https://online2.tingclass.net/lesson/shi0529/0008/8709/2.mp3
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[00:00.00]Unit 2 Text A
[00:02.39]第二單元 課文A
[00:04.78]Taxes,Taxes,and More Taxes
[00:07.31]稅、稅、沒完沒了的稅
[00:09.85]Americans often say that them are only two things a person
[00:13.27]一個(gè)人一生中只有兩件事
[00:16.69]can be sure of in life death and taxes.
[00:19.67]可以肯定會(huì)發(fā)生:死亡和納稅。
[00:22.65]Americans do not have a comer on the "death" market,
[00:25.63]美國人并不壟斷“死亡”市場,
[00:28.60]but many people feel that the United States
[00:31.58]但許多人感到,美國卻以最重的賦稅
[00:34.56]leads the world with the worst taxes.
[00:37.43]在世界上名列前茅。
[00:40.31]Taxes consist of the money which people pay to support their government.
[00:44.54]稅是人們?yōu)橹С终Ц兜慕疱X。
[00:48.77]There are generally three levels of government in the United States:
[00:52.35]在美國,政府大致分三級:
[00:55.93]federal,state,and city; there fore,there are three types of taxes.
[01:00.06]聯(lián)邦政府、州政府和市政府;因此美國有三類稅。
[01:04.18]Salaried people who earn more than a few thousand dollars
[01:07.11]收入數(shù)千美元的工薪人員
[01:10.03]must pay a certain percentage of their salaries to the federal government.
[01:13.72]必須按工資的一定比例向聯(lián)邦政府交稅。
[01:17.40]The percentage varies from person to person.
[01:20.03]這個(gè)比例因人而異,
[01:22.65]It depends on their salaries.
[01:24.88]視工資數(shù)額而定。
[01:27.12]The federal government has a graduated income tax,
[01:29.99]聯(lián)邦政府實(shí)行累進(jìn)稅制,
[01:32.87]that is,the percentage of the tax (14 to 70 percent)
[01:36.65]一般為14%—70%。
[01:40.44]increases as a person's income increases.
[01:43.31]即納稅比例隨個(gè)人收入的增加
[01:46.19]With the high cost of taxes,
[01:48.77]由于賦稅很重,
[01:51.36]people are not very happy on April 15,when the federal taxes are due.
[01:55.24]每年4月臺(tái)票15日人們便不高興,因?yàn)檫@一天是繳納聯(lián)邦稅的日子。
[01:59.12]The second tax is for the state government:
[02:01.69]第二類稅是州政府稅,
[02:04.26]New York,California,North Dakota,or any of the other forty-seven states.
[02:08.60]例如紐約、加里福尼亞、北達(dá)科他或其他47州中任何一州都要征收州政府稅。
[02:12.94]Some states have an income tax similar to that of the federal government.
[02:16.87]有些州征收個(gè)人所得稅的辦法與聯(lián)邦政府的辦法相似。
[02:20.80]Of course,the Fercentage for the state tax is lower.
[02:23.88]當(dāng)然州政府的征稅比例要低些。
[02:26.96]Other states have a sales tax,
[02:29.45]有些州征收銷售稅,
[02:31.93]which is a percentage charged to any item which you buy in that state.
[02:35.56]也就是對你在該州購買的任何商品征收一定比例的稅。
[02:39.19]For example,
[02:40.72]比如,
[02:42.25]a person might want to buy a packet of cigarettes for twenty-five cents.
[02:45.88]某人想要習(xí)25美分一包的香煙。
[02:49.51]If there is a sales tax of eight percent in that state,
[02:53.19]如果該州的銷售稅率為8%,
[02:56.88]then the cost of the cigarettes is twenty-seven cents.
[03:00.21]那么買一包香煙實(shí)際要支付27美分。
[03:03.54]This figure includes the sales tax.
[03:06.36]27美分中包括了銷售稅。
[03:09.18]Some states use income tax in addition to sales tax to raise their revenues.
