Most people would not pay two cents for something worth one. But America"s government spent $ 116m last year doing just that. The money-losing purchase was money itself; the penny, which has cost more than a cent to produce since 2006, due mainly to the price of zinc, the coin"s primary ingredient. Steel is not much better, as Canada has learned. The government there recently ditched its steel-based penny. American politicians, while loth to take lessons from their northern neighbours, may have noticed. In an online forum on February 14th Barack Obama intimated that the penny was no longer change he believes in. Fifty years ago a handful of pennies would buy a hamburger at McDonald"s, but inflation means the coin won"t even get you one French fry today. Relegated to jars and lost behind cushions, the penny is failing to perform its primary function; to facilitate commerce. Vending machines and parking meters don"t accept it. Penny scourges note that fiddling with them adds some two seconds to each transaction, costing the economy many millions of dollars a year. Penny lovers and zinc-industry lobbyists counter that the coin"s demise would cost consumers, as merchants would round prices up to the nearest nickel. Some economists disagree, suggesting that shop keepers might in fact round down in order to avoid moving from a price of, say, $ 9. 99 to $ 10. Americans anyway seem willing to accept a fee for penny removal, as evidenced by the self-imposed cost of leaving them idle and the success of coin-counting machines, which take a cut when turning them into bills. Other countries have eliminated low-value coins with less-than-dire results, and indeed, so has America. In 1857 it ditched the half-cent, then worth nearly as much in real terms as today"s dime. This has led some to suggest killing the nickel, which costs about ten cents to make, as well as the penny.
单选题
By saying "Most people would not pay two cents for something worth one" , the author intends to______.
【答案解析】解析：选项[A]对应该段第二句：The government there recently ditched its steel—based pen—ny．最近该政府刚刚取消其用钢制造的硬币。其中the government指代上文的Canada，而不是该项的America，故该项属于偷换概念，错误。选项[B]对应最后一句：Barack Obama intimatedthat the penny was no longer change he believes in．意为：巴拉克·奥巴马宣布，美分再也不是他所认为的零钱了(言下之意，制造美分硬币成本太高)。故该项表述正确。选项[C]前半句是正确的，但many countries still use it是无中生有，故错误。选项[D]对应该段第三句：Americanpoliticians，while loth to take lessons from their northern neighbours，may have noticed．大意为：尽管美国不情愿从北方邻国(指加拿大)身上吸取教训，但是该国政治家应该注意到这个问题．了。故该项“Canadian government is reluctant to learn from America”是偷换概念。综上所述，该题答案为选项[B]。
单选题
The penny"s primary function is to______.
【正确答案】
A
【答案解析】解析：根据题干可以定位到第三段的中间部分:．．．the penny is failing to perform its prima—ry function：to facilitate commerce．由此非常清晰地得出答案为to facilitate commerce(促进商业贸易)，而选项中与之最接近的是选项[A]to boost economy(促进经济)，故为答案。选项[C]中的improve虽然与facilitate也属于同义词．但后面的currency exchange是文中未提到的，故错误p选项[B]中的inflation，选项[D]中的buy a hamburger at McDonald’s在文章中都可以找到对应信息，但是并非美分硬币的主要功能。故错误。
单选题
Penny lovers and zinc-industry lobbyists oppose that______.
【正确答案】
C
【答案解析】解析：根据题干定位到第四段第一句：Penny lovers and zinc—industry lobbyists counter thatthe coin’s demise would cost consumers，as merchants would round prices up to the nearest nickel．答案很明显，是the coin’s demise would cost consumers，其中该题题干中的oppose对应原文中的counter；demise对应选项[C]中的disappearance，故选项[C]和原文的the coin’s demise wouldcost consumers是同义替换关系。
单选题
Some people suggest to cancel penny because ______.
【正确答案】
D
【答案解析】解析：根据some people suggest to cancel penny定位到最后一段最后一句：This has ledsome to suggest killing the nickel，which costs about ten cents to make，as well as the penny．意为：这导致许多人建议取消五分镍币(制造一枚五分镍币耗费十美分)和一美分硬币。而this即指代产生这一建议的缘由，故本题答案在this之前一句：In 1857 it ditched the half-cent，thenworth nearly as much in real terms as today’s dime．而与该句接近的表述是选项[D]Americacanceled the half-cent in history(美国历史上取消过半分硬币)。选项[A]错在原文说的是制造nickel需要耗费十美分，而不是制造penny，该项属于偷换概念。选项[B]错在原文说的是其他国家取消“low—value coins低面额硬币”而不是取消所有coins，故该项也属于偷换概念。选项[C]在原文中没提到，属于无中生有。故本题答案为选项[D]。