With the possible exception of equal rights, perhaps the most heated argument across the United States today is the death penalty (死刑). Many argue that it is an effective deterrent (威慑) to murder(谋杀), while others think there is no enough proof that the death penalty reduces the number of murders. The argument advanced by those who are against the death penalty is that it is cruel and inhuman punishment, that it is a mark of a bad society and finally that it is of questionable effectiveness as a deterrent (威慑物) to crime (罪行) anyway.
In our opinion, the death penalty is a necessary action. Throughout recorded history there have always been those peculiar persons in every society who made terrible crimes such as murder. But some are more dangerous than others. For example, it is one thing to take the life of another in time of blind anger, but quite another to coldly plan 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 different degree. While it could be argued with some reason that the criminal in the first instance should be merely kept 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 discussion. But the majority of people believe that the death penalty protects them. Their belief is proved by the fact that the death penalty prevents murder. For example, from 1954 to 1963, when the death penalty was carried out from time to time in California, the murder rate remained between three and four murders for each 100, 000 population. Since 1964 the death penalty has been done only once, and the murder rate has risen to10.4 murders for each 100, 000 population. The sharp climb in the state's murder rate, which began when killings stopped, does not happen by chance. It certainly shows that the death penalty does stop many murderers. If the law about death penalty is vetoed (否决), some people will be murdered----some whose lives may have been saved if the death penalty were in effect. This is really a life or death matter. The lives of thousands of people must be protected.
【小题1】The main purpose of this passage is to _________.

A.speak for the majority
B.argue against the value of the death penalty
C.speak ill of the government
D.argue for the value of the death penalty
【小题2】Which of the following is among the heated arguments across the USA besides death penalty?
A.Air pollution.B.The war against Iraq.
C.Equal rights.D.Election of president.
【小题3】The numbers in the last paragraph show that ______.
A.if they stick to death penalty, the number of murders will be reduced
B.death penalty almost stopped from 1954 to 1963
C.the population of California has risen
D.death penalty is of little value
【小题4】It can be inferred that the writer thinks that ______.
A.the death penalty is the most important problem in the United States today
B.the second type of murderers (in Paragraph 2) should be sentenced to death
C.the veto of the law about death penalty is of little importance
D.the value of the death penalty as a deterrent to crime is not to be discussed

New crime prediction software should reduce not only the murder rate, but the rate of other crimes. Developed by Richard Berk, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania, the software has already used in Baltimore and Philadelphia to predict which individuals on probation(缓刑) or parole(假释) are most likely to murder and to be murdered.

????? “When a person goes on probation or parole he is supervised(监督) by an officer. The question is ‘what level of supervision is appropriate?’” said Berk. It used to be that parole officers used the person’s criminal record, and their judgment to make decisions.

??? “This research replaces those seat-of-the –pants calculations,” he said.

??? Technology helps determine level of supervision. On average there is one murder for every 100,000 people. Even among high-risk groups the murder rate is one in 100. Predicting such a rare event is very difficult, but advances in computer technology works.

?? Years ago, the researchers made a dataset of more than 60,000 various crimes. Using the software they developed, they found some much more likely to commit murder when paroled or probated. They could identify eight future murderers out of 100.

??? Berk’s software examines roughly two dozen variables(可变因素), from criminal record to geographic location. The type of crimes, and more importantly, the age at which that crime was committed, were two of the most predictive variables.

???? “People assume that if someone murdered then they will murder in the future,” said Berk. “ What really matters is what that person did as a young individual. Predicting future crimes sounds well. But we aren’t anywhere near being able to do that.”

???? “Berk’s scientific answer leaves policymakers with difficult questions. By labeling one group of people as high risk, and supervise them closely, there should be fewer murders, which the potential victims should be happy about. It also means that those high-risk individuals will be supervised more aggressively. For human rights advocates, that means punishing people who, most likely, will not commit a crime in the future,” said Bushway. “It comes down to a question of whether you would rather make these errors or those errors.”

1.The underlined words(in Para.3) probably mean___.?

A. calculations based on subjective opinions?????

B. calculations based on widespread voting

C. calculations made by advanced technology????

D. calculations based on serious considering

2.For 650 people with crime records, how many potential murderers would the software find?

A. 6.5.?????? ????????????? ????????????? ????????????? B. 13.??????? ????????????? ????????????? C. 52.??? ????????????? ????????????? ????????????? D. 65.

3.From Para 7, we can infer that______.

A. the technology developed by Richard Berk will soon be widely used in the US

B. the technology would not be widely accepted in the short term

C. whether a person murders or not largely decided by his upbringing while young

D. if a person murdered when he was fifty, he is sure to murder again while on probation

4.Bushway’s attitude to the technology put forward by Richard Berk is ____.

A. positive???? ????????????? ????????????? B. negative?? ????????????? ????????????? C. objective??? ????????????? ????????????? D. indifferent

5.Which would be the best title for the passage?

A. Closely Supervise Potential Murders?????????

B. Measures Taken to Prevent Criminal Behavior

C. Technology Revolutionizes Judges’ Way of Working????

D. Software is Developed to Predict Criminal Behavior

 

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