Question

Taxes, Taxes and More Taxes

Americans often say that there are only two things a person can be sure of in life; death and taxes. Americans do not have a corner on the “death” market, but many people feel that the United States leads the world with the worst taxes.

Taxes consist of the money which people pay to support their government. There are generally three levels of government in the United States: federal (聯(lián)邦), state, and city; therefore, there are three types of taxes.

Salaried people who earn more than a few thousand dollars must pay a certain percentage of their salaries to the federal government. The percentage varies form person to person. It depends on their salaries. The federal government has a graduated income tax, that is, the percentage of the tax (14 to 70 percent) increases as a person’s income increases. With the high cost of taxes people are not very happy on April 15, when the federal taxes are due.

The second tax is for the state government: New York, California, North Dakota, or any of the other forty-seven states. Some states have an income tax similar to that of the federal government. Of course, the percentage for the state tax is lower. Other states have a sales tax, which is a percentage charged to any item(項目) which you buy in that state. For example, a person might want to buy a packet of cigarettes for twenty-five cents. If there is a sales tax of eight percent in that state, then the cost of the cigarettes is twenty-seven cents. This figure includes the sales tax. Some states use income tax in addition to sales tax to raise their revenues (收入). The state tax laws are various and confusing.

The third tax is for the city. This tax comes in two forms: property tax (people who own a home have to pay taxes on it) and excise (國產(chǎn)) tax, which is charged on cars in a city. The cities use these funds for education, police and fire departments, public works and municipal (市政內(nèi)) buildings.

Since Americans pay such high taxes, they often feel that they are working one day each week just to pay their taxes. People always complain about taxes. They often protest that the government uses their tax dollars in the wrong way. They say that it spends too much on useless and impractical programs. Although Americans have different views on many issues, they tend to agree on one subject: taxes are too high.

1.How do you understand the sentence “Americans do not have a corner on the ‘death’ market”?

A. It means that Americans, just like all other people, must die.

B. It means that Americans do not have a secret place to keep from death in their life.

C. It means that Americans are not good at doing business in the death market.

D. It means that there is no such place as a death market in the U. S.

2.Why should the American people usually pay three types of taxes?

A. There are three levels of government--federal, state and city-to support the United States.

B. There are three kinds of taxes to pay--graduated income tax, sales tax and property tax..

C. They earn different salaries: high, middle, and low.

D. Tax laws in different states are different.

3.What does the title “Taxes, Taxes, and More Taxes” imply?

A. Americans are not satisfied with the three types of taxes.

B. The three levels of government do not use the taxes in a right way.

C. Americans complain that taxes are too high.

D. Americans’ taxes are diverse and confusing.

Answer 1

1.A

2.A

3.A

【解析】

試題分析：美國人常說他們的一生中有兩種事物是不可避免的，那就是死亡和稅收。美國的政府大體上分為城市、州和聯(lián)邦三個級別，因此，人們需要交的稅相應(yīng)地也有三種。美國人經(jīng)常抱怨稅收過高。

1.there are only two things a person can be sure of in life; death and taxes”可知，美國人常說一個人的一生可以確定的只有兩種事物，即死亡和稅賦。說明美國人和其他人一樣，都不可避免會有死亡的那一天，故選A。

2.There are generally three levels of government in the United States: federal (聯(lián)邦), state, and city; therefore, there are three types of taxes.”可知，美國有聯(lián)邦、州和城市三級政府，因此，美國有三種稅，故選A。

3.People always complain about taxes...they tend to agree on one subject: taxes are too high”可知，美國人經(jīng)常抱怨國家的稅收，抗議國家把稅收用在沒有實際意義的地方，說明美國人對過高的稅收感到不滿，故選A。

考點：社會類短文閱讀