3 . Imagine stepping into your local supermarket, choosing your necessary things into a basket, heading to the bagging area and walking out with your weekly shopping. There is no need to make a payment, no counting coins, and no placement of a credit card in a terminal. In fact, there is no cashier at all. This is not a theft but a realistic picture of the future way to pay — when technology recognizes your presence, scans your shopping, and invisibly takes payment from your account.

Amer Sajed, the chief executive of Barclaycard, says it will result in the steady dying of the physical plastic credit card, which his company introduced to the UK over 55 years ago. Credit cards have evolved ever since 1966, but the basic procedure of payment has remained the same. A card is either handed over, or the number on it is read out or entered into a machine.

All that requires the existence of a plastic card, but Mr Sajed says this will be replaced by wearable items. At a display for Barclaycard staff, he shows off a plastic ring, a bracelet and a keychain which all contain a chip allowing the shopper to make payments on credit. This, he says, is just a bridge to technology that will recognize customers by their eye or fingerprint, so people will be able to shop without lining up at a checkout.

Although cash, cheques and indeed cards will remain a choice for shoppers, he says, these new ways of paying will take a growing share of the payments market in 10 years’ time. Such a future sounds frightening for anyone who already has concerns about the safety of payment. Mr Sajed argues that nothing will be done without permission.

As this digital market becomes more popular, and the technology advances, there will be a battle among banks, payment providers and others for their product to be used.

1. What can we infer according to the first paragraph?

A．Thefts will often happen.	B．There’s on need to make cash.
C．You can do some shopping for free.	D．Shopping will be more convenient.

2. Which is right about the physical plastic credit card?

A．It has already disappeared.	B．It will still exist as a payment way.
C．It was invented by Barclaycard 55 years ago.	D．It has been replaced by the new payment way.

3. What’s the main idea of paragraph 3?

A．The necessity of a plastic card.	B．The procedure of doing shopping.
C．The function of the wearable items.	D．The new kind of clothing with a clip.

4. What does the text mainly talk about?

A．The future of the credit card.	B．The convenience of the future life.
C．The more popular shopping market.	D．The development of the payment way.

4 . 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.