雅思閱讀專項訓練：拿奧運獎牌還要繳

要考好雅思的閱讀部分，肯定需要多加練習。爲了方便大家備考，下面小編給大家帶來雅思閱讀專項訓練：拿奧運獎牌還要繳稅?

　　雅思閱讀專項訓練：拿奧運獎牌還要繳稅?

參加倫敦奧運會的美國選手獲得獎牌後盡享風光的同時，美國國稅局已經盯上他們了。獲得獎牌的選手所交稅額是綜合獎牌本身市值和獲得的獎金總數後計算得出的，稅率爲35%。獲得金、銀、銅牌的美國選手獲得的獎金分別爲2.5萬、1.5萬和1萬美元，而金、銀、銅牌的市值爲675、385和5美元，由此他們要交的稅分別爲8986、5385和3500美元。佛羅里達州一位參議員聽聞這一報道後專門上交提案，建議對這些得獎運動員免於徵稅。他表示，美國的稅法很複雜，而且經常被用來當作懲罰成功人士的工具。

When Olympic medalists return to the United States, they're in high demand. Everyone, from Michael Phelps to a bronze medalist in judo will be sitting for television interviews, talking to newspapers, going to assemblies at local schools and celebrating with friends, family and young athletes. They'll also draw some unwanted interest from everyone's favorite bureaucrats: the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

American medalists face a top income tax rate of 35 percent. Under U.S. tax law, they must add the value of their Olympic medals and prizes to their taxable income. It is therefore easy to calculate the tax bite on Olympic glory.

At today’s commodity prices, the value of a gold medal is about $675. A silver medal is worth about $385 while a bronze medal is worth under $5.

There are also prizes that accompany each medal: $25,000 for gold, $15,000 for silver, and $10,000 for bronze.

The Weekly Standard, a conservative news magazine, ran the numbers and tabulated that the tax bill on a gold is $8,986, silver is $5,385 and bronze is $3,500.

They note that Missy Franklin, an amateur who has yet to cash in on her fame with endorsements, already owes $14,000 in taxes from her gold and silver medal. By the time the Games are finished, Franklin's tax bill could reach $30,000.

Florida senator Marco Rubio reacted to the story on Wednesday, proposing a bill that would leave athletes exempt from the federal tax. "Our tax code is a complicated and burdensome mess that too often punishes success, and the tax imposed on Olympic medal winners is a classic example of this madness," he told reporters.

　　雅思閱讀專項訓練：美公務員上班看奧運被叫停

L.A.'s chief technology officer sends email imploring city workers to stop watching the Olympics online, fearing it could trigger a massive computer crash.

Olympics coverage is certainly winning gold medals at L.A. City Hall, where so many employees are watching online that the city's chief technology officer begged them to stop for fear of a municipal computer meltdown.

"We are experiencing a high volume of traffic due to people watching the Olympics online. I respectfully request that you discontinue this as it is impacting city operations," city tech guru Randi Levin wrote in an email sent to thousands of workers Tuesday morning.

The email came on a day when the US women's gymnastics team was competing, as well as the women's soccer team.

Some council members expressed alarm at the prospect that city employees were watching the Olympics instead of doing their jobs.

"City employees aren't paid to watch the Olympics on their computers or TV. That is not what the taxpayers are paying them to do," said Councilman Dennis Zine, who saw the email. "The question is where are the supervisors when this is going on?"

Councilwoman Jan Perry said she's outraged and wants the city to block Olympic streaming from City Hall computers.

Mark Wolf, executive officer for information technology for the city, said he had not discussed the email with Levin but said any time employees watch streaming material, it takes up a tremendous amount of bandwidth. NBC is streaming the games live online, which taxes highly valuable bandwidth.

Asked about the city's struggling computer systems, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's press office referred calls to Levin, who did not return calls seeking comment.

洛杉磯首席技術官給該市的公務員們發郵件，請求他們不要在上班期間在線觀看奧運比賽，擔心這會引發大規模電腦死機。

奧運報道的收視率顯然正在洛杉磯市政廳拿着，在這裏衆多職員們都在網上觀看比賽，而該市的首席技術官卻懇求他們不要再在線看比賽，害怕會造成市政廳計算機系統癱瘓。

該市技術專家蘭迪?萊文在他週二上午給數千公務員發出的郵件中寫道：“由於大量工作人員在線觀看奧運會，我們的網絡流量非常大。我懇求你們停止這一行爲，因爲這影響到市政運作。”

郵件發出的當天，美國女子體操隊和女子足球隊都要參加比賽。

一些市議員對市公務員工作期間看比賽而非從事本職工作的情況表示擔憂。

市議員丹尼斯?金看到郵件後說：“納稅人繳稅可不是爲了讓公務員在電腦或電視上看奧運會的。問題在於，這種情況發生時，監督者在哪裏。”

