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Some people don’t like using coins because they are heavy and easily lost. But coins are playing an important role in our life. Let’s learn about the history and culture of Chinese coins.

People have been using coins for a long time. Chinese People had its first set of coins in 1957 and later had three other sets.

The face value of Chinese coins has changed several times. China’s first coins were the 1-fen, 2-fen and 5-fen coins. Although they are still in use today, later sets of coins do not include fen coins anymore. Today we usually use 1-jiao, 5-jiao and 1-yuan coins.

The design of Chinese coins tells something about our country’s progress and culture. The front side of the first set of coins had our national emblem (徽章) and our country’s name, while the back side had two ears of corn. Some coins were issued in 1980. On the coins, China added a gear (齿轮) beside the corn. They showed that China was changing a lot. China started to print flowers on its coins in 1991. The flowers such as peonies and chrysanthemums all have positive meanings in Chinese culture.

Coins are like the “name card” of a country. The next time you use coins, you might think about the stories behind them.

1．When did the people of China have its first set of coins?

A．In 1975.

B．In 1957.

C．In 1991.

D．In 1980.

2．The third paragraph is mainly about ________.

A．the design of Chinese coins	B．the meaning of Chinese coins
C．the history of Chinese coins	D．the face value of Chinese coins

3．On the two sides of the first set of coins, we can’t see ________.

A．a gear and corn

B．the country’s name

C．two ears of corn

D．the national emblem

4．What does the underlined word “issued” in Paragraph 4 mean in Chinese?

A．消失

B．发行

C．印刷

D．出售

5．Peonies and chrysanthemums are ________.

A．two different materials	B．two kinds of coins
C．two different countries	D．two kinds of flowers