C
Fewlawsaresoeffectivethatyoucanseeresultsjustd aysaftertheytakeeffect.Butintheninedayssincethefederalcigarettetaxmorethandoubled-----to$1.01perpack----smokershavejammedtelephone“quitlines”acrossthecountr yseekingtokickthehabit.
Thisisnotasurprisetopublichealthadvocates.They’vestudiedtheeffectofstatetaxincreasesforyears,findingthatsmokers,especiallyteens,arepricesensitive.Norisitashocktotheindustr y,whichfiercelyfightseverytaxincrease.
Theonlywonderisthatsomanystatesinsistonclosingtheirearstothemessage.Tobaccotaxesimprovepublichealth,theyraisemoneyandmostparticularly,theydeterpeoplefromtakingupthehabitasteens,whichiswhennearlyallsmokersareaddicted.Yettherateoftaxationvarieswidely.
InManhattan,forinstance,whichhasthehighesttaxinthenation;apackofMarlboroLightKingscost$10.06atonedrugstoreWednesday.InCharleston,S.C.,wherethe7-bent-a-packtaxisthelowestinthenation.Thepricewas$4.78.
Theinfluenceisobvious.
InNewYork,highschoolsmokinghitanewlowinthelatestsurveys----13.8%,farbelowthenationalaverage.Bycomparison,26%ofhighschoolstudentssmokeinKentucky,Otherlow-taxstateshavesimilarlydepressingteen-smokingrecords.
HalRogers,RepresentativefromKentucky,likethosewhoareagainsthightobaccotaxes,arguesthattheburdenofthetaxfallsonlow-incomeAmericans“whochoosetosmoke.”
That’str ue.Butthereismorereasoninkeepingfuturegenerationsoflow-incomeworkersfromgettinghookedinthefirstplace.Asfortoday’sadults,ifthenewtaxdrivesthemtoquit,theywillhavemoretospendontheirfamilies,cuttheirriskofcancerandheartd iseaseandfeelbetter.
66Thetextismainlyabout___________.
A.thepriceofcigarettesB.therateofteensmoking
C.theeffectoftobaccotaxincreaseD.thedifferencesintobaccotaxrate
正确答案：C
