导读

当地时间12日，美国最后一枚一美分硬币在费城诞生，这意味着230多年的一美分硬币铸造历史正式结束。一美分硬币是美国铸币局发行的首批硬币之一。现行一美分硬币主要材质为锌，表面镀铜，头像为曾任美国总统的林肯。以下是外媒报道。

双语文本

The Philadelphia Mint will strike its last batch of one-cent coins, after more than 230 years of production. The coins will remain in circulation but the phase-out has already prompted businesses to start adjusting prices, as they say pennies are becoming harder to find.

费城铸币厂将停止生产1美分硬币，结束其长达230多年的历史。这些硬币仍将继续流通，但由于一美分硬币越来越难找到，逐步淘汰的举措已促使企业开始调整价格。

Pennies, which honour Civil War president Abraham Lincoln and are made of copper-plated zinc, today cost nearly four cents each to make--more than twice the cost of a decade ago, according to the Treasury Department. It estimates the decision to end production will save about $56 million a year.

一美分硬币是为了纪念美国内战时期总统亚伯拉罕·林肯而铸造的，材质为镀铜锌合金。据美国财政部称，如今每枚一美分硬币的制造成本接近4美分，是十年前的两倍多，停止生产一美分硬币预计每年可节省约5600万美元。

Officials have argued that the rise of electronic transactions is making the penny, which first went into production in 1793, increasingly moot. The Treasury Department estimates that about 300 billion of the coins will remain in circulation, "far exceeding the amount needed for commerce".

官员们认为，电子交易的兴起使得1793年首次投入生产的一美分硬币变得越来越无关紧要。财政部估计，约有3000亿枚一美分硬币仍将继续流通，“远远超过商业所需的数量”。



相关表达

1 .phase out逐步淘汰

释义：If something is phased out, people gradually stop using it.

例：They said the present system of military conscription should be phased out.

他们说现行的征兵体系应该逐步淘汰。

2 .electronic transactions电子交易

例：Interoperability is becoming more and more important during electronic transactions among enterprises and organizations.

互操作性在企业或组织之间的电子交易正变得越来越重要。

3 .moot adj.

无实际意义的

释义：If a subject or question is moot, it has no practical importance.

例：For Layton, the question was moot right now.

对莱顿而言，这个问题目前是没有实际意义的。

悬而未决的

释义：If something is a moot point or question, people cannot agree about it.

例：How long he'll be able to do so is a moot point.

他还能这样做多久是一个未知数。

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