News feed：80 days around Kim's world
【明報專訊】NORTH KOREA and its supreme leader Kim Jong-un are faced with multiple challenges. Recently Kim has visited villages hit by typhoons, pledging that 25,000 houses be built in five years. Moreover, Kim earlier launched the ''battle in 80 days'' (「80天戰鬥」計劃) as the country's new five-year plan, which includes increasing the number of materials and apparatuses produced, scaling up harvest and implementing measures to prevent pandemic outbreaks. Is he building castles in the air?
Renminbi goes digital
RENMINBI (人民幣) is going digital in Shenzhen. The Shenzhen government has held a lottery to let people win digital renminbi worth 10 million yuan in total, making use of the event as a trial run of the new form of currency. A digital renminbi app is needed to get the new yuan and use it at more than 3,000 shops in a designated area in Shenzhen. Digital renminbi is not like WeChat Pay, an electronic payment system operated by a company, but an official currency issued by the People's Bank of China (中國人民銀行).
Voters on the mainland
CHIEF EXECUTIVE Carrie Lam proposed letting Hong Kong permanent residents living on the mainland vote in Hong Kong elections. Some criticised the move for favouring only those who live in mainland China, while ignoring those who live overseas. Some feared that the ICAC might not have the power to handle corruption cases in mainland China. Lam pointed out that a number of registered voters are on the mainland and ''society's expectations'' should be realised. Any changes to the voting mechanism must require amendments via Legco.
■Gear up
According to the passages on this page, circle the correct answers.
(1) Kim Jong-un would like to build more amazing castles.
( True / False / Not given )
(2) For the time being, only people shopping in Shenzhen could use digital renminbi to buy things.
( True / False / Not given )
(3) Changing the voting mechanism needs approval from lawmakers in Hong Kong.
( True / False / Not given )
(Answers on next text)
■Glossary
multiple (adj) 多種的
castles in the air (idiom) 空中樓閣
digital (adj) 數碼的
favour (v) 偏袒
[Smarties' Power English 第290期]
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