WARM-UPS

1. MY CURRENCY: With your partner(s), talk and tell each other about the currency of your country.  When you have finished, find a new partner and report on what you talked about.

2. CHAT: In pairs / groups, decide which of these topics or words from the article are most interesting and which are most boring.

Banknote / money / becoming richer / inflation / incomes / energy / superpowers / design / banks / rainbows / stripes / symbols / 5,000 / opinion polls / Latin

Have a chat about the topics you liked. For more conversation, change topics and partners frequently.

3. WORLD CURRENCIES: With your partner(s), talk about these currencies. What things spring to mind when you think of each currency? Change partner(s) and share what you talked about.

US dollar Euro British pound Japanese yen

Chinese yuan Indian rupee Russian rouble Other ____________

4. QUICK DEBATE: Students A believe cash is no good and credit cards or e-money are better. Students B believe cash is the best and should never be replaced by credit cards or e-money. Debate this with your partners. Change partners often.

5. OPINIONS: With your partner(s), talk about the following opinions on the rouble and other currencies. Change partners and share your findings.

1. It is too risky to invest in the Russian rouble.
2. One day there should only be one currency in the world.
3. It is too dangerous to have banknotes with a very high value.
4. Copying high value banknotes is now very easy.
5. Russians will soon be among the richest people in the world.
6. The rouble will be replaced by the Euro in the future.
7. Most Russians will never get a 5,000-rouble note.
8. The rouble will soon be as strong as the US dollar.

6. BANKNOTE: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the work ‘banknote’. Share your words with your partner(s) and talk about them. Together, put the words into different categories.

BEFORE READING / LISTENING

1. TRUE / FALSE: Look at the article’s headline and guess whether these sentences are true (T) or false (F):

a.	The 5,000-rouble note is to control inflation.	T / F
b.	It is the first time Russia has had such a high value banknote.	T / F
c.	Russia’s currency is currently very weak.	T / F
d.	Russia recently agreed to pay off all of a $12.5 Soviet-era debt.	T / F
e.	The new banknote contains no high-tech features.	T / F
f.	The bill has hidden rainbow stripes that glow in the dark.	T / F
g.	The bill has the number 5,000 formed by lots of small-diameter holes.	T / F
h.	A competition will decide on a new symbol for the rouble.	T / F

2. SYNONYM MATCH: Match the following synonyms from the article:

a.	banknote	be equal to
b.	richer	increase
c.	trouble	characteristics
d.	growth	position
e.	status	wealthier
f.	protect	memorable
g.	features	bill
h.	launched	safeguard
i.	catchy	difficulty
j.	match	started

3. PHRASE MATCH: Match the following phrases from the article (sometimes more than one combination is possible):

a.	money	from being copied
b.	high inflation brought great	largest oil producer
c.	the growth of average	the center
d.	It is the world’s second	symbol for its currency
e.	the Soviet-era debt of £12.5bn	incomes
f.	tried hard to protect the new note	its superpower status
g.	check if a banknote is real	supply
h.	find a "catchy"	trouble to the economy
i.	two lines running through	it owed to other countries
j.	…gives Russia a currency to match	and not fake

WHILE READING / LISTENING

GAP FILL: Put the words in the column on the right into the gaps in the text.

