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  3. The ratio between payments into and out of a country is known as the country’s balance of payments. Besides the value of imports

The ratio between payments into and out of a country is known as the country’s balance of payments. Besides the value of imports

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问题       The ratio between payments into and out of a country is known as the country’s balance of payments. Besides the value of imports and exports (the balance of trade), the balance of payments includes private foreign loans (and interest); loans by governments, central banks, and international organizations; and movements of gold or reserve currencies.
      An international medium of exchange is required for international trade. From the late 1800s until World War I, most countries operated on the gold standard. Gold coins of standard specifications circulated freely between countries, making gold in effect an international currency. This system provided an automatic correction for some trade imbalances, but it had little liquidity (the money supply could not expand as rapidly as required by expanding trade), and it was vulnerable to short-term changes in the gold supply.
     After the financial instability of the 1930s, the international monetary system was rebuilt following World War Ⅱ on the gold-exchange standard. The values of most national currencies were fixed in relation to the U. S. dollar; reserves were kept in dollars, which could be exchanged on demand for gold at a set price (#35 on ounce until 1968). The International Monetary Fund (IMF), a key institution set up under this system, makes international loans with capital subscribed by its members which include most noncommunist states. Voting rights are proportional to the amounts subscribed. The IMF has been able, through its loans, to stabilize fluctuating currencies and to influence the internal financial policies of recipient countries, a frequently criticized practice.
     The success of the gold-exchange standard, however, depended on the superior position of the United States in world trade. In the 1960s, continual balance of payments deficits lowered U. S. gold reserves and fatally undermined the system. In 1968 a two-tiered system was adopted. Government banks maintained fixed gold prices, while non-governmental buyers traded freely. Simultaneously, non-dollar special drawing rights (SDRs) were assigned to IMF members in proportion to their contributions. But these changes did not relieve strain on the U. S. dollar. In 1971 President Richard Nixon announced that dollars would no longer automatically be exchanged for gold, and since then there has been no single international monetary standard.
The gold-exchange standard differs from the gold standard in that
选项 A、it does not establish a generally accepted international medium of exchange.
B、it establishes no relationship between the value of a given currency and the value of gold.
C、the relationship it established between the value of any currency and the value of gold is indirect rather than direct.
D、it is a two-tiered rather than a single-tiered system.
答案C
解析 本题考查归纳能力。该题问“金汇兑本位制和金本位制的区别在于什么?”，根据gold standard和gold exchange standard可知答案在二、三段。在第二段中可知金本位指多数货币可直接与黄金挂勾。从第三段第二句可知金汇兑本位制指多数货币与美元挂勾而美元与黄金挂勾，即在金汇兑本位制下，各国货币与黄金的关系是间接的。选项C “它 (金汇兑本位制)在各种货币和黄金之间建立的关系是间接的而不是直接的”与文章内容正好相符。选项D 是事实，但不是二者的区别。
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