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The Wonderful World of Taxes - Reading Comprehension
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The Wonderful World of Taxes Reading Comprehension
     The Wonderful World of Taxes reading comprehension (sample is shown below)

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The Wonderful World of Taxes By Brenda B. Covert

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¹     Ah, the wonderful world of taxes. Wait a minute! Does anyone believe that taxes are wonderful? Well, yes and no. No one really likes to be taxed, but nearly everyone agrees that taxes are important. What is a tax?
 
²     A tax is money that a government collects from people and businesses. Just as it takes money to run a household, it takes money to run a country and provide helpful services to the people. The money pays the wages of elected officials and other employees of the government. It goes toward building new roads and repairing old ones. It also goes to state and national parks, programs to help the needy, the public school system, and our military, among other things. The federal and state governments have set up many different forms of taxation. Wages paid to an employee and other forms of income are taxed. Property owners pay a property tax on land, buildings, and vehicles that they own every year. Buyers often pay a sales tax on goods or services that are purchased. When a person buys a new car, he must pay sales tax on it. The buyer pays an extra amount above the cost of the purchased item. For instance, a 5 percent sales tax on a $1.00 item would bring the total cost to $1.05. A $10.00 item would end up costing $10.50.
 
³     Taxes have been around for thousands of years. The people of ancient Egypt, ancient Rome, and ancient India all paid taxes. However, taxes are a fairly recent development in America's history. In our nation's infancy, taxes were few to none. Taxes were placed on a few items, including sugar and tobacco. To pay for the War of 1812, taxes were placed on gold, silverware, jewelry, and watches. In 1817, those taxes ended. America was supported only by tariffs, a type of tax that other nations had to pay on goods that they sold within our borders. Then in the 1860s came the Civil War. Once again, taxes were created to pay for the cost of a war. This time it was an income tax; anyone who earned an income had to give a portion of it to the government. In the following years, the income tax was dropped, reinstated, and dropped again. Then, in 1913, the income tax was put back in place for good.

Paragraphs 4 to 6:
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