▶ Your Answer :
In
the reading passage, there is ample support for the author’s claim
that an increase in taxes on tobacco can result in a tremendous array
of advantages. However, the professor in the lecture gives several
reasons as a rebuttal to the author’s point.
First,
the professor contends that the rise of the taxes is not able to
bring about the decreased number of young people who smoke. This is
mainly due to a black market which sells products in much lower
prices without checking buyers’ identification. In effect, studies
have shown that youngsters are inclined to purchase unlawful tobacco
from black markets. Therefore, an increase in the taxes imposed on
tobacco may give rise to the price of legal cigarettes, but not that
of illegal ones. This casts doubt on the reading passage’s claim
that the deficiency of young people’s budget makes them difficult
to buy tobacco due to its risen price, thereby leading to a decrease
in those who begin smoking in young ages.
Next,
the professor insists that an idea pointing out that an added tax on
cigarettes benefits the environment is not plausible. This is because
it might be impossible for the government to offer sufficient
finances for activities such as planting trees or getting rid of
noxious chemicals in water. If the price of cigarettes increases, the
number of those who buy them is going to diminish, so the revenue of
the government will also decline. Thus, it will be impossible for the
country to invest more money in the environment. This refutes the
reading passage’s assertion that an increase in the government’s
revenue can provide the capability to deal with diverse environmental
problems which occur due to the development of tobacco farmland for
its cultivation.
Finally,
the professor argues that imposing a special tax on cigarettes cannot
bring about positive and optimistic results in the national economy.
If the government levies an additional tax, a variety of careers
related to a tobacco industry such as agrarian, manufacturing, and
selling jobs will disappear. This may cause the poverty of more
citizens, so economic situations can get worse. This counters the
reading passage’s suggestion that the taxes will give rise to the
higher revenue of the government, so it will be able to spend a
larger amount of money on economic issues like employment rates or
welfare systems. |