The value of the death penalty as a deterrent to crime may be open to debate. But the overwhelming majority of citizens believe that the death penalty protects them. Their belief is reinforced by evidence which shows that the death penalty deters murder. For example, from 1954 to 1963, when the death penalty was consistently imposed in California, the murder rate remained between three and four murders for each 100,000 population. Since 1964 the death penalty has been imposed only once, and the murder rate has risen to 10.4 murders for each 100,000 population. The sharp climb in the state’s murder rate, which began when executions stopped, is no coincidence. It is convincing evidence that the death penalty does deter many murderers. If the bill reestablishing the death penalty is vetoed, innocent people will be murdered—some whose lives may have been saved if the death penalty were in effect. This is literally a life or death matter. The lives of thousands of innocent people must be protected. www.89xue.com
52. The principal purpose of this passage is to .
A) speak for the majority B) initiate a veto
C) criticize the government D) argue for the value of the death penalty
53. The author’s response to those who urge the death penalty for all is likely to be .
A) negative B) friendly C) supportive D) hostile
54. According to the Paragraph 4, it can be inferred that .
A) the death penalty is the most controversial issue in the United States today
B) the second type of murderers should be sentenced to death
C) the veto of the bill reestablishing the death penalty is of little importance
D) the value of the death penalty as a deterrent to crime is not to be debated
55. The passage attempts to establish a relationship between .
A) the murder rate and the imposition of the death penalty
B) the effects of execution and the effects of isolation
C) the importance of equal rights and that of the death penalty
D) executions and murders
56. The author’s attitude towards “death penalty” is .
A) opposing B) supporting C) neutral D) sarcastic
Passage Two
Questions 57 to 61 are based on the following passage.
One positive consequence of our current national crisis may be at least a temporary shadow in Hollywood’s culture of violence. Fearful of offending audiences in the wake of the terrorist attack, some moviemakers have postponed the release of film with terrorist themes. Television writers are delaying scripts with warlike and terrorist scenarios (剧本提纲).It is probably good thinking. My local video store tells me nobody is checking out “disaster” movies. Says the manager, “Currently, people want comedy. They want an escape from stories about violence and terrorism.” Similarly, in the music business, there’s a run on patriotic and inspirational tapes and CDs.
According to The New York Times, the self scrutiny among these czars (特权人物) of mass-entertainment taste is unprecedented in scale, sweeping aside hundreds of millions of dollars in projects that no longer seem appropriate. A reasonable concern is that this might be a short term phenomenon. Once life returns to something more normal, will Hollywood return to its bad old ways? The Times offers a glimmer of hope. The industry’s titans (巨头),it suggests, are struggling with much more difficulties, long range questions of what the public will want once the initial shock from the terrorist attacks wears off. Many in the industry admit they do not know where the boundaries of taste and consumer tolerance now lie.
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