In modern society，people use money every day．It seems that money is very important in our life．（1）

B

B

．But I think few people know the history of money．
   Long ago，people did not need money．They lived on wild animals，fruits and other plants． （2）

E

E

．Sometimes，families produced more than they needed，so they started to trade （贸易）with other families．Later，people began to use money as a means of exchange． （3）

A

A

．They used other things for money，like shells，rice，salt，large stones，etc．
   During the 600s BC，people began using coins as money．（4）

C

C

．Later，countries began to make their won coins．
    The Chinese were the first to use paper money，probably as early as the 11th century．The Italian traveler Marco Polo saw the Chinese using money when he visited China in the 1200s． （5）

D

D

．
Today，we have many new ways to pay for things．

A．However，it was not the same kind of money we use today．
B．That's because without money you can't buy anything you want．
C．They soon found that coins were easier to carry than goods and lasted a long time．
D．However，European countries did not start using paper money until 1600s．
E．As time passed，people learned to raise animals and crops．