▶ Your Answer :
The reading passage contends that increasing tax on tobacco would have a lot of benefits on society. On the other hand, the lecturer brings up several points that increasing tax is ineffective way, and which contradict the reading passage.
First, the lecturer argues that young people will smoke anyway. In black market, as tobacco's price is higher, retail price also will be higher. In recent studies, there are smugglers and they do not check any kinds of identity, young people could buy tobacco easily. This counters the reading passage's claim that youth are not afford to buy high price of tobacco, they are less likely to start smoking.
Second, the lecturer asserts that the government will not have the revenue to repair the land or chemicals. This is because fewer people will buy tobacco, the total sale would be decreased. Therefore, the government does not have money to repair the destroyed farmland and water pollution. This refutes the reading passage's claim that increasing the tax on cigarettes can improving our environment.
Finally, the lecturer maintains that increasing tax provokes the poverty even worse. There is a lot of jobs concerned with tobacco market such as manufacture, retail or so. These jobs will be disappeared. Then they lose their jobs which even makes this situation worse. This casts doubt on the reading passage's claim that the government is able to hlep the poor with this tax, which as a result provides financial assistance.
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