The History of Money | A1.2 Reading Test 34

Read the following passage and choose the best answers.

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THE HISTORY OF MONEY

A Better Way of Getting Things

If you want a new computer or new clothes, what do you need to get them? Well, all you need is money. But when did people start using money? The history of money is quite interesting.

Before money was invented, people used the barter system to get what they wanted. To barter means to trade goods or services for other goods or services. For example, someone could trade one horse for one cow. However, the barter system had several problems. People did not always agree on how much one thing was worth compared to another. There was also a problem called the “double coincidence of wants.” For example, what if a man wanted to trade his horse for a cow? He would have to find someone who had a cow, but needed a horse. The invention of money solved these kinds of problems.

Some of the earliest forms of metal coins appeared in China around 1000 B.C. Silver coins started to be made in what is now Turkey around 600 B.C. Soon after, the techniques for making coins were copied and improved by the Greek and Roman empires

Later, paper money was developed and used in China around A.D. 800, during the Tang Dynasty. Coins were heavy and bulky, so carrying lots of money was not easy. Paper money solved this problem. Now most countries use both paper and coin money. Furthermore, in this digital age, people can buy things without paper money by using a credit card. In the future, it is likely that an even more advanced form of money will be used.

1. What is this passage mainly about?

1. why paper money is better than coins
2. how the barter system caused problems
3. how money was first created and developed
4. how trade was developed between countries

2. What country is mentioned as having used the first metal coins?

1. Turkey
2. China
3. Greece
4. Rome

3. What is NOT true about paper money?

1. It was created after the invention of coins
2. It was first made in Turkey and improved in Greece.
3. It made it possible for people to carry lots of money.
4. Before the Tang Dynasty, people did not use paper money.

4. What can be inferred from this passage?

1. Coins will be made of plastic in the future.
2. Money will continue to develop and change.
3. People usually traded animals in the barter system.
4. The idea of credit cards was first developed in Greece.

5. Which can replace the word “improved” in line 21?

1. provided
2. upgraded
3. damaged
4. increased

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