It took a court to decide whether Pringles are potato chips

江苏徐州七中 彭向梅

题材社会生活 记叙文体裁 篇幅 建议用时377词 7分钟

难词探意

1.controversy /΄kɑːntrəvзːrsi/ n.争论

2.ingredient /ɪn΄ɡriːdiənt/ n.原料

3.judiciary /dʒu΄dɪ∫ieri/ n.司法部；法官

4.exempt /ɪɡ΄zempt/ v.免除；获豁免

5.behemoth /bɪ΄hiːmɒθ/ n.巨头

6.newfangled/ˌnuː΄fæŋɡld/adj.新奇怪异的

Chances are that you probably haven't given much thought to that can of Pringles other than wondering “how can I get the last few potato chips out of the tube without making my arms dirty?”.

As it turns out, this salty snack has quite a story.It once was in the middle of a massivecontroversythat questioned theingredientsand whether the chips were actually potato chips at all.

From 2007 to 2009, the makers of the “once-you-pop-you-can't-stop” chips stood in front of three different levels of the Britishjudiciarytrying to defend the decision that Pringles chips were not—by definition—potato chips.

Here's how this comically complicated problem started.In the mid-20th century, a tax was born called the value-added or VAT tax.This “consumption tax” started off as a 10 percent tax on all goods bought from a business.More than 20 percent of the world's tax income comes from the valueadded tax making it a pretty big deal.

In Britain, most foods areexemptfrom the value-added tax, except for potato chips or “similar products made from the potato, or from potato flour”.This led to a long and hard journey to figure out whether or not Pringles were actually potato chips.If they were ruled as chips, Pringles'parent company at the time, Procter & Gamble, would be subject to a17.5percent VAT tax.

Procter & Gamble's initial argument was that Pringles were not potato chips because they didn't“contain enough potato to have the quality of ‘potatoness’”.They also argued Pringles didn't resemble the shape of a potato chip.

In 2008, a lower British court agreed and ruled that Pringles were in fact not potato chips, mainly because they contained only 42 percent potato and had “a shape not found in nature”.But just a year later, the Court of Appeal re-examined and changed that decision, calling Procter & Gamble's argument that the ingredients of a product didn't define the product “hogwash”.

With that decision, thebehemothcorporation had to pay $160 million in taxes, while—unwillingly—calling theirnewfangledpotato chips, well, potato chips.And that is the story of Pringles and its brief dance with the world of taxes, junk food and British judges.

Reading Check

1.Why is a question raised in the first paragraph?

A.To arouse readers' interest.B.To get the answer from readers.

C.To warn readers of the food safety.D.To remind readers to make full use of food.

2.Why are there arguments over whether Pringles were potato chips?

A.Pringles contain a low percent of potato.

B.The shape of Pringles is quite different from a potato chip.

C.Different taxes will be paid based on different judgments.

D.Different levels of the British judiciary have different opinions.

3.What can we infer from the last two paragraphs?

A.Pringles are potato chips.

B.Pringles are regarded as junk food by British judges.

C.Pringles should pay $160 million in taxes.

D.Pringles chips contain enough potato and flour.

4.What's the author's purpose in writing the text?

A.To show how to make Pringles.

B.To promote Pringles.

C.To explain the strict rules about the tax in Britian.

D.To introduce the story of Pringles with the tax in Britain.

Language Study

Sentence for writing

If they were ruled as chips, Pringles' parent company at the time, Procter & Gamble, would be subject to a 17.5 percent VAT tax.如果品客薯片被裁定为薯片， 品客当时的母公司宝洁公司将要被征收17.5%的增值税。

【信息提取】be subject to 意为“易遭受……的；受……支配”。

【句式仿写】由于有雾，航班可能延误。