① Today cigarette taxes rise for the sixth time in seven years, by 12.5%.

② It is the first in a round of four new increases that will push prices above A$40 ($32) per packet.

③ Prohibitive policies have sharply reduced Australia's smoking rate: at 13%, it is among the lowest in the rich world.

④ Cigarettes are banned indoors and in many outdoor public spaces, and shops must stash them beneath their counters.

⑤ Tobacco giants were most incensed by a pioneering plain-packaging law passed in 2011 that swapped flashy branding? for a uniform font and images of the habit's foul effects—a breach, the companies tried to argue, of intellectual-property rights.

⑥ They sued Australia, in venues from local courts to a UN tribunal.

⑦ But judges rejected every case.

⑧ Plain packets are now sold in Britain and France, and are coming soon to Ireland, Hungary and Slovenia.

⑨ Expect many more countries to follow the pack.

prohibitive /pr?(?)?h?b?t?v/: adj. 禁止的；(價格過高) 令人望而卻步的 (e.g. prohibitive law / policy)

indoors /?n?d??z/: adv. 室內地；在室內

indoor: adj. 室內的

stash /sta?/: vt. 藏匿

incense /??ns?ns/: vt. 激怒

swap /sw?p/: vt. 交換

flashy /?fla?i/: adj. 艷俗的

font /f?nt/: n. 字體

foul /fa?l/: adj. 糟糕的；污穢的；惡心的

breach /bri?t?/: n. 侵犯；侵害；違反

tribunal /tr???bju?n(?)l/ /tr??bju?n(?)l/: n. 仲裁法庭