Both reading articles and listening are discussing about the result bought by the imposing high

taxes on cigarettes and other unhealthy products. The reading thinks this decision made by the
governments on the tax law will bring multiple benefits Both on citizens' health and social
development. However, the professor in the lecture raises the considerations for all the reading's
opinions, by saying they are challenged.

Firstly, the reading article holds the idea that raise of the taxes can prevent citizens on having
unhealthy behaviors, such as smoking and eating unhealthy food. To be exact, increase the take
rate on cigarettes can effectively encourage people purchase less of them. Moreover, similar as
raise taxes on cigarettes, increase the taxes on unhealthy food and drinks will help the obesity rate
decreases among people. The lecture, however, think the things from another perspective that
increase in the taxes are not necessarily led to a healthier behavior. If people need to pay for a
higher tax on the cigarettes, they will choose to purchase cheap and low-quality cigarette instead,
which will bring more serious health problems. Same in the food industry, increase in price will
not make citizens buy less unhealthy food, but they will have less money to spend on the healthy
and fresh food.

Secondly, the passage mentioned that people smoke and eat fast food every day will have a higher
risk to get serious health problems than people who kept a healthy living style, every citizen need
to pay the same amount of medical cost is not fair. Smoking people need to pay more money in the
taxes of smoke, so they can cover their future medical cost by their own money. The listening
opposes this opinion by saying that although the new policy on the taxes makes the medical cost
fairer for people who are not smoker and eating healthily, government need to consider about
citizens income when raise the taxes. For example, a person with a higher income whose brand of
cigarettes is same as a person who only earn small amount of money each month, and they all face
the problem of increase in the cigarette’s taxes. A problem raise by this taxes policy is that because
have less money, the person with lower income will have more economic pressure to afford the
cigarettes.

Thirdly, the author raises the idea that not only promote a healthier lifestyle among citizens, high
taxation also can support several governments ‘public welfare developing program which benefit
the whole society. Other than medical use, government can use the tax money to create more parks
for citizens; improve on the public educations such as building schools. At for this point, the truth
is that the millions dollar of taxation not only bring benefits to society but have several serious
down sides. To be exact, because the money is huge, the government will be over dependent on
the high tax rate and don’t want to lose it. Consequently, because governments don’t want to lose
the incomes, they will soon band both outside and inside smoking and charge on people who break
these rules. Citizens’ freedom will be over controlled by the government and will have a heavier
economic pressure on paying the tax and fine.