PETS全国职称英语等级考试样题—(财经类)3

文章作者 100test 发表时间 2007:04:01 09:27:28
来源 100Test.Com百考试题网

Passage 3
　　Aristotle, the Greek philosopher, summed up the four chief qualities
　　of money some 2,000 years ago. It must be lasting and easy to recognize, to
　　divide, and to carry about.
　　When we think of money today, we picture it ……as round, flat
　　pieces of metal which we call coins, or as printed paper notes. But there are
　　still parts of the world today where coins and notes are of no use. They will
　　buy nothing, and a traveler might starve if he had none of the particular
　　local "money" to …… Among remote people, who are not often reached by
　　traders from outside, commerce usually means barter (物物交换). There is a
　　direct exchange of goods. Perhaps it is fish for vegetables, meat for grain, or
　　various kinds of food in exchange for pots, baskets, or other manufactured
　　goods. For this kind of simple trading, money is not needed, but there is often
　　something that everyone wants and everybody can use, such as salt to flavor
　　(给……调味) food, shells for ornaments(装饰), or iron and copper to make into
　　tools and pots. These things-salt, shells or metals-are till used as money in
　　out-of-the way parts of the world today.
　　Salt may rather a strange substance to use as money, but in
　　countries where the food of the people is mainly vegetable, it is often an
　　absolute necessity. Cakes of salt, stamped to show their value, were used as
　　money in Tibet until recent times, and cakes of salt will still buy goods in
　　Berneo and parts of Africa.
　　Cowrie sea shells have been used as money at some time or another
　　over the greater part of the Old World. These were collected mainly from the
　　beaches of the Maldive Islands in the Indian Ocean, and were traded to India
　　and China. In Africa, cowries were traded right across the continent from East
　　to West. Four or five thousand went for one Maria Theresa dollar, an Austrian
　　silver coin which was once accepted as money in many parts of Africa.
　　Metal, valued by weight, early coins in many parts of the world.
　　Iron, in lumps, bars or rings is still used in many countries instead of money.
　　It can either be exchanged for goods, or made into tools, weapons or
　　ornaments. The early money of China, apart from shells, was of bronze (青铜),
　　ten in flat, round pieces with a hole in the middle, called "cash". The
　　earliest of these are between three thousand and four thousand years old-older
　　than the earliest coins of the eastern Mediterranean.
　　Nowadays, coins and notes have taken place of nearly all the more
　　interesting forms of money, and although in one or two of the more remote
　　countries people still hold it for future use on ceremonial (仪式的) occasions
　　such as weddings and funerals (葬礼), examples of early money will soon be
　　found only in museums.
　　11. In some parts of the world a traveler might starve __________.
　　○A. even if his money was of the local kind
　　○B. even if the had no coins or notes
　　○C. if the did not know the local rate of exchange
　　○D. even if he had plenty of coins and notes
　　12. Barter usually takes the place of money transaction where __________.
　　○A. there is only salt
　　○B. the people’s trading needs are fairly simple
　　○C. metal tools are used
　　○D. only for ceremonial purposes
　　13. Salt is still used as money __________.
　　○A. in Tibet
　　○B. in the Maldive Islands
　　○C. in several countries
　　○D. only for ceremonial purposes
　　14. Four or five thousand cowrie shells used to be __________.
　　○A. as valuable as a Maria Theresa dollar
　　○B. valued because they were easy to carry
　　○C. useful currency in south America
　　○D. useful currency in south America
　　15. The earliest known coins from the eastern Mediterranean _________.
　　○A. are as old as the earliest known Chinese coins
　　○B. are old than the earliest known Chinese coins
　　○C. are not as old as the earliest known Chinese coins
　　○D. were much larger than their Chinese equivalents