(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
The Brazilian city of Petropolis is known for its 19th century buildings and its Imperial Museum. The museum includes the summer home of Brazil's last ruler, Dom Pedro II.
But many people who live in Petropolis are upset about having to pay a special property tax linked to the country's former rulers.
The tax is known as laudemio. It takes 2.5 percent of the value of real estate deals. The money from the tax goes directly to the descendants of Dom Pedro II, more than one hundred years after he was ousted.
The property tax is an example of social injustice to many of the 300,000 people living in the city.
Brazil is one of the world's most unequal places for property distribution. Almost half of the land is owned by one percent of the population. Experts say laws that were written before Brazil's independence from Portugal worsen the problem.
The tax was established in Brazil by the rulers of Portugal to ensure that land was passed from European settlers to their descendants. In colonial times, Brazil's land was the property of Portugal.
Brazil became a republic in 1889. But the special tax was never cancelled. Many criticize the tax because it continues to earn money for only a few privileged families.
Marco Antonio de Melo Breves is an official with Brazil's federal tax department. He says he does not know how much money is paid each year under the royal property tax or how much it costs the average homeowner.
Breves says payments are generally made through private lawyers who make documents official. He adds that the government does not have information on how many royal descendants are receiving money from people paying the property tax.
Government officials say unclear property ownership and complex land registration policies are problems in Brazil. The Ministry of Cities says half the population cannot prove full legal ownership of their homes.
Ana Paula Bueno is a lawyer with the Land Governance Group at the State University of Campinas. She says removing the special property tax would require many changes to current laws.
Isabela Verleun works at the Imperial Museum of Petropolis. She says that when Brazil created a new constitution in 1988, some people wanted to end the tax.
Their efforts, however, were unsuccessful.
I'm Jonathan Evans.
词汇解析
1.imperial adj.帝国的,皇帝的,皇室的
...the Imperial Palace in Tokyo.
…东京的皇宫 。
2.property n.财产
Richard could easily destroy her personal property to punish her for walking out on him.
理查德可以轻而易举地毁掉她的私有财产作为对她背叛他的惩罚 。
3.real estate n ph.不动产,房地产
By investing in real estate, he was one of the richest men in the United States.
通过投资房地产,他成了美国最富的人之一 。
4.descendant n.后裔,后代
They are descendants of the original English and Scottish settlers.
他们是最初的英格兰和苏格兰移民的后裔 。
内容解析
But many people who live in Petropolis are upset about having to pay a special property tax linked to the country's former rulers.
be upset about 对……坐立不安,对……失望/厌恶/苦恼
What were you upset about or regretting in real life at that time?
现实生活中当时你在烦恼什么或者懊悔什么呢?
Despite this alarming trend, Zhang says she is more upset about the attitude some of these girls have toward early sexual relationships and abortion.
除去这值得敲响警钟的趋势,张医生说,她对一些女生在面对过早的性关系和堕胎时的态度更为不安 。
be linked to... 与……有关,与……链接到一起
As you can see, every WSIL file may have its own services, some of which may in turn be linked to one or more WSIL files.
正如您所看到的,每一个 WSIL 文件都有其自己的服务,其中的一些能被链接到一个或更多的 WSIL 文件中 。
Each of the created entries can be linked to others.
创建的每个条目都能够链接到其他条目 。
参考译文
巴西城市彼得罗波利斯(Petropolis)以其19世纪的建筑及其皇家博物馆而闻名于世
但居住在彼得罗波利斯的很多人对于必须要交与历代统治者有关的一项特定财产税表示不满 。
这项税名为认可税(laudemio) 。它占到房地产交易值的2.5% 。而税费全款将直接交付伯多禄佩德罗二世的后裔手中,即便伯多禄佩德罗二世已经被驱逐出巴西100多年了 。
这项财产税是30万彼得罗波利斯市市民中的很多人遭受的社会不公中的一个实例 。
巴西是世界上财产分配最不平等的国家之一 。几乎一半的土地归占人口1%的人所有 。多名专家表示,巴西在脱离葡萄牙的统治之前所立下的多项法律让不平等现象更为严重 。
认可税是由葡萄牙的统治者规定的,目的是确保土地从欧洲移居者的手中传到他们的后代手中 。在殖民时代,巴西的土地就是葡萄牙人的财产 。
巴西于1889年成为共和国家 。但这项特殊的税费并未取消 。很多人谴责这项税费,因为它只让一些贵族家庭平白受益 。
马尔科(Marco Antonio de Melo Breves)是巴西联邦税务部门的一位工作人员 。马尔科表示,自己已经不知道每年交了多少认可税,也不知道每位纳税人平均交了多少税费 。
马尔科说,税费是通过准备官方税费材料的私人律师缴纳的 。马尔科还补充道,政府并不知道这些皇室后裔从纳税人手中获得税费的信息以及多少 。
政府的多名公职人员表示,不清不楚的财产所有权以及复杂的土地登记政策都是巴西的大问题 。巴西城市部表示,有一半公民无法证明其对自己的房屋有完全的法律所有权 。
安娜(Ana Paula Bueno)是坎皮纳斯州立大学的土地管理组的律师 。安娜表示,要是将认可税取消,就要对现行的法律做很多改动 。
伊莎贝拉(Isabela Verleun)是彼得罗波利斯皇家博物馆的工作人员 。伊莎贝拉表示,早在1988年创立新宪法之时,一些人就想废除认可税 。
不过,他们的努力并未奏效 。
Jonathan Evans为您播报 。
译文为可可英语翻译,未经授权请勿转载!
