Dollars, Euros and Funny Hats: The Rise of Unusual Currencies

Money has more forms than you think
特殊貨幣的興起  - 金錢的形式遠比你所想的還更多樣化 .

The exchange rate tables in banks and airports include many currencies but probably not Makkies or Bitcoins. That's because governments do not back these alternative currencies. But all over the world people are making purchases with alternative currencies, and if current trends continue, this may become more and more common.

Community currencies
Your country probably has its own currency, but does your neighborhood? Loal currencies are appearing in communities in the Netherlands, the United States, South Africa and elsewhere. For example residents of Makassarsquare, a neighborhood in Amsterdam, can earn "Makkies" for actions like cleaning up a public space or assisting an elderly neighbor.

For these good deeds, they receive 'money' that can buy library subscriptions, movie and sport tickets, swimming pool visits and more Residents also pay each other Makkies for favors like baby-sitting. the Makkie's inventors hope it will promote cleaner public areas. Increase interaction among neighbors and encourage unemployed residents to use their skills.

In Belgiuum, the regions of Limburg and Diest have developed a similar system - the 'e-wallet.' It rewards residents for eco-friendly actions by giving them electronic points to spend on public transportation, sporting events and other things.

Online currencies
The world's most popular alternative currency the bitcoin is used in online transactions by over 1100,000 people worldwide. Any online company can choose to accept them so bitcoins can buy video games, books and even socks! Bitcoins are generated through 'mining,' a process in which computers run complex programs to record bitcoin transactions and keep the network secure. wining is regulated to produce the coins at a predictable, limited rate. This avoids creating too many bitcoins, which would decrease their value.

Other Internet users exchange stranger things, like hats from the video game Team Fortress 2. The hats were originally intended to make characters look distinctive. But players must pay for chances to find hats, and some unique ones are very rare. Thus, players trade hats among themselves for money, bitcoins or in-game items. Since people agree on the hats' value and trade them for other things they arguably count as currency. By one estimate, items traded within the game are worth a total of US $22 million. That equals almost 60 percent of island nation Tuvalu's GDP!

Alternative currencies probably won't replace official ones, but they are changing society and economics.

Grammar Gym:
That's because governments do not back these alternative currencies.
back - opposite of 'front'.
back - here means "support".
Gina's family has backed her ever since she decided to go into politics.
Timothy is not afraid to accept the difficult task because he knows his team will back him.

Vocabulary Tips:
subscription - 订阅。
*The yearly subscription rate for the magazine is only $59.
subscription 'to' -订阅什么用“ to ”
*Bob decided to buy an annual subscription to a golf magazine.
unemployment - 失业的 “un ”-有否定之意。
employed - 被雇佣的。
*Henry has been unemployed for three years.
*The unemployment rate dropped to 3.5% last quarter.
transaction - 交易，业务。
*the stock transaction is now under investigation.
*The procedure of a loan transaction is carefully monitored.
predictable -可预期的。
predict (v) -预期
*The film was full of predictable plots but it was still very popular.
unpredictable -不可预期的。 “un ”-有否定之意
*unpredictable weather -
distinctive - 容易区别的，可辨识的或是与众不同的。
*Her distinctive taste made her the top stylist in the Field.
*Make you look distinctive.
*Many fans love the singer's distinctive voice.
arguably - 按理说，可以说，无疑的。照理说。
*Picasso is arguably one of the greatest artists of the 20th century.
*Arguably, the vaccine should not be accessible to the public yet.
exchange rate -货币的汇率。 'exchange' -交换，兑换。 'rate' -率，汇率。
*the exchange rate today is 29 NTD to 1 USD.
*Because of the rising exchange rate, our exports dropped last quarter.
alternative - 替代。非主流的，非传统的。另类的。或是可能选择的事物或方法。
*Timothy decided to quit chemotherapy and go for alternative therapy.
*we had no alternative but to stay in an expensive hotel. 没有选择的。。
rise - get more and more.
rising star - get more and more people to focus on.
treading something with someone - exchange things with each other.
alternative currencies - other currencies is usable instead of real cash (dollar.)

Language Tips:
Joachimsthal -捷克国家，五百年前的一个小镇，有银矿，产银，制成钱币。所制成的银币叫做joachimsthalers。
loanwords -借来的字。不是本国字，原不是英文。
loan -借贷，借。
Dollars - loanwords, from joachimsthalers, last few letters "thalers'
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Internet - 国际网路。
demote - 降级。
internet - Internet - 国际网路降级为小写i是因为普遍的被人使用而正式被人接受而纳入英文中。
stylebook - 一本提供写作方法，写作风格的书，也教导字与字之间的微妙处，何时用，如何用数字，何时用文字等。。。





Taking notes of Studioclassroom.