VOA慢速英语2017 纽约市想要提高烟草税劝阻人们吸烟

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio wants to raise taxes on cigarettes to persuade people to stop smoking.

纽约市市长比尔·德布拉西奥（Bill de Blasio）希望通过提高香烟税鼓励人们戒烟。

He would raise the current $10.50 minimum price for a pack of cigarettes to $13 in New York City.

他打算将纽约的香烟售价从最低一盒10.5美元提高至13美元。

De Blasio said the goal of making New York the most expensive city in America to buy cigarettes is to reduce tobacco use. If people have to pay more, he said, they might decide to stop smoking, or, even better, never start.

德布拉西奥表示，让纽约成为美国香烟价格最高的城市，目的是为了减少吸烟。他说，如果香烟价格提高，人们可能会戒烟，或者不会开始吸烟。

Anti-smoking proposal

禁烟议案

The mayor is pushing a number of bills. In addition to raising taxes on cigarettes, his bills would limit the number of places selling tobacco products in New York.

市长德布拉西奥正在力推一些议案。除了提高香烟税，议案还包括限制纽约销售烟草制品的渠道。

Under one proposal, the city would bar drug stores, also known as pharmacies 1, from selling cigarettes.

其中一项提案规定，纽约将禁止药店（药房）出售香烟。

Dr. Mary Bassett is New York City’s commissioner 2 of health.

玛丽·巴塞特（Mary Bassett）博士是纽约市的卫生专员。

She said, “As a former smoker 3, I know how hard it is to quit. These bills will make it less likely that New Yorkers will start smoking and easier for New Yorkers who smoke to quit.”

她说，“作为一名过来人，我知道戒烟有多么困难。这些议案将降低纽约人吸烟的可能性，并且更容易让纽约烟民戒烟。”

New York is America’s largest city, with over 8.5 million residents. The city’s Health Department says the percentage of New Yorkers who smoke has dropped from 21.5 percent in 2002 to 14.3 percent in 2005.

纽约是美国第一大城市，人口超过850万。纽约市的卫生部门称，纽约烟民的比例已从2002年21.5%下降到2005年的14.3%。

But that still leaves 900,000 smokers 4 in the city. An estimated 15,000 of the city’s smokers are under age 18.

但是仍然还有90万的烟民。其中不满18岁的烟民约15000万。

The idea behind the mayor's proposal is that people will stop smoking if the cost is too high.

纽约市长提议案的初衷是，若吸烟的成本太高人们就会戒烟。

Opponents said many people will continue to smoke and that some will be pushed more into poverty or find places to get illegal cigarettes free of taxes.

而反对者们称，很多人仍然会继续吸烟，有些人会更加贫困或设法购买未缴税的非法香烟。

“Over time, it's proven again and again that these efforts are ultimately ineffective as people, minors 5 included, turn more and more to the bootleggers,” said Audrey Silk. She is founder 6 of NYC Citizens Lobbying Against Smoker Harassment 7.

奥德丽·西尔克（Audrey Silk）表示，“时间会不断证明，这些措施最终都是无效的，因为越来越多的烟民（包括未成年人）会跟烟草走私贩子交易。”西尔克是纽约市反吸烟骚扰公民游说组织创始人。

But de Blasio said government has a moral responsibility to discourage people from smoking. He said that higher prices have been shown to stop people from smoking.

不过，德布拉西奥表示，政府有责任劝阻人们吸烟。他说，提高烟草价格就是措施之一。

“When it comes to New Yorker’s health, big tobacco is pubic enemy #1,” de Blasio said.

德布拉西奥说：“烟草巨头是纽约公民健康的头号公敌。”

Smoking around the world

全球的吸烟情况

The World Health Organization says there is no doubt that smoking cigarettes is harmful.

世界卫生组织表示，毫无疑问，吸烟有害人体健康。

“Tobacco is the only legal drug that kills many of its users when used exactly as intended by manufacturers,” the WHO said in a report. It says smoking is responsible for about 6 million deaths a year across the world.

世卫组织在一份报告中称，“烟草是唯一在确切地按照生产商意图使用的情况下可导致死亡的合法消费品。”该组织还表示，每年全球约6百万人因吸烟而死亡。

Globally, the WHO says there are 1.1 billion tobacco smokers aged 8 15 or older. About 226 million smokers live in poverty, it said.

世卫组织表示，全球15岁以上的烟民约11亿，而约2.26亿烟民在贫困中度日。

Smoking rates and taxes differ across the world.

全球各地的吸烟率和税率千差万别。

The countries with the highest percentage of smokers are Serbia, Bulgaria, Greece, Russia and Slovenia, the Tobacco Atlas 9 reports.

据《烟草版图》报告显示，全球烟民比例最高的国家是塞尔维亚、保加利亚、希腊、俄罗斯和斯洛维尼亚。

But the countries with most cigarettes smoked are China, Russia, the United States, Indonesia and Japan, the Tobacco Atlas said.

不过，烟民数量最多的国家有中国、俄罗斯、美国、印尼和日本。

The Chinese smoke more cigarettes than all other low- and middle-income countries combined, the Tobacco Atlas says.

中国人消费香烟的数量比所有其它中低收入国家消费烟草数量之和还要多。

The atlas is put out by officials from the American Cancer Association and World Lung Foundation.

《烟草版图》是由美国癌症协会和世界肺癌基金会联合发行的。

Numbeo.com is a website that tracks the cost of living around the world. The site reports that the most expensive countries to buy cigarettes are: Australia, $18.77 per pack; followed by New Zealand, $16.19; Bermuda, $12.24; Norway, $12.23; and Iceland, $11.81.

Numbeo.com是一家跟踪世界各地生活成本的网站。据该网站统计，香烟价格最贵的国家是澳大利亚，每包18.77美元，其次是新西兰，16.19美元；百慕大，12.24美元；挪威，12.23美元以及冰岛，11.81美元。

In 2016, voters in two American states -- California and Colorado -- voted on separate proposals to raises taxes on cigarettes. Voters in California approved a $2 tax increase per pack of cigarettes. But voters in Colorado rejected a $1.75 tax increase.

2016年，美国加州和科罗拉多州选民曾就一项提高香烟税的单独议案进行了投票。加州选民同意每盒香烟加税2美元，但是科罗拉多州选民否决了每盒香烟加税1.75美元的议案。

The New York City Council will now decide whether to approve or reject the anti-smoking measures offered by Mayor de Blasio.

如今，纽约市议会将决定批准或否决德布拉西奥市长提出的反吸烟议案。

Words in This Story

cigarettes - n. a small roll of paper that is filled with cut tobacco and smoked

pack - n. small packages that often include 20 cigarettes

tobacco - n. a plant that produces leaves which are smoked in cigarettes

ultimately - adv. at the end of a process

bootlegger - n. someone who cells cigarettes or other products illegally, often without providing the requires taxes to government

intend - v. to want to do something