2 . Generally speaking, convenience and safety affect how we choose to pay for things. Environmental concerns do, too.

Each time you pull out a credit, use a phone’s wallet app or hand over cash, you take part in a system. Some parts of that system make things, like coins, bills or cards. Other parts move money between buyers, sellers, banks and others. Used cash, cards and equipment will be eventually disposed of (处理), as well. Each part of this system uses materials and energy. And all parts produce waste.

Now researchers are looking more closely at how “green” these payment systems are. They’re finding buyers can help cut some of the environmental costs, no matter how they pay.

To understand the full “cost” to society of money or any other system, researchers can perform what’s called a life-cycle assessment. It looks at all the environmental impacts of a product or process. It starts with mining, growing or making the raw materials. It includes what happens while something is in use. And it considers the final disposal or reuse of things.

Even though raw materials are the first step, in fact there are raw materials added in at every single step along the journey. For money, raw materials go into each step of something that is “made”. Fuels are the raw materials for energy to make products and transport them. More energy goes into using products. Recycling or disposal also requires energy, plus water, soil or other materials.

People don’t realize most of those steps, so they can’t judge if one form of payment is dirtier or more costly. And that’s a problem, researchers say. It’s also what has got some of them to show more about the costs of how we pay for our lifestyles.

A life-cycle assessment doesn’t tell you what to do. However, it gives you an informed basis for making a decision.

1. What is Paragraph 2 mainly about?

A．The ways of paying.	B．The process of payment.
C．The waste produced by payment.	D．The introduction of payment systems.

2. What does the life-cycle assessment of payment systems focus on?

A．The real value of money.	B．The history of the currency.
C．The effect on the environment.	D．The importance of raw material.

3. What does the underlined word “them” in Paragraph 5 refer to?

A．Steps.

B．Products.

C．Materials.

D．Fuels.

4. What can be the best title for the text?

A．The Payment Patterns are Changing	B．How We Choose to Pay Affects the Environment
C．New Payment Patterns Have Come into Being	D．How We Make Payment Systems “Green”

3 . AI, 5G, cloud computing and other digital technologies are not only changing our lives but shaping the economy as well.

China’s six major commercial banks are stepping up digital wallet efforts to provide new drive for the e-CNY (数字人民币) trials in the country, as reported by Shanghai Securities News on March 23.

“The functions and properties of the-CNY are exactly the same as those of the paper currency, except that the form is digital,” said Mu Changchun, head of the People’s Bank of China’s Digital Currency Research Institute.

Many people are puzzled by e-CNY and electronic payments. “Digital currency has the characteristics of both paper money and electronic payment,” said Wu Qianhong, a professor at the School Electronic and Information Engineering, Beihang University. “In theory, digital currency can replace paper money, Alipay and WeChat payments.”

Compared with Alipay and WeChat payments, e-CNY features anonymity (匿名性) and security. E-commerce platforms that accept payments via e-CNY will not have access to user’s personal information. E-CNY users can open an anonymous digital wallet by registering a mobile phone number, and telecom operators cannot disclose (泄露) customer information to the central bank or any third-party institutions. Mu noted that e-CNY user’s privacy protection is at the highest level among all the existing payment tools.

Similar to Alipay and WeChat payments, using e-CNY requires an account. After obtaining the other party’s account number, users can enter the amount of digital money to transfer (转钱) and then enter the payment password to complete the transaction (交易). However, the process behind these transfers are different. For electronic payments, the transfer has to go through a third party, and the receivers will get the transferred money only when they withdraw money from banks. But e-CNY transfers only need a payer and a receiver to complete a transaction. Therefore, it guarantees risk-free payments, according to Wu.

In simple terms, e-CNY can be considered “money”, while electronic payments are like “wallets”.

1. What can we know about e-CNY?

A．It is issued by six major commercial banks.

B．It combines paper money and electronic payment.

C．It is designed to replace Alipay and WeChat payments.

D．It has exactly the same function as other payment tools.

2. How does e-CNY protect user’s privacy?

A．By limiting access to personal information.

B．By storing personal data in the central bank.

C．By opening a unique digital wallet for each user.

D．By linking telecom operators to a mobile phone number.

3. What can be concluded from Paragraph 6?

A．E-NCY transfers require to go through a third party.

B．E-NCY is more convenient than other electronic payments.

C．E-NCY can be transferred without the receiver’s information.

D．E-NCY and electronic payments ensure security in the same way.

4. What’s the main purpose of the text?

A．To promote the use of e-NCY.

B．To inform readers of digital RMB.

C．To compare different types of payments.

D．To describe the impact of digital technologies.