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.

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

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.

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

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

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　　On Thursday afternoon Mrs Clarke locked the door and went to the women's club as usual. It was a pleasant way of passing time 1 an old woman who lived 2 .

　　When she came home she sensed something 3 . Had someone got in? The back door and the windows were all 4 and there was no 5 of forced entry. Had anything been taken? She went from room to room, 6 and found her camera and spare watch 7 .

　　The following Thursday she went out at her 8 time, but didn't go to the club. 9 she took a short walk in a park nearby and came home, 10 herself in through the back door. She settled down to wait and see what would 11 .

　　It was 4 o'clock when the front doorbell rang. Mrs Clarke was 12 tea at the time. The bell rang again, and 13 she heard her letterbox being pushed open. 14 the kettle of boiling water, she moved quietly towards the door. A piece of wire appeared through the letter-box, and then a 15 . The wire turned and caught around the knob on the doorlock. Mrs Clarke raised the kettle and 16 the water over the hand. 17 was heard outside as the wire fell to the floor and the hand was pulled back, which was 18 by the sound of running feet.

　　It wasn't long 19 the police caught the thief. And Mrs Clarke was greatly admired at the club for her successful 20 .

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Bill Javis took over our village news-agency at a time of life when most of us only want to relax. He just thought he would like something but not too much to do, and the news-agency was ready-made. The business produced little enough for him, but Bill was a man who only wanted the simplicity and order and regularity of the job. He had been a long-serving sailor, and all his life had done everything by the clock.

Every day he opened his shop at six a.m. to catch the early trade; the papers arrived on his door-step before that. Many of Bill’s customers were city workers, and the shop was convenient for the station. Business was tailing off by 10 o’clock, so at eleven sharp Bill closed for lunch. It was hard luck on anybody who wanted a paper or magazine in the afternoon, for most likely Bill would be down on the river bank, fishing, and his nearest competitor was five kilometers away. Sometime in the afternoon, the evening paper landed on the doormat, and at 4 o’clock Bill reopened. The evening rush lasted till seven, and it was worthwhile.

He lived in a flat above the shop, alone. Except in the very bad weather, you always knew where to find him in the afternoon, as I have said. Once, on a sunny afternoon, I walked home along the river bank from a shopping trip to the village. By my watch it was three minutes past four, so I was astonished to see Bill sitting there on his little chair with a line in the water. He had had no luck, I could see, but he was making no effort to move.

“What’s wrong, Bill?” I called out from the path.

For answer, he put a hand in his jacket and took out a big, golden object. For a moment I had no idea what it could be, and then it suddenly went off with a noise like a fire engine. Stopping the bell, Bill held the thing up and called back, “Ten to four, you see, and this is dead right.”

I had never known anyone carrying a brass alarm clock round with him before.

1．Bill opened the shop so early in the day because ___________.

A．he liked to do as much as possible before he went to work

B．the shop had to be open when the morning papers came

C．he was never sure of the time

D．it was then that he did a lot of business

2．You might say “hard luck” to someone who __________.

A．has just heard some very good news

B．is less fortunate than he or she ought to be

C．puts great effort into whatever he or she tries

D．fails through his or her own fault entirely

3．On that sunny afternoon, the writer was surprised when he saw Bill because ________.

A．he thought it was late for Bill to be still fishing

B．he thought Bill was ill, since he was not moving at all

C．Bill had not caught anything, and that seemed strange

D．Bill stayed in his flat

4．From the information given in the passage, who or what do you think was wrong?

A．The bell was; it must have gone off at the wrong time.

B．Bill was; he had dropped off to sleep.

C．The writer’s watch was fast.

D．Bill’s clock was wrong; it was very old.