Comprehension Exercise – 33

Creative Writing – 91

Comprehension Exercises for school students (CBSE, ICSE, BSE)

Article sourced from Washington Post

If Britain finally leaves the European Union in a couple of months, it may get a commemorative coin to remember it by. Sajid Javid, Britain’s new treasury head, is reportedly planning for special 50-pence Brexit coins to be minted and in mass circulation, stamped with the planned departure date of Oct. 31 and the message “friendship with all nations.”

How much will these coins actually be worth? That’s not as simple a question. After Britain’s Office for National Statistics announced last Friday that the country’s economy shrank for the first time since 2012, the value of the pound dipped to a 10-year low against the euro. At the time of writing, a pound is worth about 1.08 euros and $1.21, only marginal improvements on last week’s lows.

In a sign of the worry about Brexit’s impact on the value of the country’s currency, a group of British Conservative lawmakers wrote to new Prime Minister Boris Johnson to ask that he clarify that he would accept a compromise in negotiations with the E.U., rather than go straight for a “no-deal” scenario. “This will reassure not only us, but also the currency markets,” read the letter, which was signed by former treasury head Philip Hammond and 20 others.

However, many analysts predict the value of Britain’s currency will dip further in the months ahead, as Britain heads toward what looks likely to be a disruptive and unpredictable no-deal Brexit, with the country reverting to World Trade Organization rules on border controls. Some, though not all, suggest the British pound could eventually end up at parity with the U.S. dollar.

That would be a remarkable, unprecedented change for the pound. In the run-up to the June 2016 referendum, the pound-to-euro rate was about 1.32 euros, while the pound was approximately $1.50 against the U.S. dollar. In the years before the 2008 financial crisis, the British pound was stronger still, peaking at around 1.50 euros and $2.11.

For many Britons, the collapsing pound may be the most visceral evidence of the economic damage wrought by Brexit. A pound that is worth less can buy less abroad, affecting everything from vacations to grocery shopping and plenty more.

Questions

1. One mark questions.

i) How does Britain intend to commemorate its exit from the E.U?
ii) What will be written on the coin?
iii) Why some doubt the real value of the coin?
iv) What is the worth of one pound compared to the Ameeican Dollar, and the Euro?
v) What do analysts say about the value of the pound in the near future?
vi) How did the pound compare with the Dollar and the Euro in the year 2008?
vii) Who is Mr. Hammond?
viii) In the short run, Brexit will be ‘disruptive’, or ‘Constructive’?

2. Four marks questions.

i) Why are some conservative MPs so worried by a no-deal exit?
ii) What is the most contentious point of Brexit negotiation?
iii) How do Britons feel to see their pound falling to a level same as the U.S Dollar?