[03:13.36]還有些州為了增加收入,既征收銷售稅又征收個(gè)人所得稅。
[03:17.54]The state tax laws are diverse and confusing.
[03:20.57]各州的稅收法很不一樣,非?;靵y。
[03:23.60]The third tax is for the city.
[03:25.92]第三類稅是市政府稅。
[03:28.25]This tax comes in two forms:
[03:30.73]市政府稅分兩種:
[03:33.21]property tax (people who own a home have to pay taxes on it)
[03:37.23]財(cái)產(chǎn)稅(例如擁有房產(chǎn)的人應(yīng)繳納房產(chǎn)稅)
[03:41.26]and excise tax,which is charged on cms in a city.
[03:45.03]和執(zhí)照稅(例如對城市里的汽車所征收的稅)。
[03:48.81]The cities use these funds for education,police and fire departments,
[03:52.67]城市將這些資金用于教育、公安和消防部門
[03:56.54]public works and municipal buildings.
[03:59.22]以及市征工程和建筑。
[04:01.89]Since Americans pay such high taxes,
[04:04.68]由于賦稅重,
[04:07.46]they often feel that they are working one day each week just to pay their taxes.
[04:11.53]美國人常常感到一個(gè)星期里有一天的時(shí)間是為了納稅而工作的。
[04:15.61]People always complain about taxes.
[04:18.13]人們對征稅總是怨聲載道,
[04:20.65]They often protest that the government uses their tax dollars in the wrong way.
[04:24.63]常常抗議政府使用稅款不當(dāng)。
[04:28.62]They say that it spends too much on useless and impractical programs.
[04:33.33]他們說,政府有些花錢很多的項(xiàng)目不切實(shí)際、毫無用處。
[04:38.05]Although Americans have different views on many issues,
[04:41.03]美國人雖說在許多問題上觀點(diǎn)不同,
[04:44.00]they tend to agree on one subject: taxes are too high.
[04:47.39]但在一個(gè)問題上似乎是一致的,即征稅太高。
[04:50.77]Text B
[04:52.24]課文B
[04:53.72]Advertising
[04:55.16]廣告
[04:56.59]Advertising is only part of the total sales effort,
[04:59.17]廣告僅是整個(gè)促銷活動(dòng)的一部分,
[05:01.74] but it is the part that attracts the most attention.
[05:04.07]但它是最引人注目的一部分。
[05:06.39]This is natural enough
[05:08.08]這很自然,
[05:09.76] because advertising is designed for just that purpose.
[05:12.58]因?yàn)閺V告制作的目的就在于此。
[05:15.40]In newspapers,in magazines,in the mail,on radio and television,
[05:19.19]通過報(bào)紙、雜志、郵件、廣播與電視,
[05:22.98]we constantly see and hear
[05:24.81]我們不斷地看到和聽到
[05:26.64]the messages for hundreds of different products and services.
[05:29.46]數(shù)以百計(jì)的不同產(chǎn)品與服務(wù)的信息。
[05:32.28]For the most part,
[05:33.71]勸說我們購買和享受的
[05:35.15]they are the kinds of things that we can be persuaded to buy
[05:37.78]多數(shù)是這樣一些東西:
[05:40.40]--food and drinks,cars and television sets,furniture and clothing,
[05:43.78]食品、飲料、汽車、電視機(jī)、家具、服裝
[05:47.17]travel and leisure time activities.
[05:49.35]以及旅游與休閑活動(dòng)。
[05:51.53]The simplest kind of advertising is the classified ad.
[05:54.16]最簡單的廣告是分類廣告。
[05:56.78]Every day the newspapers carry a few pages of these ads;
[05:59.71]報(bào)紙每天都刊登好幾頁這類廣告
[06:02.63]in the large Sunday editions there may be several sections of them.
[06:05.61]某些報(bào)紙的星期日增版上可能有許多欄目的分類廣告。
[06:08.59]A classified ad is usually only a few lines long.
