W:Nowyou’veseenthistableoffiguresaboutthepocketmoneychildreninBritainget?
M:Yes.Ithoughtitwasquiteinteresting,butIdon’tquiteunderstandthecolumnentitled“change”.Canyouexplainwhatitmeans?
W:Well,Ithinkitmeansthechangefromtheyearbefore.I’mnotamathematician,butIassumetherisefrom72pto90p,istheriseof25%.
M:Oh,yes,Isee.Andtheinflationrateisthereforcomparison.
W:Yes.Whydoyouthinktheriseinpocketmoneyisoftenhigherthaninflation?
M:I’msorry,I’venoidea.PerhapsparentsinBritainaretoogenerous.
W:Perhapstheyare.Butitlooksasifchildrenwerealotbetteroffin2001thantheywerein2002.That’sstrange,isn’tit?Andtheyseemedtohavebeenbetteroffin2003thantheyarenow.Iwonderwhythatis.
M:Yes,Idon’tunderstandthatatall.
W:Anyway,ifyouhadchildren,howmuchpocketmoneywouldyougivethem?
M:Idon’tknow.IthinkIprobablygivethemtwopoundsaweek.
W:Wouldyou?Andwhatwouldyouexpectthemtodowithit?
M:Well,outofthattheyhavetobuysomesmallpersonalthings.ButIwouldn’texpectthemtosavetobuytheirownsocksforexample.
W:Yes.Bytheway,domostchildreninyourcountrygetpocketmoney?
Questions23toquestion25arebasedontheconversationyouhavejustheard:
Q23:Whatisthetableoffiguresabout?
Q24:WhatdowelearnfromtheconversationaboutBritishchildren’spocketmoney?
Q25:Supposingthemanhadchildren,whatwouldheexpectthemtodowiththeirpocketmoney?
