Weights and Measures

American Money

English Money

Pound or Pound Sterling, monetary unit (currency) of the United Kingdom, is represented by the symbol £.

Historically, the terms pound and pound sterling originated in Anglo-Saxon Britain during the 8^th century when the basic monetary unit, called a “sterling,” was made equivalent to 1/240 of a pound of silver and 240 sterlings became known as a “pound of sterling.” The pound was convertible into silver until 1717. The British system of money used to be rather difficult. The British pound used to consist of 20 shillings, each of which was worth 12 old pence. Besides these, there were also halfpence (¹/₂ p), twopence ['tʌpens], three halfpence (or a penny-halfpenny, 1 ¹/₂ p) [ɵri:'heipəns], threepence ['ɵrepnəs], sixpence (6 p), farthings (¹/₄ p), two-shilling piece, and half-crowns (2 shillings and 6 pence).

On February 15, 1971, the pound’s coinage equivalent was changed to the decimal system, from 20 shillings to 100 pennies, replacing the traditional shillings and pence that had been used since 11^th-century Anglo-Norman times.

At present they use 1-pound, 5-pound, 10-pound, 20-pound, 50-pound notes and coins – 1 penny, twopence, 5 pence, 10 pence, 20 pence, 50 pence (p [pi:] for pence in prices: 50 pence – 50 p), 1-pound and 2-pound coins.

The American unit is the dollar - $. In the dollar there are 100 cents (c), 1-cent coin is often called penny. А 5-cent coin is called a nickel, and a 10-cent coin - a dime, a 25-cent coin – a quarter.

For general use the smallest weight is 1 ounce (oz.), and there are 16 ounces in a pound (lb.). The English buy sweets, tobacco, and sometimes cigarettes by the ounce while most groceries or fruit, such as apples, pears, strawberries, by the pound, half-pound or quarter-pound (there are some kinds of fruit that are bought piecemeal, or loose).

14 pounds make up 1 stone. The English always give people’s weight in stones and pounds. For example, a man weighs 11 stone 9 lbs (not 163 lbs).

112 lbs make up 1 hundredwe ight (cwt), which equals 50 kg. So there are 20 cwt in a ton.

Liquids are measured in pints (app. 0.5 liter), quarts and gallons. There are 2 pints in a quart and 4 quarts in a gallon.

Finally, for length the principal measurementsare the inch (2.54 cm), the foot ( 30.48 cm), the yard ( 91.44 cm) and the mile (1.6 km).

2.17. a) Do you know how to ask for things when you don’t know the exact word? Here are some useful words and expressions.

a thing, a machine, a tool;

stuff, liquid, powder, material, cloth;

material/ liquid/ powder/ stuff for …-ing;

square, round, oblong, oval, curved, flat, pointed, sharp, blunt;

big, medium-sized, small, tiny, narrow, wide, heavy, light, short;

metal, glass, plastic, rubber, stone, wood(en), wool(en), rough, smooth, soft,

shiny, transparent, unbreakable, inedible, warm, waterproof;

fragile, hard, flexible, rigid, fast, slow;

extremely, very, rather, quite, fairly;

neither … nor, not at all, about the size of a …, a bit bigger than a …, not quite

as heavy as a …, small enough to hold in your hand;

a point, an end, a hole, a handle;

a thing with a hole/ handle, etc.;

a thing/ tool/ machine for making …, cutting …, etc./ to make …, to cut …;

a thing that you.. with/in/on, etc.;

a thing that goes on top of/ under/...;

you use it for … -ing;

it is something to write on.

What does it feel like? What’s it made of?

What shape is it?

What size is it?

ACQUIRING COMMUNICATION SKILLS

2.18. a) Read the text and answer the questions that follow. b) Work with a partner and act out the conversation of Mr. and Mrs. Baxter during their shopping round.

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