[06:11.07]一條分類廣告通常只有幾行字,
[06:13.55]It is really a notice or announcement that something is available.
[06:16.44]實(shí)際上一個(gè)通知或通告,說明能夠提供某種東西。
[06:19.32]Newspapers also carry a large amount of display advertising.
[06:22.35]報(bào)紙也刊登大量的醒目廣告,
[06:25.38]Most of it is for stores or for various forms of entertainment.
[06:28.47]其中多數(shù)為商店廣告或各種娛樂活動(dòng)的廣告。
[06:31.55]Newspapers generally reach an audience only in a limited area.
[06:34.53]報(bào)紙的讀者通常受地區(qū)的限制。
[06:37.51]To bring their message to a larger audience,
[06:39.99]為了擴(kuò)大讀者的范圍,
[06:42.47]many who want to put out their ads use national magazines.
[06:45.85]不少人利用全國性盡可能志做廣告
[06:49.23]Many of the techniques of modem adverrising were developed in magazine ads.
[06:52.77]人們在雜志廣告中創(chuàng)造了許多現(xiàn)代化的廣告技術(shù)。
[06:56.31]The use of bright colors,attractive pictures,
[06:59.19]采用鮮艷的色彩、迷人的畫面、簡短的文字說明
[07:02.06]and short messages is all characteristic of magazine ads.
[07:05.08]——這些都是雜志做廣告的特點(diǎn)。
[07:08.09]The most important purpose is to catch the eye.
[07:10.37]其根本目的是引人注目。
[07:12.64]The message itself is usually short,
[07:14.82]文字部分一般很短,
[07:17.00]often no more than a slogan which the public identifies with the product.
[07:20.28]常常只是一句廣告口號語,但它能使公眾聯(lián)想起有關(guān)的產(chǎn)品。
[07:23.56]The same techniques have been carried over into television advertising.
[07:26.50]雜志的廣告技術(shù)現(xiàn)在已被移用到電視中。
[07:29.44]Voices and music have been added to color and pictures
[07:32.01]色彩與畫面配上解說與音樂,
[07:34.58] to catch the ear as well as the eye.
[07:36.76]既好看又動(dòng)聽。
[07:38.95]Television ads are short--usually only 15,30,or 60 seconds,
[07:43.07]電視廣告時(shí)間委短,通常只有15秒、30秒或60秒鐘,
[07:47.20]but they are repeated over and over again
[07:49.33]但它反復(fù)播放,
[07:51.46]so that the audience sees and hears them many times.
[07:53.94]可以使觀眾看許多遍。
[07:56.42]Commercial television has mixed entertainment and advertising.
[07:59.39]商業(yè)電視把娛樂與廣告混雜在一起。
[08:02.35]If you want the entertainment,
[08:04.04]你若要看娛樂節(jié)目,
[08:05.72]you have to put up with the advertising--
[08:07.64]就要耐著性子同時(shí)看廣告,
[08:09.56]and millions of people want the entertainment.
[08:11.85]而千百萬人都是想看娛樂節(jié)目的。
[08:14.13]The men and women in the sales department
[08:16.35]銷售部的人員負(fù)責(zé)。
[08:18.57]are responsible for the company's advertising.
[08:20.65]公司的廣告宣傳
[08:22.73]They must decide on the audience they want to teach.
[08:24.91]他們要決定廣告宣傳的對象,
[08:27.09]They must also decide on the best way
[08:29.13]決定采用什么廣告手段
[08:31.16]to get their message to their particular audience.
[08:33.29]使廣告信息傳播給特定的觀眾。
[08:35.42]They also make an estimate of the costs before management approves the plan.
[08:38.54]他們還要在管理部門審批廣告計(jì)劃之前估算廣告費(fèi)用。
[08:41.67]In most large companies
[08:43.40]多數(shù)大公司的
[08:45.14]management is directly involved in planning the advertising.
[08:48.01]管理人員都直接參與廣告計(jì)劃的制定。