2. 外语
  3. More than a quarter of American children--and half of black children--belong to families too poor to fully qualify for the ＄1,00

More than a quarter of American children--and half of black children--belong to families too poor to fully qualify for the ＄1,00

admin2012-10-23  34
问题     More than a quarter of American children--and half of black children--belong to families too poor to fully qualify for the ＄1,000-a-year child tax credit, which President Bush signed four years ago and has cited in arguing that his program of sweeping tax cuts helps low-income families, a new study has found. With an annual value of $47 billion, the credit is the government’s largest children’s subsidy and one that has provoked sharp partisan fights. Many conservatives, viewing it solely as a tax cut, want to reserve the credit for families that owe federal income tax. Many liberals, vie-wing it as a broader children’s allowance, want to extend it to poorer workers, who they say need it most.
    Still, the study found that the families of 19.5 million children were too poor to receive the full ＄1,000 benefit. About half get a partial benefit, and half get nothing. Newt Gingrich, the former Republican House speaker, expressed surprise at the racial gap. "That’s a stunning number," he said, referring to the half of black children who fail to receive the full credit. "I’d find a way to make sure those kids get the money as part of a broader post-Hurricane Katrina plan."
    Framed as middle-class tax relief, the credit passed in 1997 and offered ＄500 per child to families that owed income tax. It was doubled in 2001 and made partly available to families too poor to have income tax bills. Len Burman, a co-director of the tax center and the study’s author, said it might actually exaggerate the amount going to the poor since it assumed all eligible families received the credit. In practice, studies suggest that poor and minority families claim tax credits at lower rates.
    Told of the study, which will be published Monday, some conservatives repeated their opposition to making the credit more of an antipoverty program. Mr. Mitchell said that low-wage workers received a total of ＄39 billion a year from a similar program, the earned income tax credit. "It’s not like they’re not getting any redistribution from the government," he said. "We want less income redistribution, not more." Both sides in child tax credit debate have cast their arguments in moral terms. "The income gap is wide and growing," Ms. Snowe said. "We’re talking about giving a helping hand to families who through no fault of their own are at or near poverty." Mr. Mitchell of the Heritage Foundation said income redistribution was morally problematic, since it punished people for economic success. He also called it economically inefficient, arguing that it discouraged work among both rich and poor.
What can we learn from the first paragraph?
选项 A、Conservatives and liberals have basically come to an agreement on child tax credit.
B、Bush’s program of sweeping tax cuts helps low-income families in a real sense.
C、Many conservatives argue child tax credit should be used for qualified families.
D、Many liberals intend child tax credit for the poorer workers instead of children.
答案C
解析 一些保守派认为儿童课税扣除只能提供给有资格的家庭。从第1段第1句话我们得知：超过四分之一的美国孩子，其中一半是黑人孩子，因为家庭太穷以至于无法获得每年1000美元的儿童间接减少赋税。这说明这项计划并没有真正帮助到贫穷的人。
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