Vocabulary

luxury hotel – роскошный отель

carbon dioxide – углекислый газ

golf course – поле для гольфа

endan­gered – вымирающий, исчезающий вид (о животных и растениях)

ANSWER THE QUESTIONS

1. What are the main principles of ecotourism?

2. What are the rules of behavior for a tourist?

3. Are you ready to become an “ecotourist”?

27. Resentment against taxes

Like it or not taxes are parts of life. Writer Charles Adams says: “Governments have been taxing income in many ways as long as there has been civilized life”.

Taxes often caused resentment. The ancient Britons fought the Romans, saying: “How much better to be killed than to go about with a tax on our heads!” In France hatred of a salt tax led to Revolution, during which tax collectors were put to death. Tax revolts also played a role in the U.S. War of Inde­pendence.

Not surprisingly, resentment against taxes continues to this day. Experts say that in developing countries tax systems are often “inefficient” and “unfair”. Proper collection and monitoring mechanisms are either nonexistent or not applied properly. In one Asian country, local officials imposed many illegal taxes – from fees for growing bananas to taxes on slaughtering pigs.

The gap between rich and poor strengthens the resentment. The main eco­nomic difference between developed and developing countries is that developed countries subsidize farmers while develop­ing countries tax farmers.

Similar resentment was seen recently in South Africa when the government imposed a land tax on farmers. Sometimes, resentment against taxation results in violence.

Not only had the poor people resent paying taxes, though. Many affluent taxpayers are not willing to pay additional taxes either. Famous celebrities in the fields of music, film, sports, and politics do not want to obey the tax law.

Governments argue that taxes are a necessary evil – the price of a “civilized society”. Whether you agree with it or not, it is undeniable that the price is usually a high one.

Vocabulary

resentment – недовольство, возмущение

hatred – ненависть

undeniable – неоспоримый, несомненный

to obey – подчиняться

affluent – состоятельный

celeb­rities – знаменитости

QUESTIONS AND ASSIGNMENTS

1. Do you also think that taxes are excessive, unfair, and overwhelming?

2. How should you view the paying of taxes?

3. Do they serve any real purpose? Is it a price of a civilized society?

4. Try to present the contents of the article in a few (6-8) sentences.

28. Outstanding british inventor william armstrong

William Armstrong was born in 1810 near Newcastle in England. His father was a merchant but he wanted his son to become a lawyer. After finishing school, William worked for many years as a solicitor. However, his real passion was solving engineering problems. He was fascinated by science, but also thought that inventions had practical purpose.

Once fishing on the river Dee, he saw a waterwheel turning. He understood that much of the power was wasted. When he came home, he could design a new engine powered by water. This new hydraulic engine used power from the pressure of water in pipes that supplied the town of Newcastle.

In harbor cranes used water power to unload ships. Armstrong’s company built 100 cranes every year. His company also built many other machines using new technology invented by Armstrong. He built warships for Britain and Japan. He also built new types of gun for the British army.

In 1863 he bought a house in the country because he needed rest badly. His new house was called Cragside because of the many rocks in the valley. He cleared the rocks, planted thousands of trees and dug five artificial lakes – a beautiful park was created. The water from the lakes was used to generate electricity for the house.

The house used this electricity to power all kinds of new gadgets that nobody else in England had at that time: a lift, a dishwasher, central heating, electric bulb.

Armstrong was also a philanthropist and spent a lot of money to improve people’s life in his native town. When he died most of his money was given to charity. He had no his own children, though he and his wife brought up an adopted child – his dead sister’s son, a nephew. He inherited Cragside and a large castle by the sea. He also gave ten thousand pounds to a natural history museum in the park and one hundred thousand pounds to build a new hospital for Newcastle.