Page 42 - index

2020 ‫מועד סתיו‬ - 41 - ‫ פרק ראשון‬- ‫אנגלית‬

Text II (Questions 18-22)

(1) Despite the predictions of some economists, a "cashless society", in which all
transactions are made with checks, credit cards and electronic transfers, has not yet
materialized. Paper money is still an integral part of modern commerce. For example,
more than 380 billion dollars in United States paper currency is estimated to be in

(5) circulation worldwide, and demand for the bills rises annually at a rate of about 5
percent.

Internationally, the United States dollar holds a unique position: it is accepted
universally, it serves as a type of world currency and, in countries with unstable
economies, it is considered a good investment. Because of this special status, changes

(10) to United States currency are not made frequently. In fact, the basic design of United
States paper money did not change significantly from 1928 to 1996.

In 1996, however, the United States Bureau of Engraving and Printing began

producing paper bills with a fundamentally new design: a larger, off-center portrait, a
matching watermark and other new elements. The first note issued in this series was
(15) the $100 bill. The Bureau then introduced new $50, $20, $10, $5 and $1 bills at yearly
intervals. Although such an extensive currency change is unusual for the United States,
many countries routinely modify the appearance of their money. Canada, Australia,
France, South Korea and Argentina, to name a few, have all redesigned their paper bills
a number of times in the past century.

(20) The main purpose of redesigning money is to make the currency more secure
against counterfeiting. With the appearance of advanced photocopiers, computer
scanners and printers capable of producing high-quality and realistic-looking copies, the
threat of counterfeiting has increased. Trying to prevent the production of fake bills is
important for the future of paper money because widespread counterfeiting diminishes

(25) the credibility of paper currency as a medium of exchange.

Questions

18. The main purpose of the text is to discuss -

(1) the importance of preventing counterfeiting and recently developed methods for
doing this

(2) the special status of the United States dollar worldwide and reasons for this status
(3) the history of different types of paper currencies and predictions about their future
(4) the paper currency of the United States and changes that were made to its

appearance

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