The relation of the sales tax to the problem of social balance is admirably direct. The community is rich in privately produced goods. It is poor in public services. The obvious solution is to tax the former to provide the latter—by making private goods more expensive, The public goods are made more abundant. Motion pictures, electronic equipment, and cigarettes are made more costly so that schools can be more handsomely supported. We pay more for soap, make-ups, and vacuum cleaners in order that we may have cleaner cities and fewer occasions to use them. We have more expensive cars and gasoline so that we may have highways and streets on which to drive them. Food being comparatively cheap and abundant, we tax it in order to have better services and better health in which to enjoy it. This straightforward solution has the further advantage that sales taxation can be employed with fair efficiency by states and even by cities. It is in the services rendered by these governments that the problem of social balance is especially severe. The yield of the sales tax increases with increasing production. As wants are planned for private goods, more benefits are provided for public use. The general property tax, the principal alternative to the sales tax, is rigid and inflexible. Since its rates must ordinarily be raised for additional services, including those that are associated with increasing income and product, the burden of proving need is especially heavy. This tax is a poor servant of social balance.
1.Which of the following is NOT true?
2.The word ‘handsomely’ (Line 5) means ( ).
3.According to the author, the chief advantage of the sales tax is that it ( ).
4.The property tax is not regarded as an ideal solution to social needs because ( ).
5.The author of this passage is most interested in telling us about( ).
问题1选项
A.The property tax is difficult to collect.
B.The sales tax can be easily increased.
C.The sales tax has little or no social value.
D.The community has abundant goods produced by private enterprises.
问题2选项
A.skillfully
B.generously
C.earnestly
D.easily
问题3选项
A.is a direct means of achieving social balance
B.can be imposed by cities and states
C.is less effective than the property tax
D.is applicable to wide areas
问题4选项
A.it must be changed by the House of Representatives
B.it is not straightforward as is the sales tax
C.it can be imposed by cities but not by states
D.its rise depends on increasing the need for additional services
问题5选项
A.the collection of the property tax
B.the relation of taxes to the problem of social balance
C.the balance of public and private consumption
D.the sales tax as a social means
第1题:C
第2题:B
第3题:A
第4题:D
第5题:D
1.细节事实题。根据原文“The general property tax is rigid and inflexible.”可知选项A正确;根据原文“The yield of the sales tax increases with increasing production.”可知选项B符合原文;根据原文第一句“The relation of the sales tax to the problem of social balance is admirably direct.”可知选项C不正确;根据原文第二句“The community is rich in privately produced goods.”可知选项D正确,所以本题选C。
2.词义题。根据原文“...—by making private goods more expensive, the public goods are made more abundant. Motion pictures, electronic equipment, and cigarettes are made more costly so that schools can be more handsomely supported.”可知后面是对前面的论据列举的一个具体的例子。costly和expensive相对应,所以handsomely和abundant相对应。skillfully巧妙地, 精巧地;generously慷慨地, 大方地;earnestly认真地,诚挚地;easily容易地, 无疑地。只有选项B符合原文。
3.判断推理题。根据原文可知,这种直截了当的解决方案还有一个更大的优势,那就是各州甚至城市都可以公平高效地征收销售税。正是在这些政府提供的服务中,社会平衡的问题特别严重。作者着重强调的是social balance,而不是政府的服务。所以选项A正确。
4.细节事实题。根据原文倒数二三句“The general property tax, the principal alternative to the sales tax, is rigid and inflexible. Since its rates must ordinarily be raised for additional services,...”可知选项D符合原文。
5.主旨大意题。根据文章大意可知本文主要是讲营业税对社会平衡的作用和影响,所以选项D更符合原文。