题目内容
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, while others think there is no enough proof that the death penalty reduces the number of murders.
The argument advanced by those opposed to the death penalty is that it is cruel and inhuman punishment, that it is the mark of a bad society and finally that it is of questionable effectiveness as a deterrent to crime 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 to 10.4 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 deter 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.support a veto
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 4) 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
解析：
1、通读全文，可知此篇文章讲的主要是“argue for the value of the death penalty”。 2、由第一段中第一句话可推知答案。 3、从最后一段中“It certainly shows that the death penalty does deter many murderers”一句可知答案。 4、第四段中作者的分析，特别是最后一句话，很明显地亮出了作者的观点。
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