Money, Real and Counterfeit.
真幣和偽幣
1. Without looking, tell me whose picture is on a one dollar bill. What about a five dollar bill? If you know these, maybe you know the pictures on a ten, twenty or even a fifty dollar bill. If you're not sure, someone could give you a "phony" bill with the wrong picture and you'd never know the difference.
1、在不看的情況下，告訴我在一美元鈔票上是誰(shuí)的頭像?五美元鈔票呢?如果你知道這些的話，那你可能也知道十美元、二十美元甚至五十美元鈔票上的像。如果你不能確定的話，就有可能當(dāng)別人給你一張印錯(cuò)頭像的偽鈔時(shí)，而你卻不知道其中的差異。
2. Do you know where the pictures on money came from? In the early days people made payments by the weight of their silver or gold. （Just think how much time you save now by paying for things with a coin or bill. You don't have to weigh out so many ounces of gold. That would surely slow down the normal pace of business today.）
2、你知道在錢上印人頭像出自哪里嗎?在早期，人們通過(guò)他們的銀子或金子的重量宋進(jìn)行支付。（想想看，你現(xiàn)在用硬幣或鈔票來(lái)購(gòu)買物品可以節(jié)省多少時(shí)間。你無(wú)需稱量那么多盎司的黃金。今天那樣做無(wú)疑會(huì)減慢正常交易的速度。）
3. However, the ancient Greeks and Romans used coins of a definite value like our dime or quarter. At that time, animals were pictured on the coins. You won't think that this is so unusual if you examine a nickel and see the buffalo on the back of it.
3、不過(guò)，古希臘人和古羅馬人也使用類似我們的一角硬幣或二角五分硬幣那樣有確實(shí)價(jià)值的硬幣。不過(guò)在那時(shí)，硬幣上畫著動(dòng)物圖案。如果你查看一個(gè)背面有牦牛像的五分鎳幣時(shí)，不要以為它非同尋常。
4. A little later, though, the Greeks and Romans began to put pictures of famous people on their coins. It took some time to develop a central money-making business. Because of this, people would sometimes put pictures of their own ancestors on their coins. Even though this may have been confusing at times, it's easier than trading animals for things that you need. Imagine receiving a cow as change for something you have just bought! It's much simpler to carry a purse or a wallet than to exchange one thing for another.
4、然而不久以后，希臘和羅馬人開始把名人像放在他們的硬幣上。這使得建立和發(fā)展中央貨幣制造業(yè)頗費(fèi)了一些時(shí)間。因?yàn)槿藗冇袝r(shí)會(huì)把他們自己祖先的像放在自己的錢上。盡管這樣做有時(shí)會(huì)引起迷惑，但這總比用動(dòng)物來(lái)?yè)Q取你想要的東西來(lái)得容易。設(shè)想一下，當(dāng)你買了什么東西后，找回的零錢竟是一頭母牛!帶個(gè)錢包或皮夾出門看來(lái)比用一件東西換另一件要簡(jiǎn)單許多了。
5. The use of coins and money grew just as civilization advanced. As time passed, civilization became much more complicated. Now a person works for a certain amount of money so that he can pay for food and clothing. He does not need to grow his own food. We're in an age of specialization. We don't have time to make our own clothes and shoes, so money is a way of trading today.
5、硬幣和貨幣的使用隨著人類文明的進(jìn)化而發(fā)展。隨著時(shí)間的流逝，人類文明變得十分復(fù)雜�，F(xiàn)在，人為了獲得一定數(shù)量錢而工作，因而他能夠買食物和衣服而不需要自己種植食物。我們正處在一個(gè)專業(yè)化的時(shí)代。我們沒(méi)有時(shí)間去制造自己的衣服和鞋，因此貨幣成為當(dāng)今交易的必須方式。
6. When we use money today, however, the actual value of the coin itself does not equal its face value. For example, a dime may not have ten cents' worth of silver in it. The paper in a dollar bill may not be worth a full dollar. Well, you might ask, how is it worth anything? The answer is that money is like a medal. It's not the money itself, but what it stands for, that gives it its value. An Olympic runner wins a medal. It is actually not worth very much, but it's the idea behind it that counts to him. It's like the half dollar in your pocket. It's what it will buy that counts, not its actual weight.
6、但是，當(dāng)我們今天使用貨幣的時(shí)候，硬幣本身的實(shí)際價(jià)值并不等同其面值。舉個(gè)例子，一角硬幣里也許沒(méi)有價(jià)值十美分的銀子。一美元鈔票所用的紙也并不值整整一個(gè)美元。這樣一來(lái)，你也許會(huì)問(wèn)：那它是怎么代表東西的價(jià)值的呢?答案是貨幣就像獎(jiǎng)?wù)�，不是貨幣本身，而是它代表什么，這就是它價(jià)值的來(lái)源。一位奧林匹克長(zhǎng)跑運(yùn)動(dòng)員獲得了一枚獎(jiǎng)?wù)�。�?jiǎng)?wù)卤旧聿⒉恢刀嗌馘X，但是，獎(jiǎng)?wù)滤哂械囊饬x卻與運(yùn)動(dòng)員的價(jià)值相符。這一切就像一個(gè)沉掂掂的半美元硬幣在你口袋里，它所代表的是它所能購(gòu)買的東西，并非其實(shí)際的重量。
7. Money making is much more complicated now than it has ever been. That's one reason why it's harder to get away with making counterfeit money these days.
