雅思阅读真题（Part 2）
硬币——最早的货币形式
本篇也叫：硬币 最早货币、古希腊硬币、硬币的起源、钱币 雅思阅读、硬币 雅思阅读、古希腊钱币
Part 2 · 考频：超高频 · 最近考试：2026.2.10四川大学
本篇为雅思阅读真题（Part 2）《Coins - the first form of money》，共 12 题，2026.2.10四川大学雅思考试真题回忆，页面提供完整原文、题目、答案与解析，并支持在线机考模式免费练习。本页同时提供 Markdown 版本 供 AI 助手与搜索引擎直接读取。
文章讲述硬币作为最早货币形式的历史：从物物交换到金属硬币的出现，古希腊人率先发挥硬币潜力；硬币价值基于金属本身，多为银质；古币手工打造，图案各异，用于宣传城邦；雅典娜与猫头鹰图案长期沿用，后演变为君主肖像。
A
Few people pay much attention to coins. There is even a belief that they will one day be obsolete and money will at last have achieved the pure status of a mathematical formulation.
B
Coins are among the most durable of our artefacts, and future archaeologists will scrutinise coins in order to learn about their distant ancestors. There are thousands of different coins each designed to carry meaning as well as value.
C
Before coins, trade was based on barter: the direct trade of commodities. Metal coins were far more portable. The Greeks, however, were the first to realise the full potential of the new invention. They were a trading people of seafarers. Their civilsation, which was composed of dozens of city-states, was highly decentralised.
D
The value of coins was generally based on the intrinsic value of the metal they were made of. At first this was mostly silver. Had the Greek silver mining been on larger scale,it could have caused problems similar to those faced by the Spanish centuries later, when so much gold from the New World was brought into their economy that it resulted in serious inflation. One advantage of straightedge value was that coins could be weighed to determine the amount of metal they contained. Greeks realised that different metals have different-volume ratios and that by measuring the amount of displacement when coins were immersed in water.
E
All ancient coins were made by hand using engraved metal moulds. The endless variety encountered in coins with the same designs is due to the fact that the moulds had to be remade repeatedly, by many different artisans. One of the distinctive features of coins, in fact, is that they are the work of anonymous craftsmen. Coins were a way of advertising the qualities of each particular city-state.
F
Greek coins' uniform design is the beautiful features of the city's patron, Athena (with her owl on the reverse of the coin), which seem to have been repeated virtually unaltered for many years.
G
One side of a coin was always occupied by the head of a divinity, so it was a relatively small step, at around 323 BC, for Greek coins to replace that head with the portrait of the reigning monarch, a tradition that has continued in monarchies to the present day.
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答案：what lies ahead is not guaranteed
原文定位：There is even a belief that they will one day be obsolete and money will at last have achieved the pure status of a mathematical formulation
同义替换：「what lies ahead」↔「one day」，「is not guaranteed」↔「a belief that they will one day be obsolete」
答案：valuable historical evidence of earlier civilisations
原文定位：Coins are among the most durable of our artefacts, and future archaeologists will scrutinise coins in order to learn about their distant ancestors
同义替换：「earlier civilisations」↔「distant ancestors」，「historical evidence」↔「archaeologists will scrutinise coins to learn about」
答案：a system of exchange that was easier and less complicated
原文定位：Before coins, trade was based on barter: the direct trade of commodities. Metal coins were far more portable
同义替换：「system of exchange」↔「trade」，「easier and less complicated」↔「far more portable」
答案：determining the value of a coin
原文定位：The value of coins was generally based on the intrinsic value of the metal they were made of
同义替换：「determining the value」↔「The value of coins was generally based on」
答案：a way to advertise a particular area
原文定位：Coins were a way of advertising the qualities of each particular city-state
同义替换：「area」↔「city-state」
答案：consistent coins indicated reliability
原文定位：Greek coins' uniform design is the beautiful features of the city's patron, Athena (with her owl on the reverse of the coin), which seem to have been repeated virtually unaltered for many years
同义替换：「consistent」↔「uniform design」
答案：associating faces with famous historical individuals
原文定位：One side of a coin was always occupied by the head of a divinity, so it was a relatively small step, at around 323 BC, for Greek coins to replace that head with the portrait of the reigning monarch
同义替换：「faces」↔「head」，「famous historical individuals」↔「reigning monarch」
答案：The individuals who produced the coins have left no written evidence of their names.,Different examples of coins sharing the same pattern often appeared noticeably dissimilar from one another.
原文定位：One of the distinctive features of coins, in fact, is that they are the work of anonymous craftsmen;The endless variety encountered in coins with the same designs is due to the fact that the moulds had to be remade repeatedly, by many different artisans
同义替换：「individuals who produced the coins」↔「craftsmen」，「have left no written evidence of their names」↔「anonymous」，「pattern」↔「designs」，「appeared noticeably dissimilar」↔「endless variety」
答案：city-states
原文定位：Their civilsation, which was composed of dozens of city-states, was highly decentralised
同义替换：「numerous independent」↔「dozens of」，「consisted」↔「composed」
答案：barter
原文定位：Before coins, trade was based on barter: the direct trade of commodities
同义替换：「Prior to the introduction of」↔「Before」，「conduct transactions」↔「trade」，「through」↔「based on」
答案：silver
原文定位：The value of coins was generally based on the intrinsic value of the metal they were made of. At first this was mostly silver
答案：inflation
原文定位：Had the Greek silver mining been on larger scale,it could have caused problems similar to those faced by the Spanish centuries later, when so much gold from the New World was brought into their economy that it resulted in serious inflation
同义替换：「issue」↔「problems」，「experienced」↔「faced by」，「excessive quantities of」↔「so much」，「flooded」↔「brought into」