" Sugar, alcohol and tobacco," economist Adam Smith once wrote, " are commod

游客2024-01-24  10

问题     " Sugar, alcohol and tobacco," economist Adam Smith once wrote, " are commodities which are nowhere necessaries of life, which have become objects of almost universal consumption, and which are, therefore, extremely popular subjects of taxation. "
    Two and a half centuries on, most countries impose some sort of tax on alcohol and tobacco. With surging obesity levels putting increasing strain on public health systems, governments around the world have begun to toy with the idea of taxing sugar as well.
    Whether such taxes work is a matter of debate. A preliminary review of Mexico’s taxation found a fall in purchases of taxed drinks as well as a rise in sales of untaxed and healthier drinks. By contrast, a Danish tax on foods high in fats was abandoned a year after its introduction, amid claims that consumers were avoiding it by crossing the border to Germany to satisfy their desire for cheaper, fattier fare.
    The food industry has, in general, been firmly opposed to such direct government action. Nonetheless, the renewed focus on waistlines means that industry groups are under pressure to demonstrate their products are healthy as well as tasty.
    Over the past three decades, the industry has made some efforts to improve the quality of its offerings. For example, some drink manufacturers have cut the amount of sugar in their beverages.
Many of the reductions over the past 30 years have been achieved either by reducing the amount of sugar, salt or fat in a product, or by finding an alternative ingredient. More recently, however, some companies have been investing money in a more ambitious undertaking: learning how to adjust the fundamental make-up of the food they sell. For example, having salt on the outside, but none on the inside, reduces the salt content without changing the taste.
    While reformulating recipes(配方)is one way to improve public health, it should be part of a multi-sided approach. The key is to remember that there is not just one solution. To deal with obesity, a mixture of approaches—including reformulation, taxation and adjusting portion sizes—will be needed. There is no silver bullet. [br] What do we learn about Danish taxation on fat-rich foods?

选项 A、It did not work out as well as was expected.
B、It gave rise to a lot of problems on the border.
C、It could not succeed without German cooperation.
D、It met with firm opposition from the food industry.

答案 A

解析 事实细节题。第三段讨论了糖、酒、烟税的有效性问题。墨西哥的酒税是有效的,但是丹麦征收的高脂肪食品税却在执行一年后就被废除了,因为消费者为避免纳税可以跨境去德国购买能满足其需求且更便宜、脂肪含量更高的食品。由此可知,A)“没有像预期的那样有效”符合原文意思,故本题答案为A)。
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