1. Which sentence best states the main idea of this passage?

A) Weights and measures have never been standardized.

B) Trading has become easier with the introduction of standards of measurement.

C) The British set standards of measurement that solved all of the problems of trading between countries.

D) Trading in the ancient world was confusing and imprecise.

1. The correct choice is B.

This choice covers the entire passage. Choices A and C are false statements. Choice D is part of the introduction of the passage, but not its main idea.

Anyone can understand the confusion ancient traders experienced trying to market their goods without a common standard of measurement. Imagine trying to sell grain in Egypt by the basket without having any comparison to make as to the basket’s weight or volume. Such were the problems in early times when weight had to be guessed or measured against a standard of the weight of stones, seashells, seeds, or grain. Problems also existed in terms of measurement of lengths because one of the earliest linear measurements was the foot which first took its standard from the length of a human foot and later used the length of a king’s foot as the standard. Archaeologists have traced people’s attempts to grapple with standard units of measurement from the ancient Egyptians’ attempts to reset precise property lines after flooding of the Nile River to biblical times when a cubit was the standard unit of length. The cubit took its standard from the distance between the end of the elbow to the end of the middle finger — usually about 18 inches. The Romans defined the inch as the width of the thumb, and the mile as 311,000 paces. The problems involved in using such measurements are obvious. Imagine trying to set new, more accurate standards among people who hung on tenaciously to existing standards.

When the Romans conquered ancient Britain, they brought their standards of measurement along and imposed them on the people. Consequently, some of these standards have survived to the 20th century. The British Imperial System of weights and measures evolved from many sources and was fairly well standardized by the 19th century. The standard yard and pound were kept in the Houses of Parliament, and, when it burned in 1834, they were destroyed. British scientists then began to press for a more uniform standard for the gallon, the pound, and the yard which could be used in the entire British Empire. This made trading, buying, and selling much more uniform.