Read the text below and think of a word which best fits into each gap. Use only ONE word in each space !

There is no doubt that money, in the form that we know it today, what keeps modern economic life functioning. Yet, in the course history, money, in whatever form, has provided people the ability to buy and goods. Thousands of years , civilisations 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 an agreement as to what they thought their products were . Items such wheat, tobacco and salt have all used as money at one time or another. It was not until much later that humans came up the idea of money in the form of metal coins.

So why the barter system come to an end ? The answer is simple. Coins were much easier to handle and carry around. then, the use of coins has become widespread. It has made business simpler and has given countries an opportunity development by doing business with other countries further afield, which they never done business with before.

Later on, paper money became more common all over the world ,as it was easier to use. It not be long, however, before plastic cards take completely, replacing coins and bank notes.