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  3. Types of Money The functions of money as a medium of exchange and a measure of value greatly facilitate the exchange of good

Types of Money The functions of money as a medium of exchange and a measure of value greatly facilitate the exchange of good

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问题                   Types of Money
    The functions of money as a medium of exchange and a measure of value greatly facilitate the exchange of goods and services and the specialization of production. Without the use of money, trade would be reduced to barter, or the direct exchange of one commodity for another. This was the means of exchange used in primitive societies, and bartering is still practiced in some parts of the world today. In a barter economy, a person having something to trade must find another who wants it and has something acceptable to offer in exchange. In a money economy, the owner of a commodity may sell it for money, which is acceptable in payment for a wide range of other goods or services, thus avoiding the time and effort that would be required to find someone who could make an acceptable trade. Money may thus be regarded as a keystone of modern economic life.   The most important types of money are commodity money, credit money, and fiat money. The value of commodity money is about equal to the value of the material contained in it. The principal materials used for this type of money have been gold, silver, and copper. In ancient times, various articles made of these metals, as well as of iron and bronze, were used as money, while among primitive societies commodities such as shells, beads, elephant tusks, furs, skins, and livestock served as mediums of exchange. The gold coins that circulated in the United States before 1933 were examples of commodity money because the value of the gold contained in the coin was about equal to the value of the coin.   Credit money is paper backed by promises by the issuer, whether a government or a bank, to pay an equivalent value in the standard monetary metal, such as gold or silver. Paper money that is not redeemable in any other type of money and the value of which is fixed merely by government edict is known as fiat money. This is the type of money found today in the United States in the form of both coins and dollar bills.   Credit money becomes fiat money when the issuing government suspends the convertibility of credit money into precious metal. Most fiat money began as credit money, such as the U.S. note known as the greenback which was issued during the American Civil War. Most minor coins in circulation are also a form of fiat money, because the value of the material of which they are made is usually less than their value as money. For example, the amount of nickel in a nickel coin today is less than its value as money.   Both the fiat and credit forms of money are generally made acceptable through a government decree that all creditors must take the money in settlement of debts; the money is then referred to as legal tender. If the supply of paper money is not excessive in relation to the needs of trade and industry and people feel confident that this situation will continue, the currency is likely to be generally acceptable and to be relatively stable in value. If, however, such currency is issued in excessively large volume in order to finance government needs, confidence is destroyed and it rapidly loses value. Such depreciation of the currency is often followed by formal devaluation, or reduction of the official value of the currency, by governmental decree.   The basic money of a country into which other forms of money may be converted and which determines the value of other kinds of money is called the money of redemption or standard money.
(A) [■]Modern standards have been either commodity standards, in which either gold or silver has been chiefly used as standard money, or fiat standards, consisting of inconvertible currency paper units.
(B) [■]Most monetary systems of the world at the present time, including those in China and the United States, are fiat systems.  
(C) [■]They do not allow free convertibility of the currency into a metallic standard, and money is given value by government fiat or edict rather than by its nominal gold or silver content.  
(D) [■]Modern systems are also described as managed currencies, because the value of the currency depends to a considerable extent on government management and policies. Internally, the monetary systems of China and the United States contain many elements of managed currency; although gold coinage is no longer permitted, gold may be owned, traded, or used for industrial purposes.
An introductory sentence for a brief summary of the passage is provided below. Complete the summary by selecting the THREE answer choices that express the most important ideas in the passage. Some sentences do not belong in the summary because they express ideas that are not presented in the passage or are minor ideas in the passage. This question is worth 2 points.   As an indispensable part of modern economy, money has gone through a process of development and a range of types. Answer Choices
A. Money as a medium of commodity exchange replaced barter and greatly improved economic development.   
B. Usually, money can be made from a wide range of materials ranging from shells, beads, to precious metals and even paper.   
C. The evolution of money began with commodity money, then credit money and fiat money with fiat money as the most popular in modern societies today.   
D. Since fiat money prevails around the world, barter, commodity money and credit money are not used any more in modern economies.   
E. Although money plays an important role in modern economic life it also brings harm to societies.   F. As the most common monetary system around the world today, the fiat system also has some managed elements.
选项
答案A. Money as a medium of commodity exchange replaced barter and greatly improved economic development. C. The evolution of money began with commodity money, then credit money and fiat money with fiat money as the most popular in modern societies today. F. As the most common monetary system around the world today, the fiat system also has some managed elements.
解析 本题为篇章总结题，考查考生理解全篇中心思想和相关重要信息的能力，考生通过区分主要和次要观点以及文章中没有提及的观点达到总结全篇的目的。本文主要介绍了货币的功能、货币对经济的作用以及三种主要的货币形式：commodity money, credit money和fiat money，然后又介绍了货币标准和货币体系。根据这样的结构，能概括全文主要观点的是选项A、C、F。选项A说的是：货币作为货物交换的媒介代替了以物易物的交易形式，极大地促进了经济的发展；选项C说的是：货币经历了一个commodity money, credit money和fiat money 三种基本形式的历史发展过程，而fiat money在现代社会被普遍使用；选项F说的是：不兑现 纸币制(fiat system)是当今世界上最普遍的货币标准体系，其中有很多管理的因素。而另外三个句子，有的不符合原文内容，有的并非阐述了文章的巾心思想。
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