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　　2017年12月英语四级美文100篇汇总

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　　Money

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　　In the earliest stages of man’s development

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　　he had no more need of money than animals have.

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　　He was content with simple forms of shelter

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　　and from natural materials around him,

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　　he made his own rough tools and weapons.

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　　As he became more civilized,

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　　however, he began to want better shelter,

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　　more efficient tools and weapons,

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　　and more comfortable clothing

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　　than could be provided by the work of his own unskilled hands.

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　　For these things he had to turn to the skilled people

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　　such as smiths and carpenters who were springing up everywhere.

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　　It was then that the question of payment arose.

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　　At first he got what he wanted by a simple process of exchange.

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　　The smith who had not the time to look after land or cattle

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　　was glad to take meat or grain

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　　from the farmer in exchange for an axe or a plough.

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　　But as more and more goods which had no fixed exchange value

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　　came on the market,

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　　exchange became too complicated to be satisfactory.

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　　Another problems arose

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　　when those who made things wanted to get stocks of wood，

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　　leather or iron,

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　　but had nothing to offer in exchange

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　　until their finished goods were ready.

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　　Thus the difficulties of exchange

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　　led by degrees to the invention of money.

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　　In some countries,

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　　easily handled things like seeds or shells

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　　were given a certain value and the farmer,

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　　instead of paying the smith for a new axe

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　　by giving him some meat or grain,

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　　gave him so many shells.

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　　If the smith had any shells left when he had bought his food,

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　　he could get stocks of the raw materials of his trade.

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　　In some countries quite large things

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　　such as cows or camels or even big flat stones were used for trade.

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　　Later, pieces of metal,

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　　bearing values according to the rarity of the metal

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　　and the size of the pieces of coins were used.

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　　Money as we know it had arrived.