市議員簡?佩裏說，她對此感到非常憤怒，希望政府攔截市政廳計算機系統的奧運網絡資源。

洛杉磯市信息技術首席執行官馬克?沃爾夫表示他並沒有就該郵件與萊文討論過，但是他指出，職員只要觀看流媒體音頻和視頻就會佔用大量的帶寬。美國全國廣播公司在網絡上直播奧運比賽，佔用了寶貴的寬帶帶寬。

被問到該市幾近癱瘓的計算機系統時，安東尼奧?維拉戈沙市長的新聞辦公室讓記者把採訪電話打給萊文。當記者致電萊文請他做出評論後，萊文也沒有回電。

　　雅思閱讀專項訓練：心情不好怎麼辦

心情不好怎麼辦?去購物嗎?把錢花光了，心情就好了?還有更省錢又有效的方法，助你糟糕心情High起來!計劃一次旅行，做一頓大餐，看一部喜劇。打敗壞心情，其實很容易。

Although I'm all for indulging in activities to boost your mood, retail therapy is definitely a pricey way to do it. And it might make you feel worse in the long run if your shopping expedition makes a dent in your bank account. Here are some wallet-friendly ways to turn around a bad day:

雖然我很贊成去做一些能提升心情的活動，但是購物療法無疑是種昂貴的方式。從長遠的角度上看，購物後你的賬戶餘額會減少，那時你可能會感到更難受。 下面是幾種既提升心情又省錢的妙招：

t planning a a plan to take some days off and start researching destination ideas. Research has shown that planning and anticipating a trip has an even greater effect on happiness than the actual trip itself.

1.開始計劃一次旅行。計劃休幾天假，並開始調研目的地。研究發現計劃並憧憬一次旅行比實際的旅行會更讓人開心。

yourself a happy meal. A happy meal is basically comfort food you can make at home that will help you feel better. Perhaps it's a childhood favorite like Oreos and milk or maybe a secret family recipe.

2.自己動手做一頓快樂之餐。一頓快樂之餐就是你自己在家做的可口食物，它能讓你感覺好一些。也許它是你兒時的，比如奧利奧、牛奶，也許是你按家傳祕方做出的食物。

a goal and accomplish it. Set a small and reasonable goal and complete it before the end of the night. It can be simple tasks like washing the dishes or finishing up two chapters of a mystery novel. You'll feel better when you're getting things done.

3.制定目標並加以實現。制定一個小且合理的目標，並在晚上睡覺前實現它。可以是簡單的任務比如洗盤子或看完兩章推理小說。當你實現目標的時候，你會感覺好一些。

something nice for someone. Doing a nice act for someone can make you feel better, studies have shown. They can be small acts like sending an email to your best friend telling her how much you appreciate her, or making dinner for your partner.

4.爲他人做點兒好事。研究表明，爲他人做好事爲讓人開心。 這些事兒可以是給你的朋友發封電子郵件，告訴她你多麼感激她，或爲伴侶做頓飯.

mber the good. Write out a gratitude list of things that you're grateful for. Noting down a list of things that you are grateful for can renew your appreciation in things that you've been taking for granted. Writing a gratitude list will cause you to put more focus on the positive and less on the negative.

5.記住別人爲你做過的好事。寫一個感激清單，在上面列上你所感激的事情。記下你所感激的事情，會讓你對以前認爲理所當然的事重生感激之情，也會讓你更加關注積極的事情，減少對負面事情的注意。

　　雅思閱讀專項訓練：“防出軌戒指”

說戒指有很多種，比如說老年間老奶奶們喜歡帶的明晃晃金燦燦奪人耳目的金鎦子，有錢富二代娶媳婦求婚買的5克拉大鑽石，或者代表已婚的pt素圈兒。其實無論是什麼戒指都是代表佩戴者已經心有所屬，所以很多已婚出軌的男女都會把戒指偷偷裝起來充鑽石王老五，或者大齡未婚女青年。現在美國就出了這麼一款“防出軌戒指”，在戒指的內側刻上了我“已婚”的字樣。就算偷偷摘下來，手指上也會留下抹不掉的印記!

Your cheatin’ heart may not tell on you, but this wedding ring might. Perfect for today’s promiscuous lifestyles, the Anti-Cheating wedding ring makes sure to display your marital status, even when you take it off。

“With Arnold, Tiger and two timing IMF guy in mind, we have created this wedding ring for people intent on cheating. The negative engraving on the inside means that when you are in the ‘Club’ and an attractive woman… or man comes along to chat, slipping your wedding ring off is not an option. The mark left on your skin says…’I’m Married’。”

Brought to you by The Cheeky, this titanium wedding ring may help keep your cheatin’ heart from straying too far. At least, until the impression disappears… Now this ring is charged $550.