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 (联邦), 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(项目) 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 (国产) tax, which is charged on cars in a city. The cities use these funds for education, police and fire departments, public works and municipal (市政内) 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】

试题分析：美国人常说他们的一生中有两种事物是不可避免的，那就是死亡和税收。美国的政府大体上分为城市、州和联邦三个级别，因此，人们需要交的税相应地也有三种。美国人经常抱怨税收过高。

1.there are only two things a person can be sure of in life; death and taxes”可知，美国人常说一个人的一生可以确定的只有两种事物，即死亡和税赋。说明美国人和其他人一样，都不可避免会有死亡的那一天，故选A。

2.There are generally three levels of government in the United States: federal (联邦), state, and city; therefore, there are three types of taxes.”可知，美国有联邦、州和城市三级政府，因此，美国有三种税，故选A。

3.People always complain about taxes...they tend to agree on one subject: taxes are too high”可知，美国人经常抱怨国家的税收，抗议国家把税收用在没有实际意义的地方，说明美国人对过高的税收感到不满，故选A。

考点：社会类短文阅读