MONEY
There is no doubt that money, in the form that we know it today, (1)________ what keeps modern economic life functioning. Yet, throughout history, money, in whatever form, has provided people (2)___________the ability to buy (3)____________sell goods.
Thousands of years (4) _______________ , civilisations (5) ______________ to rely on the barter system as a way of exchanging goods. Within this system a person had to exchange one thing for another. This meant that the two parties involved had to (6) _____________ an agreement as to w hat they thought their products were w orth. Items such (7) __________wheat, tobacco and livestock have all been used as money at one time or another. It was not until much later that humans came up (8) ___________ the idea of money in the form of metal coins. So why (9) __________the barter system come to an end? The answer is simple. Coins were much easier to handle and carry around. Since then, the use of coins has become widespread. It has made commerce simpler and has given countries an opportunity (10)______________development by doing business with other countries further afield, which they (11)___________ never done business with before.
In recent years, paper money has become m ore com m on all over the world, as it is easier to use. It (12) ______________ not be long, however, before plastic cards take over completely, replacing coins and paper money.
