Economic refugees have traditionally lined up to get into America. Lately, they have been lining up to leave. In the past few months, half a dozen biggish companies have announced plans to merge with foreign partners and in the process move their corporate homes abroad. The motive is simple; corporate taxes are lower in Ireland, Britain and, for that matter, almost everywhere else than they are in America. In Washington, D. C. , policymakers have reacted with indignation. Jack Lew, the treasury secretary, has questioned the companies' patriotism and called on Congress to outlaw such transactions. His fellow Democrats are eager to oblige, and some Republicans are willing to listen. The proposals are misguided. Tightening the rules on corporate "inversions" , as these moves are called, does nothing to deal with the reason why so many firms want to leave; America has the rich world's most dysfunctional corporate-tax system. It needs fundamental reform, not new complications. America's corporate tax has two horrible flaws. The first is the tax rate, which at 35% is the highest among the 34 mostly rich-country members of the OECD. Yet it raises less revenue than the OECD average thanks to countless loopholes and tax breaks aimed at everything from machinery investment to NASCAR race tracks. Last year these breaks cost $ 150 billion in forgone revenue, more than half of what America collected in total corporate taxes. The second flaw is that America levies tax on a company's income no matter where in the world it is earned. In contrast, every other large rich country taxes only income earned within its borders. Here, too, America's system is absurdly ineffective at collecting money. Firms do not have to pay tax on foreign profits until they bring them back home. Not surprisingly, many do not: American multinationals have some $ 2 trillion sitting on their foreign units' balance-sheets, and growing. All this imposes big costs on the economy. The high rate discourages investment and loopholes distort it, because decisions are driven by tax considerations rather than a project's economic merits. The tax rate companies actually pay varies wildly, depending on their type of business and the creativity of their lawyers; some pay close to zero, others the full 35%. But as other countries chopped their rates and America's stayed the same, the incentive to flee grew. A possible solution is to lower the corporate rate, eliminate tax breaks and move America from a worldwide system to a territorial one.
单选题 Many corporations decide to withdraw from America because of______.
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】解析:细节题。根据题干many corporations“许多公司”定位到第一段第二行half a dozen biggish companies“多家较大的公司”:withdraw from America“从美国撤离”=move their corporate homes abroad“将公司搬到国外”;because of“因为,由于”=the motive“动机”;故答案句为第一段最后一句:The motive is simple:corporate taxes are lower in Ireland,Britain and,for that matter,almost everywhere else than they are in America.该句表明许多公司撤离美国,是因为其他地方企业税更低,也就是说美国企业税过高。选项[A]low corporate tax rate“较低的企业税率”;该项与原文完全相反。选项[B]enormous tax pressure“巨大的税收压力”;该项与原文相符,故为正确答案。选项[C]intense domestic competition“激烈的国内竞争”;该项文章没有提到,属于无中生有。选项[D]numerous economic refugees“大量的经济难民”;该项文章首句有提到,但这些经济难民与许多公司离开美国没有任何关系,故排除。综上本题答案为[B]。
单选题 According to Paragraph 2, the act of some companies has______.
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】解析:细节题。定位到第二段。题干的the act of some companies指第一段提到的“公司撤离美国”这一行为,第二段首句是整段的中心句,也是该题的答案句。本题答案关键提示为:policymakers have reacted with indignation“政策制定者们表现得愤懑不已”。与之同义替换的选项为[D]irritated government officials“激怒了政府官员”;其中,irritated“激怒”=indignation“愤怒”:government officials“政府官员”=policymakers“政策制定者”。选项[A]overstepped state laws“逾越了州法律”:与该项相关的句子是:called on Congress to outlaw such transactions“呼吁国会禁止这类交易”:但是文章并没有提到这种行为逾越法律,故该项错误。选项[B]annoyed patriotic groups“惹恼了爱国群体”;与该句对应的信息是:Jack Lew,the treasury secretary,has questioned the companies’patriotism;文章提到某官员质疑这些企业的爱国主义,并没有提到patriotic groups“爱国群体”一词,故该项属于无中生有。选项[C]aroused public indignation“引起了公愤”;原文说:policymakers have reacted with indignation:文中并没有提到public“公众的”一词,故该项属于偷换概念。综上,本题答案为[D]。
单选题 The author suggests that the corporate-tax system in America is______.
