News corner﹕APEC blue
【明報專訊】Beijing hosted the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC，亞太經濟合作組織) Economic Leaders' Week 2014, which took place between November 5 and November 11. Leaders of twenty-one member economies attended it. "APEC blue" has become a catchphrase in Beijing.
Beijing is notorious for its poor air quality. To ensure the capital's skies would be clean during the APEC summit, the authorities took several measures. For example, they ordered that emission be suspended in Beijing and some other big cities. Beijing citizens were prohibited from having outdoor barbeques or burning funeral incense. Government employees and students were given six days' holiday for fear that there would be serious traffic congestion.
Blue skies did appear in the APEC week. Beijing citizens marked the occasion by coining the phrase "APEC blue", which means a thing that is pretty but temporary like blue skies in Beijing.
(source: Ming Pao, BBC)
■Quiz
Answer the following questions. Complete sentences are not required.
(answers on the next text)
1. What did Beijing host between November 5 and November 11?
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2. What is Beijing notorious for?
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3. Who created the catchphrase "APEC blue"?
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4. List two things Beijing citizens were not allowed to do in the APEC week.
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■Words
catchphrase 流行的詞句
summit 峰會
incense 香
■Glossary
host (v) 主辦
notorious (adj) 聲名狼藉的
the authorities (n) 當局
coin (v) 創造(新字詞)
