Few laws are so
effective that you can see results just days after they take effect. But in the
nine days since the federal cigarette tax more than doubled—to $1. 01
per pack—smokers have jammed telephone “quit lines” across
the country seeking to kick the habit.
This is not a
surprise to public health advocates. They’ve studied the effect of state tax
increases for years, finding that smokers, especially teens, are price
sensitive. Nor is it a shock to the industry, which fiercely fights every tax
increase.
The only wonder
is that so many states insist on closing their ears to the message. Tobacco
taxes improve public health, health, they raise money and most particularly,
they deter people from taking up the habit as teens, which is when nearly all
smokers are addicted. Yet the rate of taxation varies widely.
In Manhattan,
for instance, which has the highest tax in the nation, a pack of Marlboro Light
Kings cost ＄10.06 at one
drugstore Wednesday. Charleston, S, C., where the 7-cent-a-pack tax is the
lowest in the nation. The price was $4. 78.
The influence is
obvious.
In New York,
high school smoking hit a new low in the latest surveys—13.8%,
far below the national average. By comparison, 26% of high school students
smoke in Kentucky, Other low-tax states have similarly depressing teen-smoking
records.
Hal Rogers,
Representative from Kentucky, like those who are against high tobacco taxes,
argues that the burden of the tax falls on low-income Americans “who choose to
smoke.”
That’s true, But
there is more reason in keeping future generations of low-income workers from
getting hooked in the first place, As for today’s adults, if the new tax drives
them to quit, they will have more to spend on their families, cut their risk of
cancer and heart disease and feel better.
1.The text is
mainly about___________.
A. the price of
cigarettes
B. tie rate of teen smoking
C. the effect of
tobacco tax
increase
D. the differences in tobacco tax rate
2.What does the
author think is a surprise?
A. Teen smokers
are price sensitive.
B. Some states
still keep the tobacco tax low.
C. Tobacco
taxes improve public health.
D. Tobacco
industry fiercely fights the tax rise.
3.The underlined
word "deter” in Paragraph 3 most probably means
.
A.
discarding B. remove C.
benefit D. free
4.Rogers’
attitude towards the low-income smokers might be that of
.
A.
tolerance B. unconcern C. doubt D.
sympathy
5.What can we
learn from the last paragraph?
A. The new tax
will be beneficial in the long run.
B. Low-income
Americans are more likely to fall ill.
C. Future
generations will be hooked on smoking.
D. Adults will
depend more on their families.
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