单选题Directions:In this part of the test, there are five short
passages. Read each passage carefully, and then do the questions that
follow. Passage One
For years, Europeans have been using "smart cards" to pay their way
through the day. They use them in shops and restaurants; plug them into public
telephones and parking meters. In France smart cards cover anything from a
biscuit bill to a swimming-pool entry fee. In America, smart cards are not
nearly so common-only about 430,000 are now circulating in the US and Canada-but
Forrester Research of Cambridge, Mass., predicts that number will balloon to 4.7
million by the year 2002. What is a smart card, exactly, and
how does it work? Also called a chip card because of the tiny
microprocessor embedded in it, a smart card looks a lot like the other plastic
in your wallet. To make things more confusing, some smart cards pull double duty
as regular ATM bank cards. The difference is that when you swipe your ATM (or
debit) card at the grocery-store checkout, you're draining cash from your bank
account. Smart cards, on the other hand, are worthless unless they are "loaded"
with ash value, pulled directly from your bank account or traded for currency.
The chip keeps track of the amounts stored and spent. The advantage, in theory,
is convenience: consumers bother less with pocket change and are able to use
plastic even at traditionally cash-only vendors. The electronic transaction
doesn't require a signature, a PIN number or bank approval. Downside: lose the
card, lose the money. Most people are probably more familiar
with stored-value cards equipped only with a magnetic stripe, such as fare cards
issued to riders on the Washington metro or the New York City subway. The newer
Chip-enhanced versions armed with more memory and processing power, have popped
up in various places in the past year or so, from college campuses to military
bases to sports stadiums. Other experiments are under way. A healthcare claims
processor in Indianapolis, Ind., hopes smart cards will streamline medical bill
payments. In Ohio, food-stamp recipients receive a smart card rather than paper
vouchers. Smart cards issued for general commerce are rarer,
unless you happen to live in a place designated for a test run, such as
Manhattan's Upper West Side. But big banks and plastic-purveying kings Visa and
Master Card are hot for the idea, promising more extensive trials and more
elaborate, multipurpose cards capable of rendering everything else you
carry-plastic, paper or coin-superfluous. Today's smart cards
may not be revolutionizing the way we buy the morning paper yet, but they could
turn out to be the right tool to spur Internet commerce and banking. For the
time being, though, smart cards are just another way to buy stuff. And it could
be a while before even that catches on. Remember: some people still don't quite
trust ATMs either.
单选题
The primary purpose of the passage is to ______.