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】解析:观点题。定位到第三段第二、三行:America has the rich world’s most dysfunctional corporate-tax system.其中答案关键提示词为dysfunctional“功能紊乱的,不正常的”。选项[A]misguided“误导的”;该项在本段首句出现:The proposals are misguided.文中misguided指的是第二段政府官员的提议,且“误导的”与“不正常的”无法同义替换,故排除该项。选项[B]complicated“复杂的”;同样无法替换“不正常的”。选项[D]fundamental“基本的,根本的”:最后一句提到:It needs fundamental reform…,fundamental用来修饰reform“改革”,而非corporate-tax system“企业税体制”,且fundamental“基本的,根本的”也无法替换dysfunctional“不正常的”,故该项也可以排除。选项[C]incomplete“不完整的,不完善的”;该词与dysfunctional“不正常的”最接近;不完善的企业税体制=不正常的企业税体制,二者可以同义替换。故[C]为正确答案。
单选题 We can infer from Paragraph 4 that______.
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】解析:推理题。定位到第四段。选项[A]some tax reduction in America might be irrational“美国一些税收减免可能不太合理”;该段最后一句提到:Last year these breaks cost $150 billion in forgone revenue,more than half of what America collected in total corporate taxes.“在去年损失的收入中,减免的税收占了1 500亿美元,超过美国征得的企业税总额的一半”。其中,these breaks指代上文的tax breaks“税收减免”,该句大意是:税收减免使美国损失大量收入。由此可见“美国的一些税收减免不合理”这一表述是正确的。其中,tax reduction=tax breaks;irrational=cost $150 billion in forgone revenue;故[A]为答案。选项[B]most rich countries in OECD have sound tax systems“经合组织多数富裕国家拥有健全的税收制度”;该项是无中生有。选项[C]America’s corporate tax rate is the highest in the world“美国企业税率是世界最高的”;原文说:The first is the tax rate,which at 35% is the highest among the 34 mostly rich-country members of the OECD.由此可知,美国企业税率是经合组织里最高的,但是否是世界最高,文章并没有提及,该项把OECD换成world,属于偷换概念。选项[D]American firms raise less revenue than other countries’“美国公司收益低于其他国家的公司”:该项对应的句子为:Yet it raises less revenue than the OECD average…其中it指代America“美国”,而不是American firms“美国公司”,该项也是偷换概念。而且美国的税收收入是低于the OECD average,而不是低于other countries。综上,本题答案为[A]。
单选题 Which of the following would be the best title for the text?
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】解析:主旨题。文章第一段通过描述大量公司离开美国,引出美国企业税(corporate tax)这一问题:第二段描述官员对美国公司的行为表示愤怒,并作出一些提议;第三段引出作者观点:官员的提议具有误导性,美国企业税制需要改革;第四、五段分别讨论美国企业税的两大问题:最后一段总结美国企业税制的缺点并提出解决方案。选项[B]中Tax Breaks“税收减免”一词仅在第四、六两段出现过,只是文章讨论的部分内容,并非全文讨论的重点,该项可以排除。选项[C]中Corporations、Leave等关键词是首段讨论的内容,也非全文主旨,故也可以排除。选项[A][D]都强调了“美国企业税”这一关键词,[A]突出Reform“改革”,而[D]突出Hopeless“无可救药的”。作者在第三段最后一句提出:It needs fundamental reform,not new complications.又在第六段最后一句提出:A possible solution is to lower the corporate rate,eliminate tax breaks and move America from a worldwide system to a territorial one.因此,文章强调Reform“改革”一词,而非Hopeless“无可救药的”。故排除[D]选项,本题答案为[A]。