Hi Shraddha,
Our first objective is to reduce the amount of pollution, and our second objective is to boost the manufacturing industry. If a significant amount of pollution is caused by vehicle scrapping, it accentuates the pollution and reduces the likelihood of scrapping vehicles {to avoid pollution}. This means that fewer vehicles are scrapped, and consequently, the manufacturing sector takes the hit because people are more likely to continue using their old vehicles. Thus, both objectives are heavily undermined if Option B is true. I hope this helps!

Hi,
In this context of cigarette taxation, the tax base means the number of people who are consuming cigarettes and thus contributing to tax revenue. In the passage, the idea is that reducing duties (or taxes) on cigarettes could increase the number of people who choose to smoke cigarettes rather than other forms of tobacco. As more people shift to cigarette smoking, the total number of individuals who are taxed on cigarettes grows. The idea is that this expansion in the number of cigarette consumers would result in an increased total tax revenue from cigarettes, even if the tax rate per cigarette is lowered. I hope this helps!

ok thank you

Glad it helped!