Money matters
LANGUAGE TEST /
FINANCIAL ENGLISH
1. How to pay
Diane makes most of the family payments. There are different ways to do so. The terms in bold are not where they should be. Put them in the right place.
In the supermarket, Diane usually pays online (A) …, that is to say, with coins and banknotes. She uses bitcoins (B) … only for larger amounts. She remembers that many years ago, when they bought their first car, she issued a bank transfer (C) … to pay for it. And to pay invoices, she used to go to the bank, fill in a form and make the payment by cash (D) …. Now, she makes all kinds of payments cheque (E) …. And she believes that some day, people will pay for everything digitally, for example, by using credit cards (F) ….
2. Making your living
Every month, Diane checks all the items on Robert´s and her pay slips to make sure that the correct amounts have been deducted. A German friend helps her to do this. Fill in the missing vowels in the words in bold.
The first amount that is shown on their pay slips is the (A) gr…ss s…l…ry. It would be nice if this sum where the money that the family could spend! However, from this amount, several deductions are made. A certain percentage of their income goes to (B) …n…mpl…ym…nt …ns…r…nc… and to the (C) p…ns……n …ns…r…nc… f…nd. As a result, if they should one day lose their jobs, they would receive (D) …n…mpl…ym…nt b…n…f…ts. And when they retire, they will get paid a (E) p…ns……n. Another deduction is for (F) h……lth …ns…r…nc….
As Diane and Robert are employees, all these deductions are split into the (G) …mpl…y…r and the (H) …mpl…y…… contributions. And, of course, Diane and Robert have to pay (I) …nc…m… t…x. The last figure on the pay slips is the most important one: the (J) n…t s…l…ry – the amount of money available to them to spend or save.
3. Easy come,…
Apart from their salaries, Diane and Robert have other sources of income. Choose the right option from the words in bold.
- The couple receives (A) child benefit/income for each of their two children.
- Diane has (B) additional/added income from a job in the emergency service of a dental clinic, where she works one weekend per month.
- They also earn (C) rental/housing income from their house in Oxford.
- Robert holds shares in his company and gets paid an (D) annual divident/deposit.
- They also receive the (E) proceeds/processes from their capital investments.
- And one day, when they are retired, they will both receive a (F) state pension/rent. Robert will also receive money from his company´s (G) occupational/operational pension scheme.
4. …easy go
Diane keeps a careful record of the family´s expenditure. A lot of money is spent on fixed costs every month. Match the terms to their definitions.
| A. rent | D. insurance |
| B. additional/ancillary costs | E. instalments |
| C. subscriptions | F. membership fees |
| 1. | the regular payments that you make for something that you bought but have not yet paid for in full |
| 2. | payments made fo media, either print or digital, that you receive regularly |
| 3. | the money you pay, usually on a monthly basis, to live in a flat or house that you do not own |
| 4. | payments made to an association or organization to which you belong |
| 5. | the extra money (apart from rent) that you pay for living in a house or flat – such as for waste disposal, water, the cleaning of the staircase, etc. |
| 6. | payments made for policies taken out to protect you against certain risks |
A. –
B. –
C. –
D. –
E. –
F. –
5. Money in the bank
Diane and Robert have had a look at their monthly bank statement. It shows an overview of all the transaction carried out during that month. Unscramble the words in bold.
Diane: Robert, I´ve downloaded this month´s statement for our (A) centrur acntcou ………………
Robert: Could we have a look at it together? Sure. I don´t think there have been any changes to our regular commitments, have there?
Diane: No. There are the (B) kanb gesharc ……………… for the account, payments for our (C) gaortgem ………… on the house in Oxford and all the usual (D) singndta dorser ………….. for our subscriptions, the children´s tennis and ballet classes, etc.
Robert: What about the phone and internet?
Diane: The provider takes the money each month by (E) cdirte tebid ……….. Also, we overdrew the account twice last month, so the bank charged us interest on the (F) veroftdra …………
Robert: But why is the interest so high? I thought it was much lower.
Diane: Yes, but only up to ower (G) fovertard itlmi …….. And we went over this last month.
Robert: Ouch. Oh, well. At least the (H) ceanlab ……. is still positive, so that´s OK.
