节目资讯
刊物:空中英语教室
日期:2013-08-14
难易度:High
关键字:exchange rate, alternative, subscription, unemployed, eco-friendly
So far today we're talking about Dollars, Euros and Funny Hats: The Rise of
Unusual Currencies.
And we're talking about one in particular so far, the Makkie.
If you live in Amsterdam or this place called Makassarsquare, then you might get
a Makkie for doing something nice for other people.
It's not a common or usual kind of currency.
But we're learning about how local communities might have their own currencies.
Let's continue learning now.
(Music).
Dollars, Euros and Funny Hats: The Rise of Unusual Currencies.
For these good deeds, they receive "money" that can buy library subscriptions,
movie and sport tickets, swimming pool visits and more.
Residents also pay each other Makkies for favors like baby-sitting.
The Makkie's inventors hope it will promote cleaner public areas, increase
interaction among neighbors and encourage unemployed residents to use their
skills.
In Belgium, the regions of Limburg and Diest have developed a similar system -
the "e-wallet.".
It rewards residents for eco-friendly actions by giving them electronic points
to spend on public transportation, sporting events and other things.
(Music).
Well, it sounds like Makkies are not the only alternative currency being used.
But before we learn about a few more, let's go back to the beginning of this
section.
And we are talking about ways that people earn Makkies by doing community
service.
For these good deeds, they receive "money" that can buy library subscriptions,
movie and sport tickets, swimming pool visits and more.
So it sounds like there are a lot of things that you can buy with these Makkies.
That's right.
So for doing these good deeds, you receive "money." And that word is in quotes
because it's not a usual or common currency.
And you could buy something like a library subscription, for example.
So that word "subscription" is from our Word Bank.
And a subscription is something that you purchase.
Maybe you might sign your name because you sign up for something for a period of
time.
You subscribe to something.
That's right.
Well, when I think about the word "subscription," oftentimes I think of a
magazine subscription.
Maybe you subscribe to Studio Classroom magazine, and you receive an issue every
month.
Or you are subscribed online and can access all sorts of fun things on the
website.
Well, how do we continue, Gabe?
All right.
Well, residents also pay each other Makkies for favors like baby-sitting.
So it's not just uh, the government, the local communities... government or
leaders paying these Makkies,
but you could pay each other in Makkies for little favors like baby-sitting or
maybe walking your friend's dog or watching your friend's plants, little things.
And you can pay in Makkies.
That is a very interesting idea since a lot of times these services are paid for
with real money.
But using Makkies could be another way to pay people to help you around your
house when you don't have time or you go away on vacation.
Now the Makkie's inventors hope it will promote cleaner public areas, increase
interaction among neighbors and encourage unemployed residents to use their
skills.
So they have a lot of really great goals that they hope the Makkie will help
with.
That's right.
So they hope to promote cleaner public areas.
They want to encourage this and make people aware that they need to make public
areas clean.
OK, and also they want to encourage unemployed residents to use their skills.
Everybody's got a skill whether you're working or not.
Let's take a look at this word "unemployed" from our Word Bank.
If you're unemployed, that means you're not employed.
You're not an employee.
You're not working and making money at a job.
You are unemployed.
That's right.
So these people don't have jobs, but they do still have skills.
And they could earn Makkies with those skills by serving in their community.
I know that my brother serves in his community by volunteering at the YMCA and
assisting them with their computers because it's very expensive to pay someone
to come in and do computer work.
So he volunteers for free.
And if he did this, I guess, in Makassarsquare, then he could be earning
Makkies.
Well, hey, he might... maybe he should move over there so he can earn some
Makkies for his community service.
Well, what about you?
Now in your local community, is there any other kind of currency that people
use?
In Belgium, the regions of Limburg and Diest have developed a similar system -
the "e-wallet." And what do we know about the e-wallet, Carolyn?
Well, it is similar but not quite the same.
It rewards residents for eco-friendly actions by giving them electronic points
to spend on public transportation, sporting events and other things.
So it's a little bit different.
The Makkie is a printed piece of paper, but these are electronic points that you
can earn.
That's right.
And we see that you can do something uh, eco-friendly actions. OK?
What is an eco-friendly action?
Well, it's going green.
It's doing something good for the environment or for the ecology.
"Eco" is short for ecology or the environment.
That's right.
So if you help your environment, if you clean things up around town or around
your city and neighborhood, then you could be earning points in your e-wallet.
And it sounds like you can also use them on many great things.
You can spend them on public transportation, sporting events and many other
things.
I know it would be really great if I could just go out and do some community
service, try to clean things up a little bit,
and use that work to pay for my public transportation cost.
You know, it's true.
A lot of people pay lots of money just for transportation.
You have to pay for gas.
Hey, that's a good idea, too.
Maybe I could use my e-wallet points and go and pay for gas at a gas station.
I can think of lots of possibilities for ways these currencies can be helpful.
I certainly can as well.
Well, right now we're going to learn a little bit with Steve and Ken in the
Information Cloud.
They want to tell us something about loanwords.
In its relatively short history, English has borrowed thousands of words for
more than 300 different languages.
They're what we called loanwords.
Now which language loaned English the most words?
One source has French and Latin in a tie for first place, with Germanic
languages not too far behind in second place.
Combined these three languages account for over three quarters of the words we
use in everyday English.
Meaning a majority of the words you see in today's lesson are not original
authentic English words.
They're loanwords, like the word dollar.
To trace this word's origins, let's go back 500 years to a little Bohemian town
called Joachimsthal, a place that still exists in today's Czech Republic.
Joachimsthal had some silver mines.
And when it came time to think up a name for their freshly-minted silver coins,
the Joachimsthalers shows the word dollars.
And in 1533, "dollar" was first used in English.
Today there are close to 50 countries and territories that use dollar as their
official currency unit,
including Ecuador, Liberia, Hong Kong and New Zealand just to name a few.
So let's thank the Bohemian people for loaning us the dollar.
(Chinese).
Thank you, gentlemen.
Well, it is very interesting to see how languages are influenced from other
languages, and how languages are influencing each other.
Well, right now it's time for us to go to the Language Lab where Michelle is
waiting for us.
(Chinese).
And now it's time to get back to our teachers.
Today's lesson we've been learning about community currencies, a couple of
different alternative currencies used in Europe.
One was the Makkie, and the other was the e-wallet.
Now what do you think about the use of alternative currencies?
Do you think that they are a good idea?
Gabe, what do you think?
Actually, I do.
I can't think of anything negative about them right now.
I especially like the idea of helping people who are unemployed, who are maybe
looking for a job or can't find a job.
But they're still doing favors for people.
They should still get paid somehow.
And the Makkie is a good way, or something like this.
Alternative currencies can be good.
What do you think?
Well, I think that they can be good.
They can be very helpful for the local economy.
But I also think that probably the government of the country might be a little
bit concerned since they control the actual currency that is supposed to be used
there.
So there may be a little bit of a conflict between the two governments.
Well, we're going to be learning about more currencies tomorrow right here on
Studio Classroom.
We'll see you then.