Day 26

Passage 26

Trade and Commerce in the Middle Ages

① In ancient times, trading over any significant distance was an expensive and risky enterprise. This restricted commerce mainly to local markets. However, after a decline following the breakup of the Roman Empire, European commerce expanded gradually to distant countries during the Middle Ages. Accompanying such a growth in trade and commerce were the establishment of guilds and the improvement in monetary systems, which, in turn, further enhanced the trade expansion.

② The expansion of trade from the West to the East was helped along by the Crusades. It was a series of military expeditions, initially carried out for recapturing Christian holy places in the Middle East from Islam. These expeditions facilitated the relations with Eastern countries, by developing a taste in the West for their indigenous productions. The conquest of Palestine, by the Crusaders, first opened all the towns and harbors of the Italian states to Western traders, many of whom were able to permanently establish themselves there, with all sorts of privileges and exemptions from taxes. Besides, as the Crusaders traveled through the Eastern lands to reach Jerusalem, many new products were introduced to Europe. Trade and commerce in the Middle Ages changed to include different products, from Cairo and Alexandria in Egypt, Damascus in Syria, Baghdad & Mosul in Iraq, and other great cities, which became important commerce and trading centers because of their strategic location, astride the trade routes to India, Persia, and the Mediterranean. The products were then carried across the Mediterranean to the Italian seaports, and then on to the major towns and cities of Europe.

③ Other improvements to the Middle Ages trade and commerce were also made by enhancing security. As a consequence of the growth, both, of commerce and of urban communities, guilds began to come into being on the European continent in the 11th century, and in England, after the Norman Conquest. Merchants traveled from market to market in foreign countries, and, for the sake of mutual protection, a group of merchants from the same city often banded together in a caravan. The members of a caravan elected a leader, and made rules that they pledged to obey. The name for such a caravan was Gilde or Hansa in the Germanic countries of Europe. In countries speaking languages derived from Latin, the term was caritas or fraternitas. Under the leadership of such guilds, the coasts were protected from piratical incursions, and lighthouses were erected at dangerous points to prevent shipwrecks. Besides, the members are obliged to stand by each other in legal disputes, in which any might engage. In this way, treaties of commerce with foreign nations, including even the most distant, were able to guarantee the liberty and security of traders abroad. As commerce and trade, especially long-distance trade, became safer and more general, the expansion of trade advanced further.

④ Before the collapse of the Roman Empire, urban centers in Europe once prospered, and many monetary systems were established. For example, through the banning of private or unauthorized minting, the first important standardization of sizes, weights, and values of coins was inaugurated under the Roman Empire. The banking system was so highly developed that its bankers could accept deposits of money, make loans, and purchase mortgages. After the collapse of the Roman Empire, however, the minting again went into chaos and the banking system also declined. Yet, by the beginning of the 11th century, trade revived and towns began a three-century growth spurt. The coinage and banking activities also began to resume. In 1252, the city of Florence minted the first gold coins since Roman times—the golden florin. And with the revival of banking in the 13th century, the moneychangers of the Italian states developed facilities for exchanging local and foreign currency. Soon, merchants demanded other services, such as lending money, and, gradually, banking services were expanded. The revival and development of the banking system, not only facilitated distant trade, but also provided the merchants with more capital they need to extend their business.

——2012年5月26日北美机经

The word “their” in Paragraph 2 refers to____.

A. Western countries

B. Crusades

C. expeditions

D. Eastern countries

核心词汇：

词汇练习：

阅读下列句子，用所给单词（或词组）的正确形式填空：

security resume restrict prosper privilege permanently mutual indigenous facilitate extend expedition conquest enhance decline expand consequence

1. This____ can be seen clearly in the changes that aff ected Venetian shipping and trade. (TPO-25:The Decline of Venetian Shipping)

2. From a practical aspect this protected the figures against breakage and psychologically gives the images a sense of strength and power, usually____ by a supporting back pillar. (TPO-11:Ancient Egyptian Sculpture)

3. These were essentially professional associations that provided for the____ aid and protection of their members, and allowed for the maintenance of professional standards. (TPO-16:Trade and the Ancient Middle East)

4. Contrary to the arguments of some that much of the pacific was settled by Polynesians accidentally marooned after being lost and adrift, it seems reasonable that this feat was accomplished by deliberate colonization ____that set out fully stocked with food and domesticated plants and animals.(TPO-5:The Origin of the Pacific Island People)

5. The other species, the Columbian white-tailed deer, in earlier times was common in the open prairie country; it is now ____to the low, marshy islands and flood plains along the lower Columbia River.(TPO-4:Deer Populations of the Puget Sound)

6. In order to create a sense of structure to this picture, researchers have relied on a distinction that still underlies the forms of much____ visual culture—a distinction between geometric and figurative elements.(TPO-23:Rock Art of the Australia Aborigines)

7. While the Greek world had expanded along the Mediterranean seas lanes, the Roman world was assembled by territorial____ .(TPO-7:Ancient Rome and Greece)

8. Under very cold conditions, rocks can be shattered by ice and frost. Glaciers may form in____ cold areas, and these slowly moving masses of ice cut out valleys, carrying with them huge quantities of eroded rock debris.(OG:Geology and Landscape)

9. Merchants complained that the____ reserved for Venetian-built and owned ships were first extended to those Venetians who bought ships from abroad and then to foreign-built and owned vessels.(TPO-25:The Decline of Venetian Shipping)

10. Within them, we experience companionship, love,____ , and an overall sense of wellbeing.(TPO-13:Types of Social Groups)

11. Pollen samples from freshwater lakes in Syria and elsewhere tell us forest cover____ rapidly at the end of the Ice Age, for the southwestern Asian climate was still cooler and considerably wetter than today.(TPO-20:Early Settlements in the Southwest Asia)

12. They represent the advertiser's opinions about the qualities of their products or brand and, as a ____,are difficult to verify.(TPO-14:Children and Advertising)

13. So once natural selection had shaped the adaptations that helped plants overcome the obstacles to terrestrial living, plants____ and diversified.(TPO-25:The Evolutionary Origin of Plants)

14. If the irritation is severe enough, a sleeping person will arouse, clear the airway, then____ breathing and likely return to sleep.(TPO-24:Breathing During Sleep)

15. The availability of steam power and the demands for new machines____ the transformation of the iron industry.(TPO-26:Energy and the Industrial Revolution)

16. Off shore drilling platforms ____the search for oil to the ocean's continental shelves—those gently sloping submarine regions at the edges of the continents.(TPO-4:Petroleum Resources)

参考答案：

1. decline 2. enhanced 3. mutual 4. expeditions 5. restricted 6. indigenous 7. conquest 8. permanently 9. privileges 10. security 11. expanded 12. consequence 13. prospered 14. resume 15. facilitated 16. extend