高考英语阅读冲刺：阅读理解8_高考复习指南

高考英语阅读冲刺：阅读理解8

　　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 (变化不同) 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 diverse (多样) and confusing (混淆).

　　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 (资金) for education, police and fire departments, public works and municipal (市政内) buildings.