▶ Your Answer :
In the
reading passage, there is ample support for the author’s claim that the
increased tax on tobacco products has several benefits which are unaffordable for teenagers, environment recovery, and reducing the poor. However, the professor
in the lecture provides several reasons as a rebuttal to the author’s point.
First,
the professor argues that a higher tax on tobacco will make the black market more
active. To be specific, in some studies, it was proved that when the tax goes
higher, teenagers buy more cigarettes from the black market. This is because higher tax cigarettes have, more smugglers there will be. Additionally, they sell cigarettes at cheap prices and do not check ID. Therefore, the higher tax promotes teenagers to buy cigarettes easily. This casts doubt on the reading
passage that teenagers will be harder to buy higher prices of tobacco products.
On top of
that, the professor insists that increased tax of tobacco products will not be
helpful for repairing the environment. If the tax is multiplied, the sales of cigarettes
will be decreased. Eventually, people will get much less tax revenue. It will
not enough to plant new forests and deplete harmful chemicals. This refutes the
reading passage’s point that by increasing the tax, they can eliminate the environmental
harm which was caused by tobacco farms.
Lastly,
the professor contends that tobacco products provide plentiful jobs with manufacturing and retails. If the tax rises, the companies of tobacco products should
decrease the payroll. Thus, there will be more job loss and poverty. This rebuts
the reading passage’s suggestion that increments of cigarette tax would help to
provide financial assistance for unemployment and welfare. |