F2F Class Notes (Lily)[R]

writing topic: A memorable event between you and your co-workers

http://www.english-online.at/news-articles/business-economy/troubled-times-for-macaus-casinos.htm

Macau has set out to be Asia’s new gambling centre, but recently tourists have been coming slowly and expectations have fallen behind. Two new casinos, the Galaxy Macau and Melco Crown’s  Studio City, opened in October in an attempt to attract new visitors.

The  former Portuguese colony, reached an income of 45 billion dollars in 2013, but since then revenue has declined by a third. Still , Asia’s top gambling hub makes 7 times more money than Las Vegas.

One of the reasons for the decline of Macau’s gambling industry is the slowing down of Chinese economy. Most of the island’s customers are wealthy people from the Chinese mainland. Macau is the only place where Chinese citizens can gamble legally.

But this has led to widespread corruption throughout the island. Chinese authorities, who have been in control of the island since 1997, have been cracking down on illegal  businesses and money laundering.

Although the number of visitors to the island has gone down, investment is still big. Recently new casinos have expanded their attractions in an attempt to make the island more family-friendly. The world’s largest rooftop swimming pool and  a gigantic roller coaster are two new attractions that have been added. Hotels are offering their rooms at lower prices too.

Vocabulary

• crack down = to become more strict in dealing with a problem and to punish the people involved
• ex: since 1997, authorities have been cracking down on illegal businesses and money laundering.
• gigantic = very very big (synonyms: big, large, huge, humongous, enormous)
• ex: There is a gigantic roller coaster in Macau.
• money laundering = when you put money that comes from illegal places into legal banks or complies in different countries, so that nobody can find out where it came from
• ex: Money laundering is a big problem in China.