Gateway B2 Units 56 Gateway online

Culture The colour of money

1 Speaking Look at the banknotes and answer the questions.

1 Which countries are they from?
2 What do you think the images represent?
3 What do you think they say about the countries?
4 What events/moments do you think the notes are
commemorating?

2 READING Read the texts and check your answers.

Darragh, Northern Ireland Valeria, Brazil

In 2006, the Ulster bank decided to issue this bank This banknote was issued in
note to commemorate a national figure. It depicts the great 2000 to celebrate the 500th
footballer George Best, who was born in Northern Ireland anniversary of the discovery
in 1946. They issued a million of these notes and they were of Brazil by Portuguese
bought up very quickly because people wanted to keep them as explorers. Here we have a
souvenirs, I guess. They are now collectors' items. I like the idea map of Brazil and a whole
because, normally, banknotes feature the leaders of countries, load of different faces. I think
the royal family etc. Its great to have a popular figure here. the faces stand for the ethnic
diversity of our country. So, if
you look carefully, youll see
here you have black, white,
Xue, Hong Kong mixed race and Amerindian.
The Bank of China released this banknote to celebrate the It seems to me that this is a
Olympics that were held in China in 2008. You can see the logo on the wonderful image to find on a
right hand side of the bank note. But the main image that you can see is banknote. Normally, we find
the building, the skyscraper. This is the headquarters of the Bank of China famous buildings or historic
in Hong Kong. The interesting thing is that money in Hong Kong is issued figures on our money, but
by different banks, and the symbol of that bank is very prominent on the this is completely different.
money. The bank symbolizes power and authority in Hong Kong. Im not sure By putting this image on our
I like that but it is true that our society revolves around money and doing money we are conveying our
business. Hong Kong is one of the most important trading cities in the world sense of collective identity with
and, personally, I think this image expresses that very well. the rest of the world and that
has to be a good thing.

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3 READING Read the texts again and complete the table with true (T) or false (F).

The banknote The banknote The banknote If you look The speaker The speaker
was issued was kept by says something carefully, didnt talks positively
to celebrate collectors as a important you can see understand the about the
a special souvenir. about the interesting significance of banknote.
occasion. country that details on the the banknote at
issued it. banknote. first.
Northern
Ireland

Brazil

Hong Kong

4 READINGWork with a partner. Underline expressions in the texts where the speaker is giving their opinion about the
banknotes.
I suppose, I like the idea...

5 Speaking Work with a partner. Think about the banknotes in your country. What do the images on the notes represent?
Whats your opinion of them? Have there been any changes to them recently? Use some of the expressions in 4.

over to you!

6 Project Work with a partner. Research banknotes from other countries by looking at this website: http://www.
banknotes.com/images.htm. Choose a series of banknotes from one country and discuss the questions. Then report your
findings to the rest of the class.
1 Why did you choose this country/these banknote(s)?
2 How do they compare with the banknotes from your country?
3 Whats interesting about one or more of the notes?
4 What can you learn about this country from studying it?

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Culture The colour of money

Teachers Notes
Activity Completing a table for comprehension
Analysing the meaning of images Researching
foreign banknotes.
Language Expressions to give opinion Expressions to
describe images.
To use: After Students Book unit 5 in class, as self-
study or as a homework activity.
Preparation: Make one copy of the worksheet for each
student.
Procedure
This worksheet can be given as homework or be done
in pairs in class.
1 Give a worksheet to each student. Ask the students to
look at the banknotes. Elicit the names of the countries
and currencies. Ask students who they think the people
on the banknotes are. Clarify that Northern Ireland is part
of Great Britain and therefore uses the Pound as currency
not the Euro (as the Republic of Ireland does). As an
additional question, ask which of the notes the class likes
the most and why. Encourage students to use modal
verbs of supposition in their answers. Make sure to elicit
responses to questions 3 and 4 but just accept different
interpretations so as not to spoil the reading texts.
2 Ask the students to then read the texts and check their
answers.
3 Next, the students read again and complete the table in
pairs or small groups.
4 Focus the students attention on key language for giving
opinion: it seems to me, etc in the texts. Explain that it
is acceptable to just use I think but it is good to have
a range of expressions at their disposal, so as not to
sound repetitive. Make sure the students see that such
language is useful when discussing any images. You can
also highlight the synonyms of represent in the texts:
depict, feature, stand for, convey, symbolize, express.
5 Ask the students to consider what the banknotes in
their country are like. Has the currency in their country
changed, such as the change to the Euro?
6 If you have some bank notes from other countries, bring
these into class to show learners. Alternatively, show
some examples from the Internet from http://www.
banknotes.com/images.htm.

Key
1 1 Hong Kong/China, Northern Ireland/Britain and Brazil.
2 The images represent a large bank (Hong Kong), a famous footballer
(Northern Ireland) and the ethnic diversity of a population (Brazil).
3 Hong Kong is a commercial/business centre, George Best was an
important footballer and popular icon, who played for Northern Ireland
(football is the national sport) and Brazils ethnic population is very
diverse.
4 The Hong Kong note is commemorating the Chinese Olympics, the
Northern Ireland note is paying tribute to a footballer on the anniversary
of his death and the Brazilian note is commemorating the 500th
anniversary of the countrys discovery.
3
The banknote was The banknote was The banknote says If you look carefully, The speaker didnt The speaker talks
issued to celebrate a kept by collectors as a something important you can see understand the positively about the
special occasion. souvenir. about the country interesting details in significance of the banknote.
that issued it. the banknote. banknote at first.
Northern Ireland T T F F F T
Brazil T F T T T T
Hong Kong T F T F F F

4 Darragh: I guess, I like the idea, its great to

Valeria: I think, it seems to me, that has to be a good thing
Xue: Im not sure I like that, personally, I think
5 Students own answers
6 Students own answers

This page has been downloaded from Gateway Online: www.gateway-online.net

Written by Ben Goldstein. Copyright Macmillan Publishers Limited 2011.
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