Question

ballpoint pen
by ashton bennett
john jacob loud was an american inventor credited as
the first person to design the ballpoint pen. loud wanted
to make a writing instrument that could write on leather
products. during that time, fountain pens could not be
used to write on rough surfaces such as leather. a fountain
pen had a nib or a tip and a small reservoir for ink within
the pen. the ink would then travel to the nib of the pen
while writing.
on october 30, 1888, he obtained the first patent for a
ballpoint pen. a patent is an official paper that records an
invention under the name of the inventor. louds patent
mentioned that his pen would use a small rotating steel
ball within the pen. this pen could then be used to write
on wood, coarse paper products, and other surfaces on
which it would be difficult to write using a fountain pen.
loud did achieve his dream of inventing a pen that could
write on leather, but the pen proved to be too rough to be
used on paper. its tip was too harsh for a delicate surface
such as paper. loud could not sell this pen or create
another successful model. his patent finally expired
decades later, lászló józsef bíró, a hungarian
inventor, patented the first successful ballpoint pen that
13
read the sentence from the passage.
\bic has retailed more than 100 billion ballpoint pens throughout the world.\
what does the word retailed mean as it is used in the sentence?
a. sold
b. handled
c. made
d. displayed

Explanation:

The context is about Bic and ballpoint pens. "Retailed" in a business - product context (related to pens) is most likely to mean "sold" as it makes sense for a company to have sold a large number of pens.

Answer:

A. sold