Learn English with the News – Super-rich call for higher taxes on wealthy to pay for Covid-19 recovery

With Coronavirus creating massive unemployment and economic uncertainty for the future, some of the world’s richest people are asking governments to increase taxes on the 1% to help those in need.

The news is a consistent source of entertainment, knowledge and discovery that never ceases to exist and always comes out with more and more material each day. Because it plays such a vital part in our lives and is so important to keep up with, it is without a doubt a piece of your everyday routine that can’t go ignored. Whether it is to understand the ramifications of recent legislation passed, to hear about recent events and grasp the potential consequences to your country, or simply hear about what is happening in other countries in order to compare them to what’s happening in yours, the news is certainly a staple in our lives and the most consistent way to get information. This is why Scrambled Eggs has decided to unite two of your biggest worlds: learning English and keeping up with what is happening in the world. We hope our challenging daily exercises, composed of listening, vocabulary and comprehension exercises in English, will satisfy both of those above worlds in a satisfactory and also entertaining way.

So enough about introductions, let’s get to today’s Learn English with the News topic:

Adapted from this article.

Now that you’ve had a listen, let’s put your knowledge to the test with some of our vocabulary and comprehension exercises:

And that’s it for today’s English lesson, where you can improve your English with the news and current events. Do you have any comments or special requests for us for the next edition of Learn English with the News? Be sure to leave any feedback you have in the comments section below, as we would love to help you on your quest to learn the English language!

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Full Text:

“A group of 83 of the world’s richest people have called on governments to permanently increase taxes on them and other members of the wealthy elite to help pay for the economic recovery from the Covid-19 crisis. The super-rich members, including Ben and Jerry’s ice cream co-founder Jerry Greenfield and Disney heir Abigail Disney, called on governments to raise taxes on people like them immediately, substantially, and permanently. The group warned that the economic impact of the coronavirus crisis will “last for decades” and could “push half a billion more people into poverty”. Among those adding their names to the letter are Sir Stephen Tindall, the founder of the Warehouse Group and New Zealand’s second richest man with a $475m fortune; the British screenwriter and director Richard Curtis; and the Irish venture capitalist John O’Farrell, who made millions investing in Silicon Valley tech companies. The group released the letter ahead of this weekend’s G20 finance ministers and central bank governors meeting. They called on politicians to “address global inequality and acknowledge that tax increases on the wealthy and greater international tax transparency are essential for a viable long-term solution”. The number of super-rich people continues to grow despite the economic impact of the coronavirus crisis and global lockdowns. Jeff Bezos, the world’s richest person and the founder of Amazon, has seen his fortune swell by $75bn so far this year to a record $189bn. There are more than 500,000 people in the world classed as “ultra-wealthy” with fortunes of more than $30m. That means there are more ultra-wealthy people around the world than the populations of Iceland, Malta or Belize. There have been repeated calls for the super-rich to contribute more following the Covid-19 crisis. Critics have pointed out that while Bezos has donated $100m, it represents less than 0.1% of his estimated fortune.”