends? · Did you owe money to anyone? · Do you think money is important, or if so, how important?

Useful Information

 Normally we think of money as the coins and paper notes that are used as a standard medium of exchange or payment within any particular country. Great Britain has the pound, France, Germany and at least 10 other European countries have the Euro, China has the yuan, and the United States the dollar. But in all technologically advanced societies, there are now many different kinds of money. Wealth is not only measured by the number of coins or paper notes that we possess but also by various types of assets. Aside from real estate (land, houses, buildings, etc.) and other forms of material wealth like paintings or jewelry, some people can also own stocks and bonds. The resources of a company are divided into portions or shares that are issued in the form of transferable certificates called stocks. If a company does well, the profits are divided among stockholders. If a government or a company wants to borrow money, it can issue bonds or certificates of debt that promise to pay back by a certain date the money borrowed plus interest. The risk factor is much higher in stocks. Bonds provide a safer form of investment but they are less profitable. Both stocks and bonds are bought and sold on the stock market.

In modern societies, most people are not paid in cash. They receive checks which must be deposited in an account in a bank or a credit union, for example. This, in turn, enables them to pay for goods and services with personal checks rather than using cash. Providing they have a high enough income, they can also use credit cards and other non-cash systems.

The increasing number of ways that are used to replace real currency is reminiscent of the multitude of objects once used as primitive money. Depending on the economy and the culture, these included such things as beads, jade, gold, silver, ivory, hoes, guns, oxen, and pigs. These types of items were used in addition to direct bartering in which one object was exchanged for another. Along with other ancient civilizations, China developed bronze coins over 3,000 years ago. Coins had the advantage of being easier to control and to standardize. The value of money has always been linked to political and economic power. Even today, the international trading currencies in the world—the US dollar, the European Union’s Euro, the British pound, etc.—all reflect the relative strength of their countries. The future of the new European currency called the euro will depend on the combined strength of the countries supporting it.

There have always been moral issues related to money. Some societies regarded lavish spending as morally wrong; others considered lending money at a high rate of interest as a social crime. Many stories have been written on the miser’s greed for money. According to the Bible, “the love of money is the root of all evil.” The famous playwright, George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) stated that, in the final analysis, it was not the love but the lack of money that was the root of all evil. While it is true that money causes all kinds of problems, it is equally true that in today’s society it is a necessary evil.