6. Where to invest your money
Diane and Robert do not spend all the money they earn. An adviser at the bank gives them tips on how best to invest their surplus funds. Choose the right definition of each type of investment.
| A. | „First of all, there is the traditional savings account. This is… | |
| 1. | a deposit account in which you save money that you do not need at the moment. | |
| 2. | an account free of charge from which you do all your banking transactions to save fees. | |
| The interest is very low at the moment, but you have the money available immediately when you need it“ | ||
| B. | „An alternative is a fixed-term deposit account. This is… | |
| 1. | an account into which you regularly pay an amount of money. | |
| 2. | an account that is set up for a specific period of time and that provides you with a higher rate of interest than a regular savings account. | |
| A fixed-term deposit account is a safe form of investment and, therefore, preferred by people who want to avoid any risk.“ | ||
| C. | To get a higher yield, a lot of our customers like to invest their money in an investment fund. This is… | |
| 1. | a fund that invests in different companies. | |
| 2. | a fund that invests in developing countries. | |
| The level of risk of investment funds ranges from low to very high.“ | ||
| D. | „You could also invest your money in the commodities market. This involves … | |
| 1. | investing in goods such as agricultural products or natural resources. | |
| 2. | investing in firms that distribute products worldwide. | |
| However, this type of investment can be very volatile. Depending on the market, you may enjoy big gains but also suffer considerable losses.“ | ||
| E. | „Corporate bonds are another option. These are bonds … | |
| 1. | issued by private companies in order to finance their activities, such as building a new factory. | |
| 2. | issued by the government to raise money for supporting companies that have gone bankrupt. | |
| Here, the level of risk depends on the companies involved.“ | ||
| F. | „We can also offer investments in real-estate investment trusts. This means that … | |
| 1. | you buy buildings from a real-estate agency and rent them out. | |
| 2. | you invest money in a company that does business on the real-estate market – buying, selling or managing buildings. | |
| This tends to be a longer-term investment and ist not suitable if you will need quick access to your money.“ | ||
| G. | „Finally, have you ever considered microcredits as a form of investment? These are … | |
| 1. | small loans provided to individuals in developing countries by a lending company – usually an NGO – to start their own business, for example. | |
| 2. | small loans given to the municipal administration to improve the infrastructure in your town. | |
| Many people like the idea of microcredits because they feel they are doing something good as well as earning a return on their investment.“ |
Answers
1. How to pay
A. cash
B. credit cards
C. cheque
D. bank transfer = Überweisung
E. online
F. bitcoins
2. Making your living
A. gross salary = Bruttogehalt
B. unemployment insurance = Arbeitslosenversicherung
C. pension insurance fund = Rentenversicherung
D. unemployment benefits = Arbeitslosengeld
E. pension = Rente; Pension
F. health insurance = Krankenversicherung
G. employer (employer contribution = Arbeitgeberanteil)
H. employee (employee contribution = Arbeitnehmeranteil)
I. income tax = Einkommensteuer
J. net salary = Nettogehalt
3. Easy come,…
A. child benefit UK = Kindergeld
B. additional income = Nebeneinkünfte
C. rental income = Mieteinnahme(n)
D. annual divident = Jahresdividende
E. proceeds = Erträge
F. state pension = gesetzliche Rente
G. occupational pension scheme = betriebliche Altersversorgung
4. …easy go
A. – 3 (Miete
B. – 5 (Nebenkosten, Betriebskosten)
C. – 2 (Abo(nnement)gebühren
D. – 6 (Versicherung(en))
E. – 1 (Raten(zahlungen))
F. – 4 (Mitgliedsbeiträge)
5. Money in the bank
A. current account UK = Girokonto
B. bank charges = Kontoführungsgebühren
C. mortgage = Hypothek
D. standing orders UK = Daueraufträge
E. direct debit = Bankeinzug, Lastschrift
F. overdraft = Kontoüberziehung
G. overdraft limit = Überziehungsgrenze
H. balance = Kontostand, Saldo
6. Where to invest your money
A. – 1 (Sparkonto)
B. – 2 (Festgeldkonto)
C. – 1 (Investmentfonds)
D. – 1 (Rohstoffmarkt)
E. – 1 (Unternehmensobligationen)
F. – 2 (Immobilieninvestment-gesellschaften)
G. – 1 (Mikro-, Kleinkredite)
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