单选题 One major reason for Germany"s high unemployment and the evident weakness of business investment is the nature of the tax system, which tends to discourage both individual effort and investment. Nominal corporate tax rates are, in fact, very high and it is these rates that potential investors primarily look at. However, the actual burden borne by companies is not as great as it might seem, because the tax base is fairly narrow. This combination in itself tends to encourage tax avoidance at both the personal and corporate levels. Moreover, by international standards, firms in Germany are still taxed quite heavily.
A reform of corporate taxation, therefore, should start by reducing tax rates, cutting subsidies and broadening the taxable base. The resulting positive impact on growth would be reinforced if there were also a substantial easing of the net burden.
How do the current plans for a reform of corporate taxation measure up to these goals? The overall tax burden on companies is to be brought down significantly, with the ceiling of 35% being set. To this end, a dramatic reduction in the corporate tax on retained earnings is planned. The related drop in revenues is to be offset by changes in the rules governing tax breaks.
An approach incorporating these basic features would be a welcome step. If realized in its present form, it should ensure that the objective of making tax rates more attractive for businesses is achieved. At the same time, however, it would be unfortunate if an excessive broadening of the taxable base made it impossible to attain the equally important goal of providing relief.
Comprehensive tax reform is needed in Germany to spur investment and to create new jobs, thus putting the economy on a higher growth path. The drop in revenues caused by the tax relief granted to both companies and households would, in time, be at least partially offset by the larger volume of tax receipts produced by economic growth. The gaps that remained should primarily be closed through spending cuts. If measure of this sort proved inadequate, then, as a last resort, an increase in indirect taxes could perhaps be considered.

单选题 The writer of the passage mainly intends to ______

单选题 According to the author, the major problem with Germany"s tax system is ______

单选题 The overall corporate tax will be reduced by ______

【正确答案】 D

【答案解析】[解析] 第三段提到，目前对公司纳税改革的计划如何满足这些目标呢(指第二段中提到的税改目标)?如果设定35%为纳税上限，公司的整个纳税负担将显著降低。为了满足这个目的(To this end)，就要计划大大降低对公司的未分配利润的征税额。可见，这里作者建议通过降低对公司的未分配的利润的征税额，实现减少公司整个纳税额的目的。

单选题 An inevitable result from providing relief is ______

【正确答案】 A

【答案解析】[解析] 最后一段第二句提到，给予公司和家庭的优惠税收政策会造成税收的减少，而由经济增长所带来的税款总量的增加至少可以部分地抵消这种损失。这里的逻辑是：好的税收政策会刺激经济发展(参阅本段第一句)，经济发展会带来更高的税收，因此，现在为家庭和公司减税，鼓励他们积极投资，从长远来看是值得的。