Russia issues 5,000-rouble note

Russia put a 5,000-rouble banknote ________ into its money supply on July 31st. The new note was introduced because Russian people are becoming ________. Russia’s Central Bank said that the bill was not to stop inflation. The last time Russia had a 5,000-rouble note was in 1998 - the year the rouble ________. At that ________, high inflation brought great trouble to the economy. The government said it was necessary to have high value notes because of the “________ of average incomes in the country". The Russian rouble is currently very strong because of Russia’s ________ as an energy superpower. It is the world’s second largest oil producer. Russia now has so much money that it agreed to ________ all of the Soviet-era debt of £12.5bn it ________ to other countries.		growth richer owed time repay back status crashed
The Siberian News Agency reports Russia’s government has tried hard to ________ the new note from being copied. The note’s design includes many special, high-tech ________ that allow banks and stores to check if a banknote is real and not fake. The bill has hidden rainbow ________, which look gray from a different angle. Holding up the banknote to the ________, one can see the number 5,000 formed by lots of small ________. The Central Bank has launched a competition to find a "catchy" ________ for its currency. Opinion polls suggest Russians like the Latin letter "R" with two ________ running through the center. The new note gives Russia a currency to match its superpower status. Other big-money bills ________ the US’s 100 dollars, the 500 euros and the UAE’s 1,000 dirhams.		holes features include light protect symbol stripes lines

LISTENING

Listen and fill in the spaces.

Russia issues 5,000-rouble note

Russia put a 5,000-rouble banknote back into its __________ on July 31st. The new note was introduced because Russian people are becoming richer. Russia’s Central Bank said that the bill was not to stop __________. The last time Russia had a 5,000-rouble note was in 1998 - the year the rouble crashed. At that time, high inflation __________ great trouble to the economy. The government said it was necessary to have high value notes because of the “growth of __________ incomes in the country". The Russian rouble is currently very strong because of Russia’s __________ as an energy superpower. It is the world’s second largest oil producer. Russia now has so much money that it agreed to __________ all of the Soviet-era debt of £12.5bn it owed to other countries.

The Siberian News Agency reports Russia’s government has __________ to protect the new note from being copied. The note’s design includes many special, high-tech __________ that allow banks and stores to check if a banknote is real and not __________. The bill has hidden rainbow stripes, which look gray from a different __________. Holding up the banknote to the light, one can see the number 5,000 __________ by lots of small holes. The Central Bank has launched a competition to find a "__________ " symbol for its currency. Opinion polls suggest Russians like the Latin letter "R" with two lines running through the center. The new note gives Russia a currency to match its superpower __________. Other big-money bills include the US’s 100 dollars, the 500 euros and the UAE’s 1,000 dirhams.

AFTER READING / LISTENING

1. WORD SEARCH: Look in your dictionaries / computer to find collocates, other meanings, information, synonyms … for the words ‘bank’ and ‘note’.

• Share your findings with your partners.
• Make questions using the words you found.
• Ask your partner / group your questions.

2. ARTICLE QUESTIONS: Look back at the article and write down some questions you would like to ask the class about the text.

• Share your questions with other classmates / groups.
• Ask your partner / group your questions.

3. GAP FILL: In pairs / groups, compare your answers to this exercise. Check your answers. Talk about the words from the activity. Were they new, interesting, worth learning…?

4. VOCABULARY: Circle any words you do not understand. In groups, pool unknown words and use dictionaries to find their meanings.

5. STUDENT “CURRENCY” SURVEY: In pairs / groups, write down questions about the world's currencies.

• Ask other classmates your questions and note down their answers.
• Go back to your original partner / group and compare your findings.
• Make mini-presentations to other groups on your findings.

6. TEST EACH OTHER: Look at the words below. With your partner, try to recall exactly how these were used in the text:

supply crashed trouble average energy era

protect design fake symbol center match

DISCUSSION

STUDENT A’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student B)

1. Did the headline make you want to read the article?
2. What do you think of Russia becoming an economic superpower?
3. Do you think Russia’s new money will help stop its social problems?
4. Do you think the higher value banknote is a good idea?
5. Which world currencies do you like or dislike and why?
6. Have you ever invested in foreign currencies?
7. What do you think of the currency of your own country?
8. Do you think there will be just one currency in the world one day?
9. Do you think it’s strange we still have paper money in this digital age?
10. What would you buy in Moscow if you had a lot of 5,000-rouble notes?

