2. 外语
  3. The origin of the almighty dollar is in what is now the Czech Republic. In 1519 ,a silver mine near the town of Joachimstal lite

The origin of the almighty dollar is in what is now the Czech Republic. In 1519 ,a silver mine near the town of Joachimstal lite

admin2010-07-06  54
问题      The origin of the almighty dollar is in what is now the Czech Republic. In 1519 ,a silver mine near the town of Joachimstal literally "Joachim’s valley," from the German Tal, meaning valley began minting a silver coin called, unimaginatively, the Joachimstaler. The coin, which was circulated widely, became better known by its clipped form, the taler. In Dutch and Low German, the initial consonant softened to become daler. English adopted this form, eventually changing its spelling to the modern dollar.
     In the American colonies, there was no standard currency. The coin that was in widest use was the Spanish Peso, known also as" Pieces of Eight" because it could be divided into eight pie-like pieces. The English colonists informally assigned the name dollar to this coin. In 1785, when the Continental Congress established U.S. currency ,they adopted dollar as name for the standard unit of currency ,at the suggestion of Governeur Morris and Thomas Jefferson ,.because the term was widely known and was not associated with any form of official English currency. Jefferson also coined the term disme, from the French dixieme, for a tenth of a dollar. Pronounced deem, it eventually became dime.
     The origin of the $ sign has several folkloric stories attached. One says that Thomas Jefferson invented it, perhaps as a sort of monogram for TS. Jefferson was the first to use the symbol in relation to the U.S. dollar, but this story is fanciful. Another says that originally it was U superimposed over an S,for U.S. of course. Eventually the base of the U eroded due to poor printing technology, leaving an S with two lines through it. Another says that it is a variant of a figure eight that appeared on the Spanish Peso, standing for the pieces of eight. This Past is close to the truth, but not quite there.
     The Spanish royal family used on its escutcheon, two pillars representing the Pillars of Hercules in Gibraltar and Morocco crossed by an unfurled banner reading" Plus Ultra." This symbol appeared on the Peso, and looked much like the modern $ sign. It was adopted as a symbol for the Peso in the American colonies, and was transferred to the dollar.
     The U.S. was the first nation to adopt an official currency named the dollar. In 1797 ,the Bank of England began minting" dollar" coins as bank-issued currency. Other nations that have adopted the name dollar for their currency have done so in emulation of either the U.S. or this short-lived Bank of England practice.
We can infer from the passage that ______.
选项 A、both US and England have used dollar as the name of their official currency
B、the Bank of England used" dollar" coins as currency for just a short period of time
C、the origin of the $ sign of the dollar is quite unimaginable
D、there are few countries in the world that have adopted an official currency named the dollar
答案B
解析 A “美国和英国都用dollar作为它们的官方货币名称”与文中的“the term was widely known and was not associated with any form of official English currency”不符，英国并没有将其作为官方的货币名称。 C “用$来表示美元的起源十分令人费解”文中只是说它的起源带有民间传说的色彩，也不符。D “世界上几乎没有国家采用dollar作为官方货币的名称”与文章最后一段的内容不符。只有B “英国银行用 dollar作为硬币发行流通只持续了一段很短的时间”可以从“The English colonists informally assigned the name dollar to this coin”推断出来。故应选B 。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/CCDd777K
本试题收录于： 公共英语四级笔试题库公共英语（PETS）分类
0

公共英语四级笔试

公共英语（PETS）

相关试题推荐
随机试题
最新回复(0)