ENG_C1.0504R
Wall Street Stock
Exchange
Money Matters
Reading & Writing
Level C1
www.lingoda.com
www.lingoda.com
ENG_C1.0504R
1
ENG_C1.0504R
Wall Street Stock Exchange Outline
Content
This lesson will examine the history and present situation of Wall Street, as well as
it's impact on the economy.
Learning Outcomes
• Read about the origins of Wall Street.
• Learn about the Occupy movement, which rose in opposition to Wall Street.
• Learn terms related to economics and economic protest.
www.lingoda.com
2
ENG_C1.0504R
Text
Wall Street is an eight-block-long street
running through Lower Manhattan in New
York City. Throughout the past few hundred
years, these eight blocks have been a
symbol of and headquarters for the United
States financial market. Wall Street is
probably best known for housing the New
York Stock Exchange, which is the world’s
largest of its kind. Stocks and bonds have
been bought and sold on Wall Street since
the 17th century. Back then, Wall Street was
also a place where slaves were rented and
sold.
www.lingoda.com
3
ENG_C1.0504R
Text
When many people think
about Wall Street today, they
think about greedy bankers
and stockbrokers, who are
willing to lie, cheat and steal
their way to enormous sums
of money. White collar, Wall
Street criminals, such as
Bernie Madoff, have defrauded
investors out of billions of
dollars.
www.lingoda.com
4
Text
ENG_C1.0504R
Money-hungry Wall Street
bankers were considered to be a
primary cause of the 2008
financial crisis, yet they were
bailed out by the federal
government using taxpayer
dollars. Meanwhile, some
employees at such financial firms
took home huge bonuses. As
such, Wall Street has become a
symbol of corruption and
corporate greed.
www.lingoda.com
5
Text
ENG_C1.0504R
In 2011, a protest movement formed in New
York in opposition to the greed and corruption
of Wall Street. Occupy Wall Street brought
together thousands of people to protest the
social and economic inequality caused by the
leaders of the American financial market.
www.lingoda.com
6
Text
ENG_C1.0504R
The protesters referred to themselves as the 99%.
This refers to the incredible discrepancy between
the wealthiest 1% of Americans, who possess an
overwhelming large and ever-growing percentage
of the country's wealth, and the remaining 99% of
Americans, many of which are struggling to get by.
www.lingoda.com
7
ENG_C1.0504R
Text
Ever since, the Occupy Wall
Street movement has
expanded into a more
general, international
“Occupy” movement. With
shared goals of challenging
economic and social
inequality, the Occupy
movement has led protests
in Germany, England,
Mexico, Nepal, South Africa
and many other countries
around the world.
www.lingoda.com
8
ENG_C1.0504R
Vocabulary
stocks
bonds
Occupy
Wall
Street
white collar criminal
stockbroker
The 99%
federal government
economic
inequality
taxpayer dollars
social inequality
bonus
corruption
greed
www.lingoda.com
9
Vocabulary - Verbs
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
www.lingoda.com
ENG_C1.0504R
to defraud
to bail out
to occupy
to protest
to get by
10
ENG_C1.0504R
Open Vocabulary
Students notes vocabulary they have further questions about
www.lingoda.com
11
ENG_C1.0504R
Exercises
Speaking
Write the three main ideas of the text
1st main idea
2nd main idea
3rd main idea
www.lingoda.com
12
ENG_C1.0504R
Exercises
Speaking
Answer the following question
What has historically been the purpose and function of Wall Street?
www.lingoda.com
13
ENG_C1.0504R
Exercises
Speaking
Answer the following questions
What is the reason behind the Occupy movements?
What are some of their goals?
www.lingoda.com
14
ENG_C1.0504R
Review
1. Wall Street
headquarters of the American financial market
2. stock
a share of a business or corporation
3. corruption
dishonest use of power
4. Occupy movement
protest movement against social and economic inequality
Wall Street is the center of the American financial market,
in which greed and corruption have historically been
common themes. The Occupy movement formed to
protest such social injustices.
www.lingoda.com
15
ENG_C1.0504R
Exercises
Speaking
Match the verbs with their meanings
deceiving another person in
order to make money ◻
to reside in or take up a certain
place or space◻
to make ends meet ◻
to collectively and publicly object
to something ◻
to save from a bad situation, for
example a financial disaster ◻
www.lingoda.com
◻ to occupy
◻ to protest
◻ to bail out
◻ to defraud
◻ to get by
16
ENG_C1.0504R
Exercises
Speaking
True or False
The Occupy Wall Street movement began as a worldwide Occupy
movement.
a) True
b) False
Wall Street is the financial headquarters of the United States.
a) True
b) False
Stocks have been purchased on Wall Street since the 1600s.
a) True
b) False
www.lingoda.com
17
ENG_C1.0504R
Exercises
Writing
The Occupy Wall Street movement protested
against economic and social inequality. What
are some examples of each?
economic inequality
www.lingoda.com
social inequality
18
ENG_C1.0504R
Exercises
Writing
Bernie Madoff was a white collar, Wall Street
criminal. What are some differences between
white collar crime and blue collar crime.
White collar
www.lingoda.com
Blue collar
19
ENG_C1.0504R
Exercises
Speaking
Fill in the blanks with the appropriate
words
taxpayer dollars – bonus – white collar criminal – stock – federal
government
1) The ________ deals with matters pertaining to the United States of
America as a whole.
2) The businessman received a ________ at the end of the year for his
hard work and great performance.
3) The ________ was able to swindle millions of dollars from the accounts
of unsuspecting customers.
4) The citizens were very angry that their ________ were going towards
the construction of unnecessary projects.
5) The woman purchased a few shares of ________, which ended up
making her lots of money!
www.lingoda.com
20
ENG_C1.0504R
Exercises
Writing
Finish the sentences
Wall Street has (not) been a great example of greed, because:
______________________________________________________
Wall Street has (not) been a great example of corruption, because:
______________________________________________________
www.lingoda.com
21
ENG_C1.0504R
Exercises
Speaking
Express your opinion by completing the
sentence
I would (not) like to become a part of the Occupy
movement, because...
www.lingoda.com
22
ENG_C1.0504R
Thank you
We would like to thank
the following sources for their content
Text
Wall Street,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wall_StreetR
etrieved at 15.1.2015, Creative Commons
license
Images
Shutterstock – ID 53955004
Shutterstock – ID 234650350
Shutterstock – ID 135763227
Shutterstock – ID 123579487
Shutterstock – ID 81341974
Occupy Wall Street,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occupy_Wall
_Street , Retrieved at 15.1.2015, Creative
Commons license
www.lingoda.com
Shutterstock – ID 16796987
23
Thank you
for choosing to learn
with
www.lingoda.com
24