金融英語閱讀貨幣的演變
金融英語閱讀貨幣的演變
Today anyone will accept money in exchange for goods and services. People use money to buy food, furniture, books, bicycles and hundreds of other things they need or want. When they work, they usually get paid in money.
今天，人人都願意接受貨幣，用以換回商品和勞務。人們用貨幣購買他們所需要的或想得到的食品、傢俱、書籍、腳踏車及其它數百種商品。在工作中人們得到的報酬通常是貨幣。
Most of the money today is made of metal or paper. But people used to use all kinds of things as money. One of the first kinds of money was shells.
現在，大多數貨幣是用金屬或紙張製作的,但人類曾經使用各式各樣的商品作為貨幣。在最初出現的貨幣中有一種是貝殼。
Shells were not the only things used as money. In China, skin, sheep, corn, cloth and knives were used. In the Philippine Islands, rice was used as money for a long time. Elephant tusks, monkey tails, and salt were used as money in parts of Africa.
充當貨幣的商品不僅僅是貝殼。在中國古代，獸皮、山羊、玉米、棉布和刀等都充當過貨幣；在菲律賓群島，稻穀在很長一段時間裡都充當貨幣；象牙、猴尾巴、鹽等在非洲部分地區也充當過貨幣。
Cattle were one of the earliest kinds of money. Other animals were used as money, too.
牛是最早的貨幣形式之一，其它的牲畜也充當過貨幣。
The first metal coins were made in China. They were round and had a square hole in the center. People strung them together and carried them from place to place.
最早的金屬貨幣是由中國鑄造的，它們呈圓形，中間有一個方孔。人們將金屬鑄幣用繩子穿起來，隨身攜帶。
Different countries have used different metals and designs for their money. The first coins in England were made of tin. Sweden and Russia used copper to make their money. Later, countries began to make coins of gold and silver.
各國用各種不同的金屬鑄造貨幣並繪上各種不同的圖案。英國最早的`貨幣是用錫鑄造的，瑞典和俄羅斯的貨幣是用銅鑄造的，後來各國開始用金銀鑄造貨幣。
But even gold and silver were inconvenient if you had to buy something expensive. Again the Chinese thought of a way to improve money. They began to use paper money.The First paper money looked more like a note from one person to another than the paper money used today.
但若要購買貴重的商品，即使用金銀鑄幣也很不方便。於是，中國人想出了一個改進貨幣的方法，並開始使用紙幣。與其說最初的紙幣類似我們現在使用的紙幣，還不如說它更象一張李四寫給張三的便條。
Money has had an interesting history from the days of shell money until today.
從貝殼貨幣時代至今，貨幣有一段非常有趣的演變史