本期精读的文章选自The Economist一篇对于英国燃油税的报道Running on empty

目前英国机动车税的大头来自于燃油税，但随着人们逐渐转向电动汽车和混合动力车，传统的汽油车使用会大大减少，燃油税收在未来也面临枯竭的风险。为了增加税收，政府正在探索新的税种，比如交通拥堵税。

这篇文章很短，一共只有351词，我选取了全文进行分析：

开头段介绍背景：英国每年征收的机动车税中有很大一部分来自于燃油税，但随着车主逐渐转向电动车以及混合动力车，燃油税的税收减少，经济学家们正在重新思考征税方式。

Motoring taxes raise nearly £40bn ($49bn) a year, or about 5% of Britain’s total tax revenue. Nearly 70% of that comes from duty on fuel, levied partly to deter consumers from using too much of the stuff.

机动车税每年可征收近400亿英镑（490亿美元），约占英国税收总额的5％。机动车税中近70％来自燃油税，而征收燃油税部分原因是为了阻止消费者过多使用燃油。

这两句话中涉及到一些跟“收税”相关的表达。raise意思是“筹集（金钱）”（to bring or collect money together），比如：The Trust hopes to raise $1 million to buy land. 这家信托机构希望能筹集到一百万美元购置土地。

duty在这里意思是“税”，比如customs / excise / import duties 关税/消费税/进口税，要表达“征税”可以用动词levy，比如：a new tax levied on all electrical goods 对所有电器商品都征收的一种新税

Yet as drivers take the hint and switch to electric and hybrid vehicles, the government faces a problem in the form of falling tax revenues.

然而，随着司机领会政府的指示转向电动车和混合动力车，政府面临着税收减少的问题。

take the hint是一个固定搭配，意思是“领会暗示”（to understand a hint and act on it），in the form of something 是很好用的一个写作表达，意思是“以……的形式（表达出现）”，它可以用来强调in the form of后面所接的对象。举个例子，“有两名警察赶过来支援”，可以说：

Two police officers arrived to offer help.

如果要强调是这两名警察提供了帮助，我们可以使用该短语写成：

Help arrived in the form of two police officers.

同理，原文…the government faces a problem in the form of falling tax revenues. 也是使用该短语来强调税收减少这一问题。

第二段补充说明燃油税在未来会进一步降低的事实。

On October 8th the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS), a think-tank, warned that over £33bn could all but disappear as cars become more fuel-efficient or go electric.

财政研究所这一智囊团在10月8日警告说，随着汽车变得更加省油或者走向电动化，超过330亿英镑（税收）会几近消失。

all but是一个固定搭配，意思相当于almost，例如：Britain's coal industry has all but disappeared. 英国的煤炭工业几乎已经消失。

Revenue from fuel duty has already dropped from 2.2% of GDP in 2000 to 1.3% today (partly because duty has fallen in real terms). This decline is expected to continue as the government aims for “net zero” carbon emissions by 2050.

燃油税收入已从2000年占GDP的2.2％下降到今天的1.3％（部分原因是实际税收下降了）。随着政府致力于在2050年实现“净零”碳排放，这一下降趋势预计还将继续。

in real/absolute terms是一个在金融类题材中经常会出现的短语，意思是“实际上”，例如：Rail fares have fallen 17 percent in real terms. 火车票价实际上降低了17%。

第三段介绍了开车会对社会带来的各种成本。

Ministers could simply raise money by taxing other things, of course. But taxes are also a way of discouraging behaviour that imposes costs on society, and driving has plenty of these.

部长们当然可以简单地通过对其它东西征税来筹集资金，但对于那些给社会增加成本的行为，税收也是减少这些行为的一种方式。驾驶行为就会给社会带来不少成本。

句子最后省略了costs，相当于…and driving has plenty of these costs.

…taxes are a way of discouraging behaviour that imposes costs on society, and XX has plenty of these. 这句话可以用在与政府征税相关的话题中，比如有这样一道题目：

Should the government impose a tax on junk food?

如果你赞同题目观点，可以说：

I believe that the government should levy a tax on junk food, because taxes are a way of discouraging behaviour that imposes costs on society, and eating junk food has plenty of these.

Beyond emissions, they include accidents, noise and congestion. The latter is much the biggest, accounting for 80% of motoring’s total cost to society, according to the IFS. 

除了尾气排放之外，这些成本还包括交通事故，噪音和交通拥堵，而交通拥堵是最大的一项成本。根据财政研究所的数据，它占到了驾车行为对社会总成本的80%。

Last year British drivers wasted an average of 178 hours in traffic, costing them £1,317 each in time that could have been spent on work or leisure.

去年英国司机平均浪费了178小时在交通拥堵上，相当于每人损失了1317英镑价值的时间，而这些时间本来可以用在工作或者娱乐上。

...that could have been spent on...用到了虚拟语气，意思是“XX本来可以被用在……”。举个例子，电子游戏占据了很多本来可以用在工作或休息的时间，我们可以说：

Playing video games takes up a great deal of time that could have been spent on work or rest.

结尾段介绍了应对燃油税减少的解决方案：征收交通拥堵税。

Drivers already pay a fee of £11.50 to enter a 34-square-kilometre zone in central London during peak times.

司机在高峰时段进入伦敦市中心一个34平方公里的区域已经需要支付11.50英镑的费用。

Other places have come up with even more sophisticated ways to tax drivers. In Singapore they are charged for where and when they go, their movements tracked by a gadget fitted in their car.

其他地方也想出了更复杂的方法来向司机征税。在新加坡司机要根据他们出行的时间和地点来交税，因为他们车上安装有一个可以追踪运动轨迹的小工具。

…their movements tracked by a gadget fitted in their car 这一部分是独立主格结构，用于对句子进行补充说明。

As taxes on fuel dry up, expect more levies on congestion.

随着燃油税收枯竭，接下来会有更多针对拥堵的征税。

dry up可以指水源、燃油等枯竭，也可以指资金用完，短语在这里用得很贴切，它不仅能表达出税收枯竭的意思，还符合本文的语境。

…expect more levies on congestion 相当于一个祈使句用法，句子也可以写成：

As taxes on fuel dry up, (we should) expect more levies on congestion.

今天我们学习了以下几个重点句型和表达：

(1) in the form of

(2) all but

(3) …taxes are a way of discouraging behaviour that imposes costs on society, and XX has plenty of these. 

(4) ...that could have been spent on...

感兴趣的同学可以使用这些句型造句以加深印象。