单选题 George had stolen some money, but the police had caught him and he had been put in prison. Now his trial was about to begin, and he felt sure that he would be found guilty and sent to prison for a long time.
Then he discovered that an old friend of his was one of the members of the jury at his trial. Of course, he did not tell anybody, but he managed to see his friend secretly one day. He said to him," Jim, I know that the jury will find me guilty of having stolen the money. I cannot hope to be found not guilty of taking it -- that would be too much to expect. But I should be grateful to you for the rest of my life if you could persuade the other members of the jury to add a strong recommendation for mercy to their statement that they consider me guilty."
"Well, George," answered Jim," I shall certainly try to do what I can for you as an old friend, but of course I cannot promise anything. The other eleven people on the jury look terribly strong-minded to me."
George said that he would quite understand if Jim was not able to do anything for him and thanked him warmly for agreeing to help.
The trial went on, and at last the time came for the jury to decide whether George was guilty or not. It took them five hours, but in the end they found George guilty, with a strong recommendation for mercy.
Of course, George was very pleased, but he did not have a chance to see Jim for some time after the trial. At last, however, Jim visited him in prison, and George thanked him warmly and asked him how he had managed, to persuade the other members of the jury to recommend mercy.
"Well, George," Jim answered," as I thought, those eleven men were very difficult to persuade, but I managed in the end by tiring them out. Do you know, those fools had all wanted to find you not guilty!"
单选题 We are told that George expected Jim to help ______.
  • A. prove him innocent
  • B. him turns over a new leaf
  • C. lighten his punishment
  • D. him escapes from prison
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】[解析] 细节理解题。文章的第二段最后一句中讲到“…persuade jury to add a strong recommendation for mercy to their statement that they consider me guilty”。简言之,George承认自己有罪,只是希望Jim劝说陪审团的人对自己从轻发落。
单选题 Which of the following is true about Jim?
  • A. He covered up George's guilt.
  • B. He persuaded the jury to set George free.
  • C. He told the jury that George was indeed guilty.
  • D. He recommended severe punishment to give George a lesson.
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】[解析] 细节理解题。本题旨在检验读者是否理解故事的结局。A表示Jim为George文过饰非,B表示Jim劝说陪审团无罪释放George,D表示Jim建议从严处罚George。因此三项均不符合原意。
单选题 The passage suggests that ______.
  • A. it was due to Jim that George was found guilty
  • B. Jim did not do exactly what George asked him to do
  • C. Jim asked his colleagues to recommend mercy
  • D. Jim persuaded the jury to lighten George's punishment
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】[解析] 推断题。本题仍是检验读者对故事结局的深层理解。Jim完全按照George的话去做了,但适得其反,弄巧成拙,使本可被无罪释放的George被判有罪。