TPO托福阅读练习题37及参考答案（十二）

　　11. The phrase an English innovation in the passage is closest in meaning to

　　○ a new development introduced by the English

　　○ an arrangement found only in England

　　○ a type of agreement negotiated in English

　　○ a type of partnership based on English law

　　12. According to paragraph 8, each of the following was a source of funds used to finance economic expansion EXCEPT

　　○ groups of investors engaged in short-term financial cooperation

　　○ the state

　　○ wealthy merchants

　　○ joint-stock companies

　　Paragraph 6：The development of banking and other financial services contributed to the expansion of trade. By the middle of the sixteenth century, financiers and traders commonly accepted bills of exchange in place of gold or silver for other goods. Bills of exchange, which had their origins in medieval Italy, were promissory notes (written promises to pay a specified amount of money by a certain date) that could be sold to third parties. In this way, they provided credit. ■At mid-century, an Antwerp financier only slightly exaggerated when he claimed, "0ne can no more trade without bills of exchange than sail without water." ■Merchants no longer had to carry gold and silver over long, dangerous journeys. ■An Amsterdam merchant purchasing soap from a merchant in Marseille could go to an exchanger and pay the exchanger the equivalent sum in guilders, the Dutch currency. ■The exchanger would then send a bill of exchange to a colleague in Marseille, authorizing the colleague to pay the Marseille merchant in the merchant's own currency after the actual exchange of goods had taken place.

　　13. Look at the four squares [■] that indicate where the following sentence could be added to the passage.

　　They could also avoid having to identify and assess the value of a wide variety of coins issued in many different places.

　　Where would the sentence best fit?

　　14．Directions: An introductory sentence for a brief summary of the passage is provided below. Complete the summary by selecting the THREE answer that express the most important ideas in the passage. Some sentences do not belong in the summary because they express ideas that not presented in the passage or are minor ideas in the passage. This question is worth 2 points.

　　In late sixteenth-and early seventeenth-century Europe, increased agricultural production and the expansion of trade were important in economic growth

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　　Answer choices

　　○ Bringing more land under cultivation produced enough food to create surpluses for trade and investment as well as for supporting the larger populations that led to the growth of rural industry.

　　○ Most rural villages established an arrangement with a nearby urban center that enabled villagers to take advantage of urban markets to sell any handicrafts they produced.

　　○ Increases in population and the expansion of trade led to increased manufacturing, much of it small-scale in character but some requiring significant capital investment.

　　○ Increased capital was required for the production of goods, for storage, for trade, and for the provision of credit throughout of Europe as well as distant markets overseas.

　　○ Bills of exchange were invented in medieval Italy but became less important as banks began to provide loans for merchants.

　　○ The expansion of trade was facilitated by developments in banking and financial services and benefitted from the huge influx of capital in the form of gold silver from the Americas