【明報專訊】The Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge (HZMB) came into operation on 24 October 2018. The 55km mega bridge is the world's longest bridge-cum-tunnel sea crossing. Operating 24 hours a day, the bridge puts major cities in the Pearl River Delta within a three hours' commute from Hong Kong.

The construction of the HZMB took nine years to finish, which cost about 48 billion yuan (about HK$55.4 billion). The bridge is a key component of China's plan to develop its own Greater Bay Area (大灣區). It takes only 40 minutes to travel from Hong Kong Port to Zhuhai Port and Macau Port.

Despite the traffic convenience, there has been a great deal of criticism of the project. Hundreds of workers were injured during the construction. Environmental groups have also expressed concern about the serious harm to marine life in the bridge area caused by the construction, including the critically endangered Chinese white dolphin.

(sources: Ming Pao, www.hzmb.gov.hk)

■Quiz

Choose the correct answers.

1. Hong Kong, Zhuhai and Macau are cities in ______________.

(i) China

(ii) Pearl River Delta

(iii) Greater Bay Area

a. (i) and (ii)

b. (ii) and (iii)

c. (i) and (iii)

d. All of the above

2. The last paragraph talks about the (positive/negative) impacts of the HZMB project.

■Game

Bill and Pat are going to Macau to celebrate MoMo's birthday. Pat used to suffer from seasickness when she took a ferry to Macau, so she decides to take a bus from Kwun Tong this time, riding on the HZMB. The bus fare of the single trip on weekend is $190. If Bill and Pat equally share the fare for MoMo, how much they have to pay individually, including the return trip?

■English highway﹕ Cum

"Cum" is used between two nouns to show that something has two purposes.

e.g. We are having a lunch-cum-business meeting in the conference room.

(Answers on next text)

■Glossary

mega (adj) 巨大的

component (n) 要素

critically (adv) 極其

seasickness (n) 暈船

[Smarties' Power English 第228期]