Sample One
Directions:
In the following article, some sentences have been removed. For Questions 41-45, choose the most suitable one from the list AG to fit into each of the numbered blank. There are two extra choices, which do not fit in any of the gaps. Mark your answers on ANSWER SHEET 1. (10 points)
In Europe and Asia the first “medium of exchange” or “standard of value” was not gold or silver, but cattle (the Spanish words relating to cattle, pecuario, and to money, pecuniario, both have the same root). In other parts of the world, however, such different commodities as salt, shells, stones and cocoa beans were all used as “money”. They all offered advantages over the barter system (the direct exchange of goods), but none of them was perfect. (41).
The invention of coins appears to have occurred almost simultaneously but quite independently in ancient Greece and in China in about 700 B.C. (42).
In Greece, a natural alloy of gold and silver called “electrun” occurred in river in nugget form. The first coins were taken out of these nuggets with a tool called a punch. In order to distinguish these coins from gold ornaments, a design, or “type”, to use the technical numismatic expression, was added on one side. At first, these types were very simple: flowers, squares or, in the case of the city of Phocaea, a seal (seal = foca Spanish). (43).Soon, inscriptions appeared, the first known one being “I am the sign of Phanes.” From Halicarnassus around 600 B.C., about 200years later, the first portraits of rulers appeared on coins.
(44).Firstly, it was made of bronze. More notable, it was not circular, but in the shape of a knife! The knife had a hole pierced in the handle so that it could be suspended (for example, from a string), and, like some Greek coins, it generally bore an inscription. Other shapes included keys or spades, but what they had in common was the pierced hole. It was probably around 250 B.C. that the first Chinese money we would recognize as coins appeared, and, subsequently, the famous Ming Mint produced a round coin with a square hole in it. This particular coin bore the inscription, “Knife of Ming,” but later the knife itself disappeared. It was from this coin that the famous “cash” developed. The Chinese word, “cash”, means “a small unit of currency.” Although Chinese coins often had inscriptions, they virtually never had portraits, or types of any kind, until the nineteenth century when were influenced by western models.
(45). In the thirteenth century A.D. Marco Polo brought stories of such money to Europe, but the concept did not inspire the Europeans of his time. In fact, the true ancestors of modern paper money were the billets printed in France in 1716 by the Scottish financier, John Law. So the English word “cash” comes from a Chinese word, and the Spanish word billeted comes from a Scotsman in France. Money certainly seems to make the word go round!
[A] Some were too heavy, some could not be divided into small enough parts (How much of a cow would you need to buy a piece of cheese?), some were not permanent enough. The solution was money as we know it, that is, money in the form of coins.
[B] As for paper money, that was a Chinese invention, too.
[C] Meanwhile, in another part of Greece, circular silver coins were made, and these quickly became more common everywhere in Greece than the electrun ones.
[D] The reason why historians believe the development was independent is because of the notable difference in the two systems.
[E] Checks have largely replaced money as a means of exchange, for they are widely accepted everywhere.
[F] The first money to appear in China was very different.
[G] Though this is very convenient for both buyer and seller, it should not be forgotten that checks are not real money: they are quite valueless in themselves.
Part B
Sample One:
41.A 42.D 43.C 44.F 45.B
解析
这篇文章讲的是货币的起源。第一段讲金银之前各种货币的缺陷，第二段讲硬币起源于欧洲和中国。接着三段分别讲欧洲硬币的发展、中国硬币的发展和纸币的发展。从备选项中找出与各段主题相对应的选项。
译文
在欧洲和亚洲，第一个“交换媒介”或者“价值标准”并不是金或银，而是牲畜(西班牙语里的牲畜这个词“pecuario”和钱这个词“pecuniario”的词根相同)。不过，在世界上的其他地方，不同的商品，如盐、贝壳、石头和可可豆都被当作“货币”。它们都比以物易物方便，但也都存在缺陷。有的太重，有的不能切分(买一个奶酪需要几分之几头奶牛?)，有的不能长期贮存。解决的办法就是使用硬币。
硬币几乎同时但又是各自独立地于大约公元前700年出现在希腊和中国。历史学家认为它们是独立发展的，是因为两个系统有显著的不同。
在希腊，河里有一种被称为“electrun”的天然金银合金。用一种打孔器从这种天然合金上获得了最初的硬币。为了将硬币与金的装饰物相区别，在硬币的一侧加上了图案。最初，这些图案很简单：花、广场、在Phocaea城图案是海豹。同时，在希腊的其他地方，制造了圆形的银币。很快，在希腊的各地这些银币变得比金币更普遍。不久，硬币上出现了字样。已知的最早的字样是“我是Phanes的标记”。大约200年后，公元前600年前后，统治者的画像第一次出现在硬币上。
中国最早的货币出现的情况与此不同。首先，货币是青铜制造的。更显著的不同是，它不是圆形的，而是刀形的!刀柄上有个孔，所以它可以挂起来(例如，挂在一根绳子上)，与希腊银币相同的是，它上面也有字样。还有的是钥匙或锹的形状，但它们都有孔。在大约公元前250年前后，我们所认为的硬币首次在中国出现了。于是著名的“明”造币厂生产了圆形方孔的硬币。这种特殊的硬币上的字样是“明之刀”，不过后来刀本身却消失了。钱从这种硬币上发展起来了。中文的“钱”这个字意思是“一个很小的货币单位”。尽管中国的硬币经常有字样，但是画像直到19世纪中国受到西方影响之后才出现。
纸币也是中国发明的。在13世纪，马可波罗把纸币的故事带到了欧洲，但纸币的观念没有引起当时欧洲人的注意。事实上，现代纸币的祖先是苏格兰金融界John Law于1716年在法国制造的billet。所以，英文中的钱这个词来自中国，而西班牙语的“billeted”则是来自一个在法国的苏格兰人。看来钱的确能玩转地球!
