Unlocking Word Meanings
Read the following words/expressions found in today’s article.
1. bear the brunt [of] (v./idiom) [bair][thuh][bruhnt] – to receive the larger part of something unpleasant
Read the following words/expressions found in today’s article.
1. bear the brunt [of] (v./idiom) [bair][thuh][bruhnt] – to receive the larger part of something unpleasant
Example: Employees bear the brunt when their company goes
bankrupt.
2. balloon (v.) [buh-loon] – to suddenly grow bigger
Example: The number of
unemployed people in Spain has ballooned
to 5.64 million.
3. deficit (n.) [def-uh-sit] – an amount that is less than
what is needed
Example: The city cannot
complete the project due to a deficit
in its 2011 income.
4. succeed (v.) [suhk-seed] – to come next in an order or a series
Example: According to tradition,
Crown Prince Naruhito will succeed
Emperor Akihito.
5. chancellor (n.) [chan-suh-ler, -sler, chahn-] - a government official or minister (usually used in Europe)
Example: Plans for the new
budget must be approved by the Chancellor
of Finance.
Article
Read the text below.
Families may have to
bear the brunt of new tax rules
adopted by the UK Treasury.
To decrease the
UK’s ballooning deficit, the
government has made major changes in its 2012 budget—including changes in taxes
and benefits for families with children.
One budget change
is the cancellation of the universal Child Benefit in which every family with one child receives £20.30 each week and an
additional £13.40 for every succeeding
child. Now, a household with a parent
earning more than £60,000 a year will completely lose the
benefit.
The Treasury has
also raised the tax from 5% to 7% on homes worth £2
million and up.
Furthermore, the Institute
for Fiscal Studies reports that because of budget changes, the average incomes
of households with children would drop by about £1,250
a year.
The Family and
Parenting Institute (FPI), a charity that protects family well-being, predicts that these additional taxes and reduced benefits will cause
deep worry and money troubles among couples, and may ultimately result in
divorce.
Data
from the Center for National Statistics show that divorces already increased
by almost 5% in 2010 in England and Wales.
As such, the FPI has asked Chancellor George Osborne, head of financial and
economic matters, to create rules that will help protect rather than break families.
But according to a Treasury
spokesperson, the government has tried to make changes that would be fair to
all. She said that families in the future will face even greater difficulty paying
back the country’s debts if money-saving changes are not done sooner.
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Viewpoint Discussion
Enjoy a discussion with your tutor.
Discussion A
·
Do you believe that raising taxes can help
solve a country’s economic problems? Please explain your answer.
·
Would you be willing to pay higher taxes to pay
the national debt? Why?
Discussion B
·
Does the government have the right to demand
its people to give more taxes? Why?
·
What goods or services do you think should be
taxed more heavily, and which should not be taxed at all? Explain your answer.