1. People use money to buy food, furniture, books, bicycles
and hundreds of other things they need or want. When they work, they usually
get paid in money.
Most of the money today is made of
metal or paper. 2.
One of the first kinds of
money was shells. Shells were not the only things used as money. In China,
cloth and knives were used. In the Philippine Islands, rice was used as money
for a long time. Elephant tusks, monkey tails and salt were used as money in
parts of Africa.
The first metal coins were made in
China. They were round and had a square hole in the centre. 3. Different countries have used different metals and
designs for their money. 4. Sweden
and Russia used copper (铜) to make their money. Later some countries
began to make coins of gold and silver.
But even gold and silver were inconvenient if you had
to buy something expensive. Again the Chinese thought of a way to improve
money. 5. The first paper money looked more like a note from one
person to another than the paper money used today.
Money has had an interesting
history from the days of shell money until today.
A. The first coins in England were made of tin (锡).
B. But people used to use all kinds of things as
money.
C. No one knows for certain when people began to use
money.
D. People strung (串连) them
together and carried them from place to place.
E. Money, as we know, is all made of paper.
F. They began to use paper money.
G. Today anyone will accept money in exchange for
goods and services.
