Taxes, Taxes, and More Taxes
Americans often say that there are only two things a person can be sure of in life, death and taxes. Americans do not have a corner on the "death" market, but many people feel that the United States leads the world with the worst taxes.
美国人经常说在他们的一生中，有两件可以确定的事情：一件是死亡；一件是税收。美国人不会垄断死亡市场，但是很多人感觉美国会因为非常繁重的税而领导着整个世界。
with在本句中意为 "because of "
For example:He jumped with joy. （他因为高兴而蹦了起来）。
The little child was trembling with fear. 因为害怕，这个小孩在那里瑟瑟发抖。
Taxes consist of the money which people pay to support their government. There are generally three levels of government in the United States: federal, state, and city; therefore, there are three types of taxes.
解析：税收包括人们支付用来支持他们政府的那些钱。通常来说，在美国，其政府有三级：联邦政府、州和城市；所以，有三种类型的税。
consist of 意为“包括”。
For example: The novel consists of three sections.(这本小说包括三章)
there be 句型表示某地有某物。generally表示一般状况下。
level：等级。
Salaried people who earn more than a few thousand dollars must pay a certain percentage of their salaries to the federal government. The percentage varies from person to person. It depends on their salaries. The federal government has a graduated income tax, that is, the percentage of the tax (14 to 70 percent) increases as a person's income increases. With the high cost of taxes, people are not very happy on April 15, when the federal taxes are due.
salaried people: 工薪阶层。 a certain: 一定量的。depend on: 视…而定。
（手写图示02011-03）
due: 到期的
在美国，每个月能赚取数千美元的工薪阶层必须向联邦政府缴纳一定量的税。而这个税收比例的变化要因人而异，视他们的工资而定。联邦政府有一项分等级的收入税。也就是说，这项税的税率（14％――70％）会随着一个人收入的增加而增加。由于税收非常高，人们在4月15号联邦政府税收到期的这一天，通常非常不开心。
The second tax is for the state government: New York, California, North Dakota, or any of the other forty-seven states. Some states have an income tax similar to that of the federal government . Of course, the percentage for the state tax is lower. Other states have a sales tax, which is a percentage charged to any item which you buy in that state. For example, a person might want to buy a packet of cigarettes for twenty-five cents. If there is a sales tax of eight percent in that state, then the cost of the cigarettes is twenty-seven cents. This figure includes the sales tax. Some states use income tax in addition to sales tax to raise their revenues. The state tax laws are divers and confusing.
（手写图示02011-04）
第二类税是为州政府所缴：如纽约、加利福尼亚、北达科他等这样的州，或者其他47个州中的任意一个。一些州有收入税，这些收入税和联邦政府的税相似。当然，对于联邦政府的税率而言，州的税率要低一些。其他一些州还有销售税。这种税率通常是在那个州购买任何商品所收取税的税率。例如：一个人用25美分买一包香烟（for…表等值关系），如果这个州的销售税税率是8％，那么这包烟的价值就应是27美分，这个数字就包括了销售税。有些州除了收销售税还收收入所得税，以提高他们的税收收入。这样的州的税法繁多而混乱。（divers…繁多的…；confusing…混乱的…）
The third tax is for the city. This tax comes in two forms: property tax (people who own a home have to pay taxes on it) and excise tax, which is charged on cars in a city. The cities use these funds for education, police and fire departments, public works and municipal buildings.
第三类税是城市税。这种税以两种税产生：一种是资产税（是对有房子的人所征收的）；另一种是国产税(是对这个城市的车辆所征收的)。这些城市将通过税收积累起来的资金用在教育、警务、消防、公共设施和市政建设上。
Since Americans pay such high taxes, they often feel that they are working one day each week just to pay their taxes. People always complain about taxes. They often protest that the government uses their tax dollars in the wrong way. They say that it spends too much on useless and impractical programs. Although Americans have different views on many issues, they tend to agree on one subject: taxes are too high.
since…表示“由于…”；in …way…以….方法；spend…on…表花费，有时"on"可以省略。如：He spends three hours a day (on) watching TV.
agree …on… on指代具体的问题。
由于美国人要交如此高的税收，他们经常感到每周都有一天的工作是为了应付他们的税收。人们总是抱怨税收，并且抗议政府把他们的钱用在了错误的地方。美国人认为政府在无用的、不切实际的项目上花了大量的钱。虽然美国人在很多问题上都有不同的见解，但在税收问题上，他们都倾向于赞同：税收太高了。