SSC English – Test 17

Read the passage carefully and choose best answer to the question from the given alternatives.</br> Money, one of the earliest and most significant inventions of civilization, is essential to the development of trade. Without it there is only barter, a relationship between two people each of whom has something which the other wants. Money provides an intermediary substance, enabling the seller to choose when and where he wishes to become a buyer. All primitive societies invest certain things with a special value - particularly livestock, and items of rarity or beauty. They are presented on ceremonial occasions such as weddings. The possession of large numbers of cattle or pigs is clear evidence of wealth and prestige. But these objects are not money in our sense, capable of easy use in everyday transactions. </br> The most often quoted example of primitive money is shells - in Africa cowries and wampum in America. The small cowrie shell, deriving from the Maldives Islands in the Indian Ocean, is a treasured item in the civilizations of China and India from very early times. From India these attractive objects are carried along the trade routes to Africa. Similarly the American Indians use a small white cylindrical shell for ceremonial gifts, embroidered on to decorated belts or other ornaments. Europeans give the name 'wampum' to these precious items. Both wampum and cowries eventually become a market currency, in the conventional sense, but only after the arrival of Europeans. The earliest currencies used in commercial transactions appear in Egypt and Mesopotamia by the third millennium BC. It consists of gold bars which need to be weighed to establish their value each time they are exchanged. Later they are supplemented by gold rings for smaller sums. In about 2500 BC an extensive trade, at Ebla in modern Syria, is based on currency of this kind in silver and gold. Gold rings and ornaments, which can be worn for safe keeping as well as display, approach the ideal of a portable currency. Many poor women in India today still wear their limited wealth in this way, even when working in the fields or on the roads.

According to the passage, what does money do?

Read the passage carefully and choose best answer to the question from the given alternatives.</br> Money, one of the earliest and most significant inventions of civilization, is essential to the development of trade. Without it there is only barter, a relationship between two people each of whom has something which the other wants. Money provides an intermediary substance, enabling the seller to choose when and where he wishes to become a buyer. All primitive societies invest certain things with a special value - particularly livestock, and items of rarity or beauty. They are presented on ceremonial occasions such as weddings. The possession of large numbers of cattle or pigs is clear evidence of wealth and prestige. But these objects are not money in our sense, capable of easy use in everyday transactions. </br> The most often quoted example of primitive money is shells - in Africa cowries and wampum in America. The small cowrie shell, deriving from the Maldives Islands in the Indian Ocean, is a treasured item in the civilizations of China and India from very early times. From India these attractive objects are carried along the trade routes to Africa. Similarly the American Indians use a small white cylindrical shell for ceremonial gifts, embroidered on to decorated belts or other ornaments. Europeans give the name 'wampum' to these precious items. Both wampum and cowries eventually become a market currency, in the conventional sense, but only after the arrival of Europeans. The earliest currencies used in commercial transactions appear in Egypt and Mesopotamia by the third millennium BC. It consists of gold bars which need to be weighed to establish their value each time they are exchanged. Later they are supplemented by gold rings for smaller sums. In about 2500 BC an extensive trade, at Ebla in modern Syria, is based on currency of this kind in silver and gold. Gold rings and ornaments, which can be worn for safe keeping as well as display, approach the ideal of a portable currency. Many poor women in India today still wear their limited wealth in this way, even when working in the fields or on the roads.

Which of the following could be a suitable title for this passage?

Read the passage carefully and choose best answer to the question from the given alternatives.</br> Money, one of the earliest and most significant inventions of civilization, is essential to the development of trade. Without it there is only barter, a relationship between two people each of whom has something which the other wants. Money provides an intermediary substance, enabling the seller to choose when and where he wishes to become a buyer. All primitive societies invest certain things with a special value - particularly livestock, and items of rarity or beauty. They are presented on ceremonial occasions such as weddings. The possession of large numbers of cattle or pigs is clear evidence of wealth and prestige. But these objects are not money in our sense, capable of easy use in everyday transactions. </br> The most often quoted example of primitive money is shells - in Africa cowries and wampum in America. The small cowrie shell, deriving from the Maldives Islands in the Indian Ocean, is a treasured item in the civilizations of China and India from very early times. From India these attractive objects are carried along the trade routes to Africa. Similarly the American Indians use a small white cylindrical shell for ceremonial gifts, embroidered on to decorated belts or other ornaments. Europeans give the name 'wampum' to these precious items. Both wampum and cowries eventually become a market currency, in the conventional sense, but only after the arrival of Europeans. The earliest currencies used in commercial transactions appear in Egypt and Mesopotamia by the third millennium BC. It consists of gold bars which need to be weighed to establish their value each time they are exchanged. Later they are supplemented by gold rings for smaller sums. In about 2500 BC an extensive trade, at Ebla in modern Syria, is based on currency of this kind in silver and gold. Gold rings and ornaments, which can be worn for safe keeping as well as display, approach the ideal of a portable currency. Many poor women in India today still wear their limited wealth in this way, even when working in the fields or on the roads.

What is barter system?