A glimpse into the history of world trade

For thousand and thousand of years, people produced most of what they needed for themselves. They grew or hunted for their own food, and made their own simple tools. But little by little they learned that they could have more varied goods by trading.

Little is known about the beginnings of trade. The earliest trade we do know something about is the caravan trade across the deserts of Asia around 2500 BC, to and from cities in Mesopotamia, Egypt, and Arabia. These caravans had to carry fodder for the animals and food for the drivers and merchants. Not much space was left for the cargo. As a result, the goods carried were light but valuable, things such as gold and precious stones – that is, luxuries and not necessities.

The modern world began as the “Age of Discoveries”. The great voyages of Spanish and Portuguese explorers, such as Christopher Columbus (1492), Vasco da Gama (1498), and Ferdinand Magellan (1519), opened up new trade routes to the Americas, Africa, and India. This was the beginning of ocean travel.

Britain and other countries of northern Europe formed big companies, and each was given a certain part of the world to explore and exploit. The new companies penetrated into distant lands, and brought back their products, many of which were new and unknown: tomatoes, potatoes, cocoa, green beans, and maize. By the 17th century, the Dutch dominated the world’s trade, with the French and the English as their close rivals. All three nations opened up the tropical lands of the East and West Indies, and imported sugar, tobacco, tea, and coffee into Europe.

During the 19th century, the industrial revolution led to greater production, and the pattern of world trade started to become what it is today.

In previous centuries, trade was more local, and people’s tastes varied from one country to another. Imports used to bring diversity. It is ironic that today’s vast international markets have resulted in a world with more homogeneous tastes.

Today, mass advertising persuades people of many different nationalities to use the same products. Millions of people around the world drink the same soft drinks, drive the same cars, wear the same clothes, and eat the same hamburgers.

3. Choose the correct alternative.

1. I have few / little / a few / a little alternatives, but not many.

2. We have very few/ little / a few / a little money, I’m afraid.

3. He earns less/fewer money than a cleaner.

4. We know very little/ a little / few/ a few about the earlty days of trade.

5. They did not have much/ many space for the cargo.

6. They had to carry many/ much fodder for their animals.

7. Every / All /Everyone three nations imported exotic products like sugar, tobacco, tea, and coffee.

8. Fewer/Less people go to the theatre nowadays. It’s a shame.

4. Look at the words in the box. Each of them can be stressed in two different ways. Why? What difference does it make?