Listening texts in College English Listening and Speaking Course 3

Listening Texts of College English Listening and Speaking Course III (Unit 12)

2005-4-8

Unit 12

Text 1

The issuance of the euro

From Paris to Athens, from Rome to Madrid, with the fireworks show ushered in the euro, curiosity drove Europeans to come to the ATM at midnight and see the colorful new banknotes for the first time. More than 300 million Europeans began to exchange their old currencies for euros, the most ambitious currency conversion in history. In order to cope with the huge demand, banks across the euro zone closed 200,000 ATMs that afternoon, replaced their software and loaded euro banknotes. A total of/kloc-0.5 billion banknotes and 52 billion coins were produced, valued at 646 billion euros, or 568 billion dollars.

The designers of the euro know how people are linked to their national currencies, and they express the hope that this will help realize the dream of unifying Europe.

Throughout the European continent, officials welcomed the euro as a symbol of economic stability and a new symbol linking 12 countries on the European continent at the center of two world wars.

"With the euro, we will become a bigger Europe," said the chairman of the ELI Committee in Vienna, shortly after he bought flowers for his wife with the new currency. "We will become stronger and richer."

His view was shared by former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl, who and the late French leader francois mitterrand advocated that the single currency would bring peace and security to Europe. Cole wrote in a newspaper: "A vision is becoming a reality. For me, the European common currency has realized a dream. This means that there is no turning back on the road to the reunification of our mainland. "

Countries adopting the euro are Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Netherlands, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal and Spain. Britain, Sweden and Denmark did not join.

Text 2

Britain's reaction to the single currency

The gift shops and turnstiles at Buckingham Palace and other royal residences open to the public do not accept euros.

The new currency was issued in 1 June 6, 2002 in 12 EU countries, but Britain was not one of them.

A spokeswoman for Buckingham Palace said that the decision not to accept the euro was purely a commercial act, not a political statement. The retail store in the official residence never accepts any other currency. The reason is simple, because as a very small retail store, they have no money exchange facilities.

However, many retail stores in Britain are ready to accept the new currency because millions of tourists are expected to visit the country every year. In 20 02 alone, tourists from the euro zone spent more than 6.55 billion euros in Britain.

Major department stores Debenhams and Marks & Spencer and a large electronics retailer accepted euros, but initially only to a limited extent.

Mark & Spencer's stores, mainly those located in tourist attractions, have at least one cash register on each floor to handle euro transactions. Its other stores have at least one designated area, either a cashier or a customer service desk that accepts money. However, the products are not priced in euros, and the change is in British currency.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair said that Britain would only join the single currency system if the economic conditions were right. A series of recent opinion polls show that many British people are against the euro, which is regarded as an infringement of British sovereignty.

philosophical works

Tape recording manuscript

withdraw

Teller: Hello. Can I help you?

Peter: Hello. I just opened a checking account, and I want to withdraw 150 euros. What I want to know is, who should I write the check to?

Teller: Well, since the money is for yourself, you can cash it.

Peter: OK. W ... what should I do?

Tyler. All you have to do is write the word "cash" in this line.

Peter: Is this line here?

Teller: Yes, it's next to "Pay as instructed".

Peter: OK. C-A-S-H。 Now, I want this 150 euro. Okay, how about this?

Tyler. Well, you have written the amount in figures, but you must also write it in words. In the second row, there.