7、現(xiàn)在貨幣的制造比以往復(fù)雜得多。這也是為什么現(xiàn)在更難制造偽鈔的原因之一。
8. You might think that it would be easy to make a phony dollar bill. Many people have tried, but they haven't been very good at it. There are some good reasons for this. First of all, the pictures on American bills are in the shape of an oval; so if you see a one-dollar bill with the picture of George Washington in a circle, you can be certain that it's not a real bill. Check the eyes on the picture, too. The eyes on the picture of a real bill are sharp and clear; so there's another sign to watch for.
8、你也許會(huì)認(rèn)為制造假美鈔很容易。許多人做過(guò)嘗試，但是他們做得并不太好。當(dāng)然這也有其合理的解釋。首先，美國(guó)鈔票上的人像位于一個(gè)橢圓形之中。因此如果你看到一張一美元鈔票上喬治·華盛頓的圖案在一個(gè)圓形中，你可以肯定這不是一張真鈔票。也可以檢查人頭像上的眼睛。真鈔票圖案上的眼睛銳利清晰，因而這是另一個(gè)辨別真?zhèn)蔚奶卣鳌?/p>
9. Some people say that a bank teller can spot a counterfeit bill just by feeling it. If there is reason to believe that a bill is not real, there are other signs to us, though. It takes a close look, but if you check the treasury seal, you'll see that the points on a counterfeit are not quite sharp enough. The serial numbers are a third giveaway. The type use by the United States government cannot be purchased anywhere else. Since they're difficult to copy, the serial number should tip off a counterfeit bill.
9、某些人說(shuō)銀行出納員可以僅憑感覺(jué)就能辨出偽鈔。如果有理由相信這張鈔票不是真的，那么對(duì)我們來(lái)說(shuō)必定還有其它辨別的特征。這需要近距離的觀察：如果你檢查鈔票的財(cái)政官印章，你會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)假鈔印章上的點(diǎn)子都不夠銳利，序列號(hào)是第三個(gè)辨別的特征，美國(guó)政府制造序列號(hào)的機(jī)器類型，不可能在任何其他地方都買到。而序列號(hào)又難以復(fù)制，因此通過(guò)它可以檢驗(yàn)出假鈔。
10. Perhaps the most interesting part of the real bill is the border. The pattern of thin lines is made by a very special machine. The design of thin lines is so complicated that it's almost impossible to match them. Those who try usually pause some of the lines to run into each other, or else some of them blur or blot.
10、也許真鈔最有趣的部分是它的邊沿。細(xì)線的模式由非常特殊的機(jī)器制作。細(xì)線的設(shè)計(jì)是如此復(fù)雜以至幾乎不可能找到與其相似的。所以那些假鈔上的線總是由于被弄斷而互相交錯(cuò)，或者其它某些線模糊或有污跡。
11. Now that you know some of the signs of a counterfeit bill, what about the pictures? Thomas Jefferson is on the two-dollar bill, and Abraham Lincoln is shown on the five. If you're not sure of a ten-dollar bill, check the picture of Alexander Hamilton. For a twenty, you should look for the picture of Andrew Jackson, and on a fifty-dollar bill, you'll see a picture of Ulysses Grant. You see, we're like the Greeks and Romans when we put pictures of famous men on our money, too. Actually, it would be ridiculous to expect a counterfeiter to put the wrong picture on a bill.
11、現(xiàn)在你已經(jīng)知道了偽鈔的一些特征，那么關(guān)于人頭像呢?托馬斯·杰弗遜的頭像在兩美元鈔票上，亞伯拉罕·林肯的頭像在五美元鈔票上。如果你不確定十美元鈔票的頭像是誰(shuí)；去看看亞歷山大·哈密爾頓的頭像。在二十美元鈔票上，你看到的是安德魯·杰克遜的頭像。而在五十美元上，你將會(huì)看到尤利西斯·格蘭特的頭像。你看，我們也像希臘人和羅馬人—樣也把名人頭像放到了我們的貨幣上。事實(shí)上，期望假幣制造者把在鈔票上印錯(cuò)頭像是荒謬的。
12. Have you ever seen a counterfeit coin? If a coin feels greasy, that's one of the first signs that it's not real. You can probably hear a fake coin just by dropping it on a hard surface. A counterfeit will sound dull, while a real coin will have a definite ring to it.
12、你是否見過(guò)偽造的硬幣?如果一枚硬幣摸上去很粘，這是偽硬幣的第一個(gè)特征。你能夠通過(guò)聽硬幣落在堅(jiān)硬表面上的聲音來(lái)辨別硬幣。假幣聽起來(lái)聲音發(fā)鈍，而真幣會(huì)發(fā)出清晰的鈴般的響聲。
13. You don't need to look for trouble ail the time, but if you have reason to think a coin or bill is a counterfeit, perhaps some of these tips will help you out.
13、你不必天天自尋麻煩去辨別真?zhèn)�，但是，如果你有理由認(rèn)為一枚硬幣或一張鈔票是假的，也許這些小小的提示將會(huì)幫助你。
