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Section B
Directions: There are 2 passages in this section. Each passage is followed by some questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A),B),C) and D).You should decide on the best choice and mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the centre.
Passage one
Questions 52 to 56 are based on the following passage.
With the possible exception of equal rights, perhaps the most controversial issue across the United States today is the death penalty. Many argue that it is an effective deterrent (威慑) to murder, while others maintain there is no convincing evidence that the death penalty reduces the number of murders.
The principal argument advanced by those opposed to the death penalty, basically, is that it is cruel and inhuman punishment, which is the mark of a brutal society, and finally that it is of questionable effectiveness as a deterrent to crime anyway.
In our opinion, the death penalty is a necessary evil. Throughout recorded history there have always been those extreme individuals in every society who were capable of terribly violent crimes such as murder. But some are more extreme than others.
For example, it is one thing to take the life of another in a fit of blind rage, but quite another to coldly plot and carry out the murder of one or more people in the style of a butcher. Thus, murder, like all other crimes, is a matter of relative degree. While it could be argued with some conviction that the criminal in the first instance should be merely isolated from society, such should not be the fate of the latter type murderer.
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.
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.
This is an opportunity for some of us to suggest to Hollywood where that boundary of consumer tolerance is, especially those of us who have not yet convinced Hollywood to cease its descent into ever lower of the dumbness of our young.
The nonprofit Parents Television Council, which monitors the quality of TV programming, says in its latest report that today’s TV shows are more laced than ever with vulgarities, sexual immorality, crudities, violence, and foul language. The traditional family hour between 8p.m.and 9p.m., when the networks used to offer programs for the entire family, has disappeared. The problem looks like it will get worse.
That certainly looked to be the case before the Sept.11th assault. One pre attack New York Times story reported that TV producers were crusading (讨伐) for scripts that include every crude word imaginable. The struggles between net-work censors and producers, according to the report, were “growing more intense”. Producers like Aaron Sorkin of “The West Wing” planned to keep pushing hard. He was quoted as saying,“There’s absolutely no reason why we can’t use the language of adulthood in programs that are about adults”.
My guess is that a lot of adults don’t use the language Mr. Sorkin wants to use, and don’t enjoy having their children hear it. At this moment of crisis in our nation’s history, thought has become more thoughtful, prayerful, and spiritual. It may be the time to tell the entertainment industry that we want not a temporary pause in the flow of tastelessness, but a long term clean-up.
57. Some filmmakers hesitate to release new films with violent content because ______.
A) they want to show themselves to be patriots
B) they are afraid such films may anger audiences
C) films with violence in them are no longer popu1ar
D) films with terrorist themes are reflections on violence.
58. The “self-scrutiny” in the second paragraph refers to filmmakers attempt to ______.
A) produce appropriate films with no violent content for the audiences
B) prevent themselves from slipping into their old bad ways
C) understand to what extent their films have contributed to the national crisis
D) find out where the boundaries of taste and consumer tolerance lie
59. The author thinks that it is time for the general audience to ______.
A) tell filmmakers where the boundaries of their taste lie
B) point out to Hollywood how bad their films are
C) accuse the filmmakers of desensitizing their children
D) ask filmmakers to make films that reflect traditional family life
60. Which of the following statements is TRUE about Aaron Sorkin?
A) He is strongly against using crude language in films.
B) He starts the struggles between network censors and producer.
C) He insists no restraint be set to the language used in films.
D) He believes that it is time to clean up the entertainment industry.
61. The author’s purpose in writing this passage is ______.
A) to acknowledge the current practice of the entertainment industry
B) to show his admiration for the current practice of the entertainment industry
C) to accuse the entertainment industry of their current practice
D) to show tolerance of the current practice of the entertainment industry
