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| Business Words in the News
Friday 01 March 2002
Vocabulary from the business news. Listen to and read the report then find explanations of difficult words below.
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Euro changeover complete
Summary: The euro has become the sole legal tender in the 12 countries of the eurozone. However, as polls suggest, in countries like Germany many people would prefer to keep their national currency. This report from Patrick Bartlett:
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| | The News | |
| | | There was no ceremony and little emotion as the mark slipped into history. The evening's news reports were matter of fact. Germans, always reluctant converts to the euro, preferred not to dwell on their regrets.
In reality, most people have not seen a mark for several weeks - so swift and efficient was the changeover to the euro. Moreover, for the Germans, the two to one exchange rate has made the euro easier to get used to.
Despite this, it's clear most people still think in marks and, according to a new opinion poll, almost half of Germans would go back to the deutschmark given the choice.
In a time of recession, it's been all the harder to say goodbye to the currency that brought Germany's post-war economic miracle, but like the bereaved, Germans have shown they want to get on with their lives by coming to terms with the new currency.
Patrick Bartlett, BBC, Frankfurt
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| | The Words
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| | | slipped into history
here - stopped being used
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| | | matter of fact
unemotional
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| | | reluctant converts to the euro
people who accepted the euro without enthusiasm
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| | | not to dwell on
not to think too much about
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| | | changeover
here - transition to the new currency
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| | | opinion poll
a survey of public opinion conducted by putting questions to a representative selection of people
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| | | recession
economic slowdown
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| | | economic miracle
the rapid improvement in the economy that happened despite the difficult conditions
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| | | the bereaved
people who have lost someone, or something that was very dear to them
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| | | coming to terms with
accepting
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