目 录 上一节 下一节 
万税，万税，万万税 Americans often say that there are only two things a person can be sure of in life: death and taxes. Americans do not have a corner on the "death" market, but many people feel that the United States leads the world with the worst taxes. 美国人常说凡是一个人一生中有两件事是肯定的：一是必有一死，一是必须纳税。虽然美国人并没有垄断了世界"死亡殡葬业"的市场，但是美国确以最苛重的赋税在世界上独占鳌头。 Taxes consist of the money which people pay to support their government. There are generally three levels of government in the United States: federal, state, and city; therefore, there are three types of taxes. 税就是人民为了支持政府工作所交纳的钱。在美国大体上有三级政府：联邦政府、州政府和市政府。因此，征税也有三种。 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 from 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. 凡是年薪收在两三千美元以上的人，必须按年薪的一定百分比向联邦政府纳税。这百分比的多少，人与人是不同的。这取决于年薪大小。联邦政府征收累进所得税，也就是说，随着个人收的增长，征税的百分比率（百分之十到百分之七十）也在增长。由于征税数额高，在联邦政府收税日，即在四月十五日，那人们心情都不愉快。 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 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 is that state, when 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. They state tax laws are diverse and confusing. 第二级征税的机构是州政府：纽约州，加里福尼亚州，北达科他州或另外的四十七个州。有些州征收所得税，这跟联邦政府征的所得税类似。还有些州征收销售税，这按你在该州所购买的任何一件物品的价格的一定的百分比率来征收。例如，某人想买25美分一包的纸烟，如果该州的销售税征收率是物价的百分之八，那么这包纸烟的实价就是27美分，这个数字里面就包括了销售税。有些州除了征收所得税，还要加征销售税，以提高州政府的每年的收入。各州的销售税法显然是很不相同的，也很混乱。 
第三级征税的机构是市政府。市政府征收的有两种税：财产税（凡拥有房产的人必须交纳财产税）和消费税（这是对市内行驰的小汽车征的税）。这些税收资金用于教育、警察、消防等部门及公共设施和市政建设。 Since Americans pay such high taxes, they often feel that they are wording one day each week just to pay their taxes. People always complain about taxes. They often protest that the government uses their tax dollars in the wrong way. They way that it spends too much on useless and impractical programs. Although Americans have different views on many issues, they tend to agree on one subject: taxes are too high. 由于美国人都要交纳数额很高的各种税款，所以他们都常常认为每周必须有一天资是为了纳税去工作。人们老是抱怨这些税收。他们经常抗议说，政府对他们交纳的税金使用不当。虽然美国人民在许多问题上持不同观点，但是在这个话题上却倾向一致：赋税太重了。 Advertising 登广告 Advertising is only part of the total sales effort ,but it is the part that attracts the most attention. This is natural enough because advertising is designed for just that purpose. In newspapers, in mail, on radio and television, we constantly see and hear the messages for hundreds of different products and services. For the most part, they are the kinds of things that we can be persuaded to buy - food and drinks, cars and television sets, furniture and clothing, travel and leisure time activities. 登广告仅仅是整个促销活动的一部分，但却是最能吸引人们注意的一部分，这是十分自然的。因为设计出某一广告正是为了达到这一目的。我们在报刊杂志上和邮件上，在收音机里和电视里，会不断地看到或听到数以百计的不同的产品和服务项目的信息。其中绝大部分都是那种要劝我们去购买食物和饮料、汽车和电视机、家俱和衣着，去参加旅游和业余活动的信息。 The simplest kind of advertising is the classified ad. Every day the newspapers carry a few pages of these ads; in the large Sunday editions there may be several sections of them. A classified ad is usually only a few lines long. It is really a notice or announcement that something is available. 最简单的一种广告就是分类广告。每天各种报纸都刊登有几页这种分类广告。每逢星期天的扩大版上可能有好几大类的分类广告。每一则分类广告的长度通常只有三两行，这实际上就是通知某种东西或某种服务现在已经有了。 
报纸上也刊登大量图文并用的广告。其中绝大部分是为商店或各种娱乐活动而刊登的。报纸只能涉及到在一定地区内的读者。为了把信息传达到更多的读者，很多想刊登广告的人都利用全国性的杂志。在杂志上刊登的各类广告中运用了许多现代制作广告的技巧。杂志广告的特征是善于运用鲜艳的色彩，迷人的图片和短小精辟的词句，一般只有一条标语口号，要让人民大众认为这句口号与你宣传的产品是等同的。 The same techniques have been carried over into television advertising. Voices and music have been added to color and pictures to catch the ear as well as the eye. Television ads are shore -usually only 15,30,or 60seconds, but they are repeated over and over again so that the audience sees and hears them many times. Commercial television has mixed entertainment and advertising. If you want the entertainment, you have to put up with the advertising - and millions of people want the entertainment. 同样的技巧也被应用到电视广告当中。广告赏的声音和伴奏的音乐再加上鲜艳的色彩和画面既能吸引人们来看也能吸引人们来听。电视广告反复再三重播，以便让观众和听众多次看多次听。商业电视广告把娱乐和广告内容融为一体。如果你想娱乐，那你就必须让播广告--千百万人都想娱乐。 The men and women is the sales department are responsible for the company's advertising. They must decide on the audience they want to reach. They must also decide on the best way to get their message to their particular audience. They also make an estimate of the costs before management approves the plan. In most large companies management is directly involved in planning the advertising. 销售部门的男女员工要负责公司的广告业务。他们必须决定要针对哪些人做广告。他们必须制定出最佳方案能让他们选定的观众能够得到他们散发的广告信息。他们还得在经理部门批准广告计划之前就估计出各项费用。大绝大部分的大公司当中，经理部门都是直接参与广告的策划工作的。
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