NEW HEADLINES
EDMUND HO REPORTED HIS WORK IN BEIJING
Macao's Chief Executive, Edmund Ho, has met top mainland officials for a progress report in a lead up to the territory’s handover anniversary on Wednesday. Mr. Ho was praised for his work by the central governments. Both President Jiang Zemin and Premier Zhu Rongji said they are perfectly satisfied with Mr. Ho's leadership.
BURMA WON'T GIVE IN
Burmese officials have ruled out any reconciliation talks with the opposition unless it supports the ruling military 1)junta. The statements by the country's foreign minister came at the end of the ministerial talks between southeast Asian and European nations in 2)Laos.
HONG KONG BANK'S NEW 1000 DOLLAR BANK NOTES COME OUT
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority has 3)unveiled new 1000-dollar bank notes with enhanced security features. As Liza De Guzman reports, the Authority hopes that the state-of-the-art design will help 4)deter 5)counterfeiters.
Hong Kong Bank's new 1000-dollar bank notes is similar in design to the current one but it has three new security features; a 6)holographic window thread visible to the naked eye, a 7)highlight 8)watermark, showing the number 1000 when the note is held against thelight, and 9)embedded 10)fluorescent fibers in red, blue and green colors that show up under 11)ultraviolet light.
Two of the existing security features have also been altered. A security metal thread has been moved to the left and the number of 12)denomination blocks visible under ultraviolet light has been reduced from four to two.
The Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority Joseph Yam said the new security features were very advanced and would be costly to 13)fake.
THE GREEN CHRISTMAS CAMPAINGN
An environment group has launched its fifth annual Christmas card recycling programme. The Friends of the Earth believes that they will collect fewer cards this year, because electronic greetings sent through the Internet are becoming more popular. The aim of the recycling programme is to encourage people and organizations to send fewer cards, and use more enviromentally friendly ways to convey greetings. The group is also seeking to promote the wiser use of natural resources and reduce the amount of waste going to 14)landfills in Hong Kong. As a result 750,000 cards were not sent, saving 188 trees.
WUN WEN ,THE CENTURY'S TOP FEMALE PLAYER
Turning to sports, Zinedine Zidane has been named FIFA world player of the year for the second time. Old 15)rivalries also 16)resurfaced at the FIFA award ceremony in Italy. FIFA officials tried to diffuse the potentially embarrassing situation over who should be named Player of the Century. They decided to recognize both Maradona and Pele by 17)splitting the award. However, former Argentine Captain Maradona, who had threatened not to show at the event if it meant sharing the award, 18)snubbed his Brazilian 19)counterpart by leaving the ceremony before Pele had received his 20)trophy. The move added a 21)bizarre twist to the ceremony, which saw French midfielder Zinedine Zidane beat Louise Figo and Rinaldo to claim the World Player Award for the second time in three years.
In women's soccer, China's Sun Wen and Michelle Acres of the United States were both recognized as the century's top female players.
NBA
NBA Division champions the Indiana Pacers suffered a surprise home defeat to the Cleveland Cavilers. Indiana led 57-54 at half time and they extended their advantage to seven points during the third 22)quarter. However, the Cavs hit back in the final period. Andre Miller 23)tieing the scores at 88. And Cleveland used a late 24)9-0 run to defeat the Pacers 103 to 95. It was the Cavs' fifth win in a row and their first over Indiana in eight meetings.
何厚铧在京作述职报告
在澳门回归一周年前夕，澳门行政长官何厚铧于星期三向中国高层官员作述职报告。中央政府表扬了何厚铧的工作。江泽民主席和朱基总理都表示对他的工作相当满意。
缅甸不作出让步
东盟与欧盟在老挝举行部长级会谈快结束时，缅甸外交部长发表声明说，缅甸官员拒绝与反对派的任何和谈，除非反对派支持当权的军政府。
香港千元新钞面世
香港金融管理局新版1000元港币出台，新港币具有更好的防伪特征。金融管理局希望艺术级的设计能防止假钞。莉莎·德·古斯曼报道。
香港的新版千元钞票在设计上与旧版并无多大差别，它有三个新防伪特征：一条肉眼可见的全息开窗式保安线；背光时可见数字1000的清晰水印；在紫外线下，可见纸币中散布有红绿蓝三色荧光纤维。
原有的两项特征稍作变动：一条金属保安线左移，在紫外线下显现的荧光银码从四个减至两个。
香港金融管理局总裁任志刚说，新币防伪措施十分先进，要想仿造必须付出很大代价。
绿色圣诞行动
环境保护组织“地球之友”第五次发起了一年一度的圣诞贺卡的回收活动。该组织说，今年他们所收集到的卡片会比往年少一些，因为现在越来越多的人通过互联网来传达问候。该活动的目的在于鼓励人们少寄一些卡片，用更有利于环境保护的方式来传达问候。该组织致力于寻求和提倡自然资源的更合理的使用方法，减少香港的垃圾量。这次活动共75万张贺卡没有寄出，挽救了188棵树。
孙雯荣膺世纪足球小姐称号
体育方面，津丁·齐达内第二次夺得国际足联评选的世界最佳球员的称号。马拉多纳和贝利这两个冤家又在意大利的颁奖典礼上较上了劲。为了避免评选世纪最佳球员的尴尬，国际足联官员决定让马拉多纳和贝利共享这份殊荣。但阿根廷队前任队长马拉多纳宣布，如果要平分奖项，他就拒绝出席典礼，或在贝利获奖之前离开，以表示对这位来自巴西的对手的不屑。颁奖典礼还爆出了另一个冷门，法国中场津丁·齐达内击败了路易斯·菲戈和里瓦尔多，三年内蝉联世界最佳球员桂冠。
女足方面，中国的孙雯和美国的米歇尔·阿克里斯共同获得世纪最佳女球员的称号。
NBA
NBA区域赛冠军“印第安那步行者队”在与“克里夫兰骑士队”交锋时主场作战却意外失利。上半场“印第安那步行者”一度以57比54分领先，在四分之三场时更将比分差距拉开到7分之遥。但骑士队却在终场奋起直追。安德烈·米勒将比分扳到88平，最后关头骑士队连获9分，以103比95挫败步行者队。这是骑士队第五次胜出，也是与步行者队八次交锋的首次获胜。
1) junta n. 政务会（尤指西班牙、意大利、拉丁美洲等国家的立法、行政机构，或夺权后的政权集团），a military junta，发动政变后上台的军政府
2) Laos n. 老挝
3)unveil vt. 使公诸于众
4) deter vt. 使不敢，阻止
5) counterfeiter n. 伪造者（尤指造假币的人）
6) holographic a. 全息（摄影）的；亲笔写的，手书的
7) highlight n. 最重要的部分
8) watermark n. 水印图案
9) embed vt. 把……嵌入
10) fluorescent a. 荧光的，发荧光的
11) ultraviolet a. 紫外的，紫外线的
12) denomination n. 面额
13) fake vt. 伪造，赝造
14) landfill n. 下埋垃圾上盖干净土的洼地，废渣填埋地；填埋的垃圾或废渣
15) rivalry n. 竞争，竞赛
16) resurface vi. 重新露面
17) split vt. 平分，分裂
18) snub vt. 冷落，怠慢
19) counterpart n.（在职位、性格、作用等方面）相对应的人，对手方
20) trophy n.（体育比赛等的）奖品，银杯
21) bizarre a. 希奇古怪的，异乎寻常的
22) quarter n.（橄榄球、篮球等）四分之一场
23) tie vt. 与……打成平局，与……得分相等
24) 9-0: 读作“nine-nil”。nil n. 无，零