News feed：Fare hikes
【明報專訊】THE Chief Executive in Council (行政長官會同行政會議) gave the green light for four major bus companies to hike their fares, citing ''severe financial difficulties'' faced by them. New World First Bus and Citybus will increase fares by 12%, a 15-year high. 969, a long-distance Citybus route between Tin Shui Wai and Causeway Bay (pictured), is currently charging passengers HK$22.7. It is estimated that the new fare next year will exceed HK$25. Fares will first go up by 8.5% early next month, with another 3.2% early next year. (photo.1)
Salmon chaos
A promotion by Akindo Sushiro (壽司郎), a Japanese sushi chain in Taiwan, awarded customers a free sushi meal or discounts if their name on the ID card contained the characters ''Gui Yu'' (鮭魚), which means salmon in Chinese, or characters with the same pronunciation. More than a hundred people changed their name just to get the award, prompting the authorities to urge people not to do so. Some of such names include ''Salmon Burger'' (「鮭魚漢堡」), ''Salmon Fried Noodles'' (「鮭魚炒麵」), etc. (photo.2)
Chip shortage
H ERE we're not talking about the chips you eat, but the chips (晶片) in personal computers, cars and gadgets. Amid the pandemic, people work, study and also play from home, which has increased the demand for gadgets, car production of major brands has been cut, and Samsung might delay the launch of its next Galaxy Note smartphone. Even Sony blamed the chip shortage for the difficulty in buying an PS5! (photo.3)
■Gear up
According to the passages on this page, circle the correct answers.
(1) The chip shortage has been caused by the ''Work from Home'' phenomenon.
( True / False / Not given )
(2) The government disagreed with the bus companies' fare hikes.
( True / False / Not given )
(3)The name changing incident was a worldwide phenomenon.
( True / False / Not given )
(Answers on next text)
■Glossary
hike (v) 大幅增加
fare (n) 車費
prompt (v) 迫使
gadget (n) 裝置
[Smarties' Power English 第308期]
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