{"id":"act_practice_pdf:pt2:english:018","source_id":"act_practice_pdf","source_item_id":"pt2-english-018","external_id":null,"program":"ACT","section":"english","category_code":null,"category":null,"subcategory_code":null,"subcategory":null,"form_id":"act_practice_pdf:pt2","passage_id":"act_practice_pdf:pt2:english:p3","position":18,"scored":false,"layout_warning":null,"stem":"Which choice makes the sentence most grammatically acceptable?","stimulus":"","stimulus_html":null,"stem_html":"<p>Which choice makes the sentence most grammatically acceptable?</p>","rationale_html":null,"correct_answer":["J"],"equiv_key":null,"has_media":false,"has_mathml":false,"has_table":false,"section_label":"English","options":[{"label":"F","content_html":"<p>No Change</p>","ord":0},{"label":"G","content_html":"<p>reach, into the register’s</p>","ord":1},{"label":"H","content_html":"<p>reach into the registers</p>","ord":2},{"label":"J","content_html":"<p>reach into the registers’</p>","ord":3}],"passage":{"id":"act_practice_pdf:pt2:english:p3","source_id":"act_practice_pdf","form_id":"act_practice_pdf:pt2","section":"english","number":"III","kind":null,"title":"Retire the Penny","content_html":"<p>During the early twentieth century, many goods cost a few pennies or less. Candy lovers could buy a gumball or Tootsie Roll for a penny; moviegoers could watch a reel of a Charlie Chaplin film for a penny or two. Today, though, with the cumulative effects of inflation, the penny has almost zero purchasing power. Think about it: when’s the last time you bought something for a penny? Although many of us <u>harbor fond memories of collecting pennies in</u><sup class=\"q\">16</sup> <u>a piggy bank,</u><sup class=\"q\">16</sup> it’s time to do the practical thing: retire the US penny. [ 1 ] Producing and distributing pennies isn’t cheap. [ 2 ] And in that year alone, the Mint made nearly six and a half billion pennies, costing the US over 170 million dollars. [ 3 ] In 2022, the US Mint spent 2.72 cents to put each penny into circulation. 1 Economics professor Robert Whaples cites another problem: the so-called penny tax, which is really a tax on time. When cashiers make change for a cash purchase, they often <u>reach, into the registers’</u><sup class=\"q\">18</sup> penny trays and count out one to four cents. While the time it takes to do this may seem trivial, <u>each year, billions of cash transactions are</u><sup class=\"q\">19</sup> <u>made annually.</u><sup class=\"q\">19</sup> These penny taxes, in aggregate, result in over 120 billion hours when cashiers (and consumers) could be completing more meaningful tasks. Proponents of <u>pennies—often lobbyists for the mining</u><sup class=\"q\">20</sup> <u>of zinc, zinc being the primary component of pennies—</u><sup class=\"q\">20</sup> argue that if the penny were eliminated, consumers would pay more for goods. 5 But in Canada, where the penny was eliminated in 2013, this hasn’t been a problem. Canadian merchants round each cash purchase to the nearest nickel. If a hair comb costs $1.02, consumers pay a dollar. If it costs $1.03, they pay $1.05. Studies have shown that <u>its a wash; overall, consumers pay no more or</u><sup class=\"q\">22</sup> <u>no less then</u><sup class=\"q\">22</sup> they did when the penny was in circulation. Bills for retiring the penny have been floating around Congress for decades. Whether out of nostalgia or fear of change, lawmakers <u>have been disinclined to</u><sup class=\"q\">23</sup> <u>execute a proposed course of action.</u><sup class=\"q\">23</sup> But the value of today’s penny is <u>defective.</u><sup class=\"q\">24</sup> By retiring the penny, Congress would <u>cut costs at the US Mint while</u><sup class=\"q\">25</sup> <u>also giving cashiers some time back at work.</u><sup class=\"q\">25</sup></p>","ord":3},"attribution":{"source_id":"act_practice_pdf","source_name":"Official ACT full-length practice tests (PDF)","rights_holder":"ACT Education Corp.","canonical_url":"https://www.act.org/content/act/en/products-and-services/the-act/test-preparation.html","retrieved_from":"https://www.act.org/content/act/en/products-and-services/the-act/test-preparation.html","attribution":"Full-length ACT practice tests © ACT Education Corp., published free at act.org. Questions are retired items from previous ACT administrations.","disclaimer":"Extracted from a print-layout PDF: equations, figures and charts do not survive as text. Use the original PDF for anything that renders poorly. ACT® is a registered trademark of ACT Education Corp., which is not affiliated with, does not sponsor, and does not endorse this project.","license":"ACT Education Corp. copyright. Published free for personal test preparation; not licensed for redistribution.","redistributable":false,"item_count":342},"equivalents":[]}