VOA慢速英语2020 冠疫情导致美国出现"硬币荒"（在线收听）

US Faces Coin Shortage

The United States is facing a coin shortage, yet another side effect of the coronavirus health crisis.

美国正面临硬币短缺，这是新冠病毒健康危机的又一项副作用。

Coins are in short supply because many businesses have been closed and many Americans have been going out less to buy things.

由于许多企业关闭，许多美国人外出购物的次数减少，导致硬币供应不足。

America's central bank, the Federal Reserve System, announced in June that the supply system for metal money had been affected. The U.S. Mint and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin urged Americans to use coins when making purchases or deposit the coins in to banks.

作为美国央行，美联储6月份宣布，金属货币的供应体系已经受到影响。美国铸币局和财政部长史蒂芬·姆努钦督促美国人用硬币消费或将硬币存入银行。

As the economy recovers and businesses reopen, the coin supply is expected to return to normal.

随着经济复苏和企业恢复开放，硬币供应有望恢复正常。

Yet businesses have urged buyers to make purchases electronically or use exact change whenever possible. Some businesses will not give change.

然而，企业已经督促消费者用电子支付或尽可能避免找零。一些企业甚至不提供找零服务。

Other businesses have offered products or services to customers in exchange for their coins.

还有企业向客户提供产品或服务来换取他们的硬币。

In exchange for $5 worth of coins, convenience store chain WaWa offered customers a free drink at some of its stores. If people brought in $50 or more in coins, they could get something to eat: a free sandwich.

WaWa连锁便利店的某些店铺向消费者提供免费饮料，以换取价值5美元的硬币。如果顾客带来50美元或更多的硬币，可以免费领取一个三明治。

In Wisconsin, Community State Bank offered $5 for every $100 worth of coins that people brought in. Bank officials had to suspend the program after a week because so many people were taking up the offer.

在威斯康星州，社区州立银行给每一位存入100美元硬币的客户奖励5美元。银行官员不得不在一周后叫停该计划，因为来存硬币的客户太多。

The coin shortage has hurt some businesses more than others.

硬币短缺对某些企业的损失相对更大。

Brian Wallace is head of the Coin Laundry Association, a trade group that represents laundromats - businesses where people clean their clothes. Wallace described the coin shortage as "at the minimum an inconvenience...at worst... a business challenge."

布莱恩·华莱士（Brian Wallace）是投币式洗衣店协会的会长，该协会是一家代表自助洗衣店的贸易组织。华莱士称，硬币短缺轻则给人们带来不便，重则让业务面临挑战。

About 56% of laundromats take quarters as the only form of payment.

大约56%的自助洗衣店将25美分硬币作为唯一付款方式。

Laundromats often use coins, in part, because many of their customers are "unbanked" or "underbanked." These terms mean the customers mostly pay for goods and services in cash.

自助洗衣店通常使用硬币，部分原因是因为许多客户没有银行账户或是资金不足。这些术语意味着客户主要以现金购买商品和服务。

Daryl Johnson owns Giant Wash Laundry — a business operating 11 laundromats in the Minneapolis area. He says his company usually buys anywhere from $4,000 to $8,000 in quarters a week. The quarters are for change machines - machines that accept dollar bills and give back coins.

达里尔·约翰逊（Daryl Johnson）是巨人洗衣店的老板，该公司在明尼阿波利斯地区经营了11家自助洗衣店。约翰逊表示，他公司通常每周会换取4000到8000美元的25美分硬币。这些硬币用于换零钱机器，可以把纸币换成硬币。

Johnson got creative. He offered to buy change from friends and family on Facebook. He put up signs in stores asking customers to bring in their own coins. He also programmed his change machines to only accept smaller bills.

约翰逊灵机一动。他在Facebook上向亲朋好友求购硬币。他在店里张贴告示要求顾客自备硬币。他还对换零钱机器进行了编程，使其只接受小额钞票。

Johnson even drove more than 4 hours to Omaha, Nebraska, to buy $8,000 in quarters from another laundry operator.

约翰逊甚至驱车4个多小时到内布拉斯加州奥马哈市，从另一家自助洗衣店老板那买了价值8000美元的25美分硬币。

"It's that or my business close," he told The Associated Press recently.

约翰逊最近对美联社表示：“不这样做，只能关门大吉了。”

Since then, the coin shortage at his business has become less severe.

从那时起，公司的货币短缺问题有所缓解。

The coin shortage is even having an effect on some American traditions.

货币短缺甚至影响到了某些美国传统。

Jen Vicker, of Bollingbrook, Illinois has a 10-year old daughter. Her daughter recently woke up with something not feeling right: a loose tooth. She worried that the tooth fairy would not leave money for the tooth because of the coin shortage.

伊利诺伊州柏林布鲁克的珍·维克（Jen Vicker）有个10岁的女儿。她女儿最近醒来时感觉不舒服：牙齿松动了。她担心由于硬币短缺，牙仙子没有硬币来换取牙齿。

The tooth fairy is an imaginary person who is supposed to leave money for children while they sleep in exchange for a tooth that has come out.

牙仙子是一个虚构人物，她应该会在孩子们睡觉时给他们留下硬币，拿走掉落的牙齿。

So Vicker's daughter wrote a note. It reads: "Dear tooth fairy, you may already know this but there is a national coin shortage in America. You usually leave me dollar coins, but until this situation is resolved, I would like cash for my teeth. I apologize for the inconvenience."

所以维克的女儿写了张便条。上面写道：“亲爱的牙仙子，情况你可能了解了，美国存在全国性的硬币短缺。你通常会给我硬币，但是在这种情况解决之前，我想用牙齿换现金。对于给你造成的不便，深表歉意。”