四、閱讀測驗
Four years ago, PepsiCo began rolling out a wellness program that charges its employees $50 a month if
they smoke or have obesity-related medical problems such as diabetes, hypertension, and high blood pressure.
Workers can avoid the surcharge if they attend classes to learn how to break their nicotine addictions or lose
weight. When about 400 unionized PepsiCo bottlers and truck drivers in central New York learned early last year
they’d be subject to the fee, they rebelled. It’s a “sin tax,” says Ozzie Martucci, secretary-treasurer of Teamsters
Local 669 in Albany. “We’re against that type of tax, frankly. It feels wrong.”
PepsiCo opposes so-called sin taxes when it comes to levying them on its own products— an idea Congress
floated in 2009 as a way to pay for health-care reform. Thirty states introduced legislation for soda taxes meant to
improve residents’ health and close budget gaps. PepsiCo spent at least $17 million on lobbying and advertising
to battle the proposals from 2009 to 2011, according to the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a
Washington advocacy group. In the end, none of the taxes passed. “Most rational people understand that one
product is not the cause of obesity,” says DeCecco. “It’s caused by a multitude of factors.”
The soda maker doesn’t think of its $50 assessment as a sin tax. Says DeCecco: “What company wouldn’t
want a healthy, engaged workforce?”
【題組】47. Under what situation will a PepsiCo employee NOT be charged with the fee of $50?
(A) When an employee smokes (B) When an employee is on a diet
(C) When an employee has cardiovascular diseases (D) When an employee refuses to attend weight-loss classes
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