Britannica Student Encyclopedia - 2010

ball connected by a strong wire to a

handle. The discus is a plate-shaped

disk. The javelin is a spear. The athlete

who throws the object the farthest wins.

Decathlon and Heptathlon

The decathlon and the heptathlon are

competitions that combine several

events. They test all-around athletes. In

the Olympics men compete in the

decathlon and women compete in the

heptathlon. Points are awarded in each

event and added up to determine the

winner.

The decathlon and the heptathlon each

take two days to complete. The decathlon

consists of 10 events: the 100-, 400-,

and 1,500-meter runs, the 110-meter

hurdles, the discus and javelin throws,

the shot put, the pole vault, the long

jump, and the high jump. The heptathlon

consists of seven events: the 200-

and 800-meter runs, the 100-meter

hurdles, the high jump, the long jump,

the shot put, and the javelin throw.

History

People in different cultures have held

footraces and other track-and-field contests

for thousands of years. The first

records of the Olympic Games, held in

Greece, date from 776 BC. At those

Olympics there was only one event, a

footrace. Later Olympics in Greece

included a five-event competition. It

consisted of a footrace, the long jump,

wrestling, and javelin and discus throws.

The ancient Olympics ended in the AD

300s.

Track and field as practiced today developed

in England. There the sport dates

back to the 1100s. But track and field

was not well organized as a sport until

the 1800s. The sport started becoming

popular in the United States in the

1860s.

The Olympic Games began again in

1896. The Olympics helped to spread

interest in track and field throughout

the world. An organization called the

International Association of Athletics

Federations (IAAF) now governs trackand-

field competition in the Olympics.

It also approves all world records in

track-and-field events.

#More to explore

Marathon • Olympic Games

Trade

Trade is the buying and selling of goods

and services. Goods are objects that

people grow or make—for example,

food, clothes, and computers. Services

Machines move large containers of goods

off a ship and onto trucks at a port in

Canada. Shipping goods between countries

is an important part of international trade.

BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA Trade 87

 

are things that people do—for example,

banking, communications, and health

care. People have traded since prehistoric

times. Today most countries take part in

international trade, or trade across country

borders.

Reasons for Trade

Trade happens because people need or

want goods that they do not have.

People also trade for services when they

do not have the time or the skills to do

things. Trade between countries happens

for similar reasons. For example, some

countries have resources, such as oil, or

skills, such as car manufacturing, that

other countries will buy.

Both people and countries want trade to

benefit them. Families want to earn

more money than they spend on goods

and services. Countries try to sell, or

export, as much as they buy, or import,

from other countries.

Trade Limits

In some economies, the government

controls all trade. In others, the government

allows companies to trade more

freely. However, even governments that

support free trade control trade in some

way. They may keep companies from

trading dangerous or illegal products.

They may also pass laws to prevent companies

from forming monopolies. A

monopoly occurs when one company

has so much control over a certain type

of good or service that no other companies

can compete, or make money selling

that good or service.

Countries also limit trade between other

countries and themselves to protect their

economies. Countries may charge tariffs,

or special taxes, on foreign goods. They

may also set quotas, or limits on the

amount of foreign goods they buy.

Free Trade

In the 1900s many countries worked to

stop trade limits. Some formed trading

blocs, or groups of countries that trade

freely. Examples include the North

American Free Trade Agreement

(NAFTA), the European Union, and

South America’s Mercosur. In addition,

about 150 countries joined theWorld

Trade Organization (WTO). TheWTO

encourages free trade around the world.

The lifting of trade limits caused international

trade to grow. However, some

people questioned the idea of free trade.

Many children enjoy trading

baseball cards. A trade only

happens when each person has

a card or cards that the other

person wants.

88 Trade BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA

 

If governments did not oversee trade,

they warned, international companies

could pay workers poorly and pollute

the environment.

History

Trade developed along with civilization.

Before 2000 BC people in the earliest

civilizations of Mesopotamia, ancient

Egypt, and the Indus Valley traded

among themselves and with other

peoples. As time passed, civilizations

built trade routes. They used these paths

to transport spices, salt, gold, and other

goods over greater distances. Trade

routes went over land and sea.

In the AD 1400s Europeans began

exploring by sea to find new trade routes

to Asia. Some explored the coast of

Africa. Others crossed the Atlantic