STUDENT B’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student A)

1. Did you like reading this article?
2. What do you think about what you read?
3. Would you invest in the Russian rouble?
4. What’s the largest amount of cash you’ve ever had in your wallet / purse?
5. What aspects of your culture would you like your banknotes to show?
6. Do you think it’s interesting to collect banknotes and coins?
7. What do you think Russians who lived in the Soviet era would think of the new 5,000-rouble banknote?
8. Do you think computer keyboards should have more keys for the world’s most common currencies?
9. If there was a single world currency, what do you think it should be called?
10. Did you like this discussion?

AFTER DISCUSSION: Join another partner / group and tell them what you talked about.

1. What was the most interesting thing you heard?
2. Was there a question you didn’t like?
3. Was there something you totally disagreed with?
4. What did you like talking about?
5. Which was the most difficult question?

SPEAKING

NATIONAL UPGRADE: With your partner(s), decide on ideas on how to upgrade / improve different aspects of your country’s (or each other’s country) culture. You have to upgrade the following:

	Ideas
Currency
Flag
Voting system
Banking system
Transportation system
Taxation system
Country motto
Other ____________

Change partners and exchange your ideas. Decide which are the best ideas.

HOMEWORK

1. VOCABULARY EXTENSION: Choose several of the words from the text. Use a dictionary or Google’s search field (or another search engine) to build up more associations / collocations of each word.

2. INTERNET: Search the Internet and find information on Russia’s rouble. Talk about what you discover with your partner(s) in the next lesson.

3. POSTER: Make a poster about the currency of your country. Show your poster to your classmates in the next lesson.

4. ARTICLE: Write an imaginary newspaper article about the day the new 5,000-rouble notes came out. Include interviews with imaginary Russians. What did they say about their new banknote? Read your article to your classmates in the next lesson. Which article did you like best and why?

ANSWERS

TRUE / FALSE:

a. F

b. F

c. F

d. T

e. F

f. F

g. T

h. T

SYNONYM MATCH:

a.	banknote	bill
b.	richer	wealthier
c.	trouble	difficulty
d.	growth	increase
e.	status	position
f.	protect	safeguard
g.	features	characteristics
h.	launched	started
i.	catchy	memorable
j.	match	be equal to

PHRASE MATCH:

a.	money	supply
b.	high inflation brought great	trouble to the economy
c.	the growth of average	incomes
d.	It is the world’s second	largest oil producer
e.	the Soviet-era debt of £12.5bn	it owed to other countries
f.	tried hard to protect the new note	from being copied
g.	check if a banknote is real	and not fake
h.	find a "catchy"	symbol for its currency
i.	two lines running through	the center
j.	…gives Russia a currency to match	its superpower status

GAP FILL:

Russia issues 5,000-rouble note

Russia put a 5,000-rouble banknote back into its money supply on July 31st. The new note was introduced because Russian people are becoming richer. Russia’s Central Bank said that the bill was not to stop inflation. The last time Russia had a 5,000-rouble note was in 1998 - the year the rouble crashed. At that time, high inflation brought great trouble to the economy. The government said it was necessary to have high value notes because of the “growth of average incomes in the country". The Russian rouble is currently very strong because of Russia’s status as an energy superpower. It is the world’s second largest oil producer. Russia now has so much money that it agreed to repay all of the Soviet-era debt of £12.5bn it owed to other countries.

The Siberian News Agency reports Russia’s government has tried hard to protect the new note from being copied. The note’s design includes many special, high-tech features that allow banks and stores to check if a banknote is real and not fake. The bill has hidden rainbow stripes, which look gray from a different angle. Holding up the banknote to the light, one can see the number 5,000 formed by lots of small holes. The Central Bank has launched a competition to find a "catchy" symbol for its currency. Opinion polls suggest Russians like the Latin letter "R" with two lines running through the center. The new note gives Russia a currency to match its superpower status. Other big-money bills include the US’s 100 dollars, the 500 euros and the UAE’s 1,000 dirhams.

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