1. What do you know?
You are going to read an article about Islamic banking in Britain.
Use the words below to complete the background information.
2. A newspaper article.
Now read the first part of the article from a British newspaper.
Then choose the best title for it.
..................................................
The Governor of the Bank of England said today that Islamic banks could be set up in the United Kingdom, offering a wide range of financial products that comply with Muslim law.
In a press conference, he said that the progress that had been made on developing Sharia-compliant mortgages could easily lead to the launch of other financial products. At present, Sharia-compliant mortgages are offered by few banks because they are less competitive than conventional mortgages.
Muslim law prohibits the payment or receipt of interest, so when a customer takes out an Islamic mortgage, the bank has to buy the property and acts as a middleman. Instead of charging interest, the bank sells the property to the customer for a higher price or sells it for the same price but also charges rent on the property.
The customer pays stamp duty twice because ownership of the property changes twice.
Choose the best title for the article.
3. Check your comprehension.
Are these statements true or false, according to the article in exercise 2?
4. Vocabulary in context.
Now read the text again. Choose the meaning of the underlined words and phrases.
New opening for Muslim banking needs
The Governor of the Bank of England said today that Islamic banks could be set up in the United Kingdom, offering a wide range of financial products that comply with Muslim law.
In a press conference, he said that the progress that had been made on developing Sharia-compliant mortgages could easily lead to the launch of other financial products. At present, Sharia-compliant mortgages are offered by few banks because they are less competitive than conventional mortgages.
Muslim law prohibits the payment or receipt of interest, so when a customer takes out an Islamic mortgage, the bank has to buy the property and acts as a middleman. Instead of charging interest, the bank sells the property to the customer for a higher price or sells it for the same price but also charges rent on the property.
The customer pays stamp duty twice because ownership of the property changes twice.
6. Listen.
Listen and put the sentences into the order you hear them.
Now listen and repeat the sentences.
7. Interest.
Look at these examples from the article:
Muslim law prohibits the payment or receipt of interest ....
Instead of charging interest, the bank ....
Put the words in the correct box. Do they come before or after the word interest?
8. Practice.
Put the words into the correct order to make sentences with the word interest.
Now listen and repeat the sentences.
9. Verbs with interest.
Put the verbs into the correct box.