【每日晨读金融时报】1Aug2025 英语口语听力 附原文及实用单词短语

Cap­ital gains tax changes back­fire

Efforts to increase rev­en­ues from cap­ital gains tax have back­fired, with receipts plum­met­ing in the wake of big cuts in allow­ances.

The gov­ern­ment’s CGT take fell 18 per cent to £12.1bn in 2023-24, even as the annual tax-free allow­ance was halved from £12,300 to £6,000, accord­ing to data from HM Rev­enue & Cus­toms.

Sep­ar­ate pro­vi­sional fig­ures — cal­cu­lated using a dif­fer­ent meth­od­o­logy by HMRC — indic­ated a fur­ther 10 per cent drop in CGT receipts in 2024-25.

The fig­ures under­score the grow­ing chal­lenge for chan­cel­lor Rachel Reeves as she seeks to plug a mult­i­bil­lion pound gap in the pub­lic fin­ances.

“It’s a clas­sic example of tweak­ing a tax in order to raise more money — and then end­ing up with less in the short term,” said Sarah Coles, head of per­sonal fin­ance at Har­greaves Lans­down. “There’s a decent chance that an awful lot of investors are just sit­ting on gains.”

CGT — which is levied on profits made when assets such as busi­nesses, second homes and shares are sold — is often described by advisers as a vol­un­tary tax, since indi­vidu­als can choose when to trig­ger a sale that res­ults in a tax bill.

1. backfire

词性：动词（不及物）
意思：适得其反；本意是想达成某种目的，结果反而产生了负面后果
常见用法：计划/政策/行动 backfire（失败或产生反效果）

例句：

The company’s marketing campaign backfired and led to a public boycott.
这家公司的营销活动适得其反，引发了公众抵制。

2. plummet

词性：动词（不及物）
意思：暴跌、急剧下降（尤指价格、数字、温度、信任度等）
常见同义词：collapse, drop sharply, tumble
常见搭配：plummet by... / plummet to...

例句：

Shares in the tech giant plummeted by 30% after the earnings report disappointed investors.
这家科技巨头的股价在财报令投资者失望后暴跌了30%。

3. in the wake of

词性：介词短语
意思：紧随……之后；作为……的结果
语境：通常指在重大事件、灾难、变革之后发生的事情（常有负面含义）

例句：

In the wake of the scandal, the minister resigned.
丑闻发生后，该部长辞职了。

In the wake of the financial crisis, banks tightened lending rules.
金融危机之后，银行收紧了贷款规定。