(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
Irish Court Finds US Company’s Bread… Isn’t Bread
The highest court in Ireland has ruled that bread sold by an American fast-food restaurant cannot be legally defined as bread. The court said Subway restaurant's bread contains so much sugar that it failed to meet the legal definition of the food product.
The ruling came in a tax dispute brought by Bookfinders Limited, which operates Subway restaurants in Ireland.
Bread is one of the world's most popular foods. It is made from a mixture of flour, water and yeast, which causes the bread to expand when heated.
Bookfinders had argued that some of its takeaway, or take-out, products should not be subject to a value-added tax. The list of products included hot drinks, such as tea and coffee, and heated sandwiches.
Ireland's Supreme Court rejected the company's appeal. Its judges ruled that the bread sold by Subway contains too much sugar to be considered a "staple food."
A staple food is something that is eaten all the time and part of many people's diets. Such foods are not subject to the value-added taxed.
"There is no dispute that the bread supplied by Subway in its heated sandwiches has a sugar content of 10% of the weight of the flour included in the dough, and thus exceeds the 2% specified," the court said.
The law notes a difference between "bread as a staple food" and other baked goods "which are, or approach...fancy baked goods," the judgement read.
Subway disagreed with the court's findings in a statement.
"Subway's bread is, of course, bread," the company said in an email. "We have been baking fresh bread in our restaurants for more than three decades and our guests return each day for sandwiches made on bread that smells as good as it tastes."
Bookfinders was appealing a 2006 decision by officials who refused to return value-added tax payments to the company. Lower courts had dismissed the case before it reached the Supreme Court.
Subway said last week it was studying the latest tax ruling.
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重点解析
1.ruling n.裁决
Goodwin tried to have the court ruling overturned.
古德温想推翻法院作出的裁决。
2.statement n.声明
The statement by the military denied any involvement in last night's attack.
军方发表声明称其和昨晚的袭击无任何关系。
3.appealing adj.吸引人的
She has a child-like innocence which I find very appealing.
她有一种我觉得很吸引人的孩子般的天真。
4.dough n.面团
I added a little milk to mix the dough to the right consistency.
我加了一点儿牛奶，好让面团稠度适中。
5.It is made from a mixture of flour, water and yeast.
a mixture of ...混合
He has used a mixture of mosaic, collage and felt-tip pen.
他混合使用了马赛克、拼贴画和毡头笔。
The flowerbeds brim with a mixture of lilies and roses.
花坛里长满了百合和玫瑰。
6.Bookfinders had argued that some of its takeaway, or take-out, products should not be subject to a value-added tax.
value-added tax 增值税
Value-added tax has great effect on investing of fixed assets.
增值税对固定资产投资有很大的影响。
The rate of value-added tax in Britain went up from 17.5% to 20%.
在英国，商品增值税从17.5%调高到20%。
参考译文
爱尔兰法院裁定赛百味面包不合法
爱尔兰最高法院裁定，美国某快餐店出售的面包并非法律定义的面包。该法院表示，赛百味餐厅的面包含糖量太多，不符合面包这类食品的法律定义。
这项裁决是针对在爱尔兰经营赛百味餐厅的簿记有限公司引起的税务纠纷。
面包是世界上最受欢迎的食物之一。它是由面粉、水和酵母混合制成。酵母加热后会使面包变得蓬松。
簿记公司认为，它提供的一些外卖或外带食品不应该征收增值税。外带食品包括热饮，如茶和咖啡，以及热三明治。
爱尔兰最高法院驳回了该公司的上诉。法院裁定，赛百味出售的面包含糖量过多，不能被定义为“主食”。
主食是指人们经常吃的食物，是许多人饮食的一部分。这类食品不征收增值税。
法院称：“赛百味提供的热三明治中的面包含糖量是面团里面粉重量的10%——超过了规定的2%，这一点毫无争议。”
裁决中写道，法律规定“面包作为主食”和其他烘焙食品“诸如或类似于高档烘焙食品”之间的区别。
赛百味在一份声明中表示不接受法庭的判决结果。
该公司在一封电子邮件中表示，“赛百味面包当然是面包”。“三十多年来，我们餐厅一直烘焙新鲜面包，顾客每天都来买面包做的美味三明治。”
簿记公司对2006年官方拒绝退还其增值税的决定提出上诉。下级法院驳回了此案并未提交至最高法院。
赛百味上周表示，正在研究最新的税收规定。
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译文为可可英语翻译，未经授权请勿转载！
