雅思阅读模拟试题 钱币.pdf

雅思阅读模拟试题雅思阅读模拟试题 钱币钱币In the earliest stages of mans development he had no moreneed of money than animals have. He was content with verysimple forms of shelter, made his own rough tools andweapons and could provide food and clothing for himself andhis family from natural materials around him. As he becamemore civilized, however, he began to want better shelter,more efficient tools and weapons, and more fortable andmore lasting clothing than could be provided by his ownneighborhood or by the work of his own unskilled hands. Forthese things he had to turn to the skilled people such assmiths, leather workers or carpenters. It was then that thequestion of payment arose.At first he got what he wanted by a simple process ofexchange. The smith who had not the time to look after landor cattle was glad to take meat or grain from the farmer inexchange for an axe or a plough. But as more and more goodswhich had no fixed exchange value came on the market,exchange became too plicated to be satisfactory. Anotherproblem arose when those who made things wanted to getstocks of wood or leather, or iron, but had nothing tooffer in exchange until their finished goods were ready.Thus the difficulties of exchange led by degrees to theinvention of money. In some countries easily handled thingslike seeds or shells were given a certain value and thefarmer, instead of paying the smith for a new axe by givinghim some meat or grain, gave him so many shells. If thesmith had any shells left when he had bought his food, hecould get stocks of the raw materials of his trade. In somecountries quite large things such as cows or camels or evenbig flat stones were used for trade. Later, pieces of metal,bearing values aording to the rarity of the metal and thesize of the pieces, or coins were used. Money as we know ithad arrived.练习 1 Exchange of goods became difficult because