国家地理:Inside the IRS 美国国税局

So while the thought of paying taxes can make some of us groan¹, it's unavoidable, and an integral part of being an American.
This is part of being a member of this society. You have an obligation -- it's a price you're paying for living in this society.
Some businesses pay their taxes on a quarterly basis, but the majority of us face one deadline. And some procrastinate² to the bitter end.
Tax forms and checks from across the nation pour into nine IRS processing centers. No surprise that many come in between April 17th and 24th. In 2006, the Fresno Processing Center was inundate³d with more than six million returns during this last-minute rush.
To handle the volume, the IRS steps up from January to May, with more than 30,000 seasonal⁵ employees and they have to get all refund⁶ checks to their rightful owners within 45 days of tax day, or taxpayers⁷ can claim interest.
Incoming mail is sorted and opened, then the checks are deposited; next stop, the Code and Edit Department, where employees check returns for required information and also act as the first line of defense⁸ against tax scams.
Occasionally, there is identified schemes which criminal investigation⁹ make(s) us aware of, and they put us on the alert to look for certain things.
Employees keep an eye out for handwritten W-2s that can sometimes be fake, and other red flags like returns with the same addresses, social security numbers, incomes and multiple refunds¹⁰.
Sometimes returns get flagged for other reasons, even before they are opened. Sometimes the flags can be potentially dangerous.
Since April 17th, we've had 11 potentially hazardous¹¹ situations where we evacuate¹²d our employees.
Bomb-sniffing dogs inspect each crate¹⁴ of mail twice -- once outside and again inside. Luckily, nothing suspicious is detected in this batch¹⁵.
The types of things that normally come in are mainly prank¹⁶ things. Nothing really serious has come into this center yet, even though we take all these precautions. A lot of it is flour, coffee, sugar, sometimes they do have a threatening note attached, threatening letters, you know, describing what they don't want their taxes spent on.
Director Frederick Hodge has also seen his share of oddities over the past 30 years.
Well, we've had everything coming in from brown sugar to dust out of the vacuum cleaner to people spreading mustard on check, now, that check is processible, we just wipe them off and send it to the bank.


procrastinate: (v.) To put off doing something, especially out of habitual¹⁷ carelessness or laziness. 推迟拖延做某事
inundate: (v.) To cover with water, especially floodwaters. 淹没
step up: (v.) Increase, especially in stages 加紧
red flag: (n.) A warning signal.
evacuate: (v.) To withdraw or send away (troops or inhabitants) from a threatened area. 撤离
prank: (n.) A mischievous¹⁸ trick or practical joke. 恶作剧恶

1 groan   

vi./n.呻吟，抱怨；(发出)呻吟般的声音

参考例句：

• The wounded man uttered a groan.那个受伤的人发出呻吟。
• The people groan under the burden of taxes.人民在重税下痛苦呻吟。

2 procrastinate   

v.耽搁，拖延

参考例句：

• Most often we procrastinate when faced with something we do not want to do.面对不想做的事情，我们经常拖延。
• It's easy to procrastinate when the deadline seems infinitely far away.当最终期限总是遥遥无期时是很容易延期的。

3 inundate   

vt.淹没，泛滥，压倒

参考例句：

• If the dam breaks,it will inundate large parts of the town.如果水坝坍塌，该城的大部分将被淹没。
• The course changes frequently,and the area is so flat that a small change in the level of the river may inundate a considerable area.河道变化多端，下游地区却很平坦，水位少许上涨河流就会淹没一大片土地。

4 inundated   

v.淹没( inundate的过去式和过去分词 )；（洪水般地）涌来；充满；给予或交予（太多事物）使难以应付

参考例句：

• We have been inundated with offers of help. 主动援助多得使我们应接不暇。
• We have been inundated with every bit of information imaginable. 凡是想得到的各种各样的信息潮水般地向我们涌来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 seasonal   

adj.季节的，季节性的

参考例句：

• The town relies on the seasonal tourist industry for jobs.这个城镇依靠季节性旅游业提供就业机会。
• The hors d'oeuvre is seasonal vegetables.餐前小吃是应时蔬菜。

6 refund   

v.退还，偿还；n.归还，偿还额，退款

参考例句：

• They demand a refund on unsatisfactory goods.他们对不满意的货品要求退款。
• We'll refund your money if you aren't satisfied.你若不满意，我们愿意退款给你。

7 taxpayers   

纳税人，纳税的机构( taxpayer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Finance for education comes from taxpayers. 教育经费来自纳税人。
• She was declaiming against the waste of the taxpayers' money. 她慷慨陈词猛烈抨击对纳税人金钱的浪费。

8 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

9 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

10 refunds   

n.归还，偿还额，退款( refund的名词复数 )v.归还，退还( refund的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Tomorrow he would return them to the store and claim refunds. 明天他要把它们退还给商店并要求退款。 来自辞典例句
• The new method means that taxpayers get refunds much faster. 这种新办法意味着纳税人可以较快地领到退还款。 来自辞典例句

11 hazardous   

adj.(有)危险的，冒险的；碰运气的

参考例句：

• These conditions are very hazardous for shipping.这些情况对航海非常不利。
• Everybody said that it was a hazardous investment.大家都说那是一次危险的投资。

12 evacuate   

v.遣送；搬空；抽出；排泄；大(小)便

参考例句：

• We must evacuate those soldiers at once!我们必须立即撤出这些士兵！
• They were planning to evacuate the seventy American officials still in the country.他们正计划转移仍滞留在该国的70名美国官员。

13 evacuated   

撤退者的

参考例句：

• Police evacuated nearby buildings. 警方已将附近大楼的居民疏散。
• The fireman evacuated the guests from the burning hotel. 消防队员把客人们从燃烧着的旅馆中撤出来。

14 crate   

vt.(up)把…装入箱中；n.板条箱，装货箱

参考例句：

• We broke open the crate with a blow from the chopper.我们用斧头一敲就打开了板条箱。
• The workers tightly packed the goods in the crate.工人们把货物严紧地包装在箱子里。

15 batch   

n.一批(组，群)；一批生产量

参考例句：

• The first batch of cakes was burnt.第一炉蛋糕烤焦了。
• I have a batch of letters to answer.我有一批信要回复。

16 prank   

n.开玩笑，恶作剧；v.装饰；打扮；炫耀自己

参考例句：

• It was thought that the fire alarm had been set off as a prank.人们认为火警报警器响是个恶作剧。
• The dean was ranking the boys for pulling the prank.系主任正在惩罚那些恶作剧的男学生。

17 habitual   

adj.习惯性的；通常的，惯常的

参考例句：

• He is a habitual criminal.他是一个惯犯。
• They are habitual visitors to our house.他们是我家的常客。

18 mischievous   

adj.调皮的，恶作剧的，有害的，伤人的

参考例句：

• He is a mischievous but lovable boy.他是一个淘气但可爱的小孩。
• A mischievous cur must be tied short.恶狗必须拴得短。