1. TASK: Insert the appropriate word in the text below:
benefits - chunk - cutoff - earners
exceed - outlook - squeeze - subject
beginning of the text here>>>
High ________ who chafe at this development can take comfort in the fact that the increase makes it marginally more likely that Social Security will be able to pay their ________. According to the Social Security Board of Trustees' 2016 annual report, the program's costs will ________ its income beginning in 2020. By 2034, it will be necessary either to slash all benefits by 21%, raise the payroll tax rate by 3.58 percentage points, or some combination of the two approaches. The demographic ________ is a well-known contributor to this grim ________: there were 3.2 to 3.4 workers contributing to Social Security's coffers per beneficiary from 1974 to 2008; by 2035 the ratio is expected to fall to 2.2.
But there is another, less well-known reason for Social Security's troubles. The rise in income inequality has not been kind to a program that only taxes a limited ________ of income. The percentage of workers who make more than the ________ has not changed significantly – it is currently around 6% – but the proportion of the nation's income that is ________ to OASDI taxes has fallen from 90.0% in 1983 to 82.7% in 2014, as a greater share of the nation's income goes to that cohort.
2. CHECK YOUR SPEAKING
|
benefits |
[ ˈben.ɪ.fɪt ] |
вигоди |
|
chunk |
[ tʃʌŋk ] |
кусок, большая часть |
|
cutoff |
[ ˈkʌt.ɒf ] |
відсічка (значення, після якого не діє правило) |
|
earners |
[ ˈɜː.nər ] |
отримувач доходу |
|
exceed |
[ ɪkˈsiːd ] |
перевищувати |
|
outlook |
[ ˈaʊt.lʊk ] |
прогноз, перспективна оцінка |
|
squeeze |
[ skwiːz ] |
витискати |
|
subject |
[ ˈsʌbdʒɪkt ] |
підлягати |
3. SEE CORRECT ANSWER
beginning of the text here>>>
High earners who chafe at this development can take comfort in the fact that the increase makes it marginally more likely that Social Security will be able to pay their benefits. According to the Social Security Board of Trustees' 2016 annual report, the program's costs will exceed its income beginning in 2020. By 2034, it will be necessary either to slash all benefits by 21%, raise the payroll tax rate by 3.58 percentage points, or some combination of the two approaches. The demographic squeeze is a well-known contributor to this grim outlook: there were 3.2 to 3.4 workers contributing to Social Security's coffers per beneficiary from 1974 to 2008; by 2035 the ratio is expected to fall to 2.2.
But there is another, less well-known reason for Social Security's troubles. The rise in income inequality has not been kind to a program that only taxes a limited chunk of income. The percentage of workers who make more than the cutoff has not changed significantly – it is currently around 6% – but the proportion of the nation's income that is subject to OASDI taxes has fallen from 90.0% in 1983 to 82.7% in 2014, as a greater share of the nation's income goes to that cohort.
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в підручнику “Practical Financial English”
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