复合题

Directions: Read the following four texts. Answer the questions below each text by choosing A, B, C or D. Mark your answers on the ANSWER SHEET.

Text 1

Punishment depends as much on politics as it does on crime: crime rates have been stable in recent years but there has been a striking increase in the prison population. And because populism is coming so much to dominate the political agendas, politicians are advocating sharp increase in penalties to take advantage of public unease. The question is how far this will get. In the 21th century weak governments might try to win legitimacy by being especially tough on crime. That could mean high prison populations and draconian(严峻的) punishments such as those adopted in the United States in recent years.

Luckily, there remain significant differences between the UK and the USA: social divisions are less extreme and racial tensions are not as high. Although there is a great deal of minor violent crime here, rates of murder - which particularly fuel public anxieties—are much lower because guns have not been so widely dispersed. It’s unlikely that this will change greatly; the trend 1o tighten up the gun laws in Britain will continue, and all but the toughest criminals will still have a view about what is and what isn’t “acceptable” violence.

So I don’t believe we will see a huge rise in violent crime, but I expect rates of property crime and crimes of opportunity to remain high. There will also be much more electronic fraud because it’s so hard to detect and prevent. This is an important problem for business, but not one that arouses much popular agitation.

It’s unlikely we’ll see the return of death penalty: the police are skeptical about its effectiveness and its introduction would be highly problematic given the recent Council of Europe protocol outlawing its use. Capital punishment remains a pretty accurate temperature gauge, though: whenever there is significant political pressure for the death penalty, it’s a sign of harsher attitudes towards crime generally.

As prison populations continue to rise, we will certainly see alternatives to prison such as electronic tagging increase. But I don’t generally envisage any sudden shift towards reduced sanction; net levels of punishment could well continue to increase somewhat. Overall, I expect to see some growth in the population of prisons, mainly independent ones—and a massive increase in private policing and other law enforcement. 

单选题 According to the passage, the recent drastic increase in prison populations probably results from the following factors except _____.
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】根据文章首段第一句提到， “惩罚机制依赖于政治， 同样也依赖于犯罪情况： 最近几年， 犯罪率保持稳定， 但监狱人数却不断激增”， 可看出， 选项A与文章内容矛盾， 它不是监狱人口激增的原因， 所以选A。
单选题 It can be inferred from Paragraph 2 that _____.
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】从第二段第二句“Although there is… so widely dispersed.”可知， 英国之所以凶杀案少于美国， 原因就在于枪支不是广泛分散到公民中的， 所以枪支控制对降低谋杀率非常重要。 因此， 选项C正确。 第二段第一句说， “幸运的是， 英国和美国有很大的区别： 英国的社会区分和种族紧张局势没有美国那么严重”。 但这并不是说英国就不严重。 故排除A项。 选项B文中未涉及， 故可排除。 从第二段最后一句可看出， 对于罪行严重的罪犯， 仍会区分其罪行的可接受度与否， 所以D项也不正确。
单选题 What is the trend predicted by the passage regarding the rate of crime in the UK?
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】由第三段“but I expect… remain high.”可知， 财产性犯罪率仍会保持很高， 不会下降。 选项D正确。 根据第三段第一句可知暴力罪行不会激增， 但并不是达到平衡， 故A项不正确。 第三段最后一句提到， “不会激起社会不安”， 所以B项不正确。 第三段第二句说， “There will also be much more electronic fraud…”， 而C项的“a slight upward”则与之不符， 所以C项也是不正确的。
单选题 Which of the following statements about death penalty is false?
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】第四段第一句说到， “…the police are skeptical about its effectiveness”， 可见， 是警察怀疑死刑的有效性， 而不是人们普遍怀疑， 所以选择D项。
单选题 To tackle rising prison populations, feasible measures may include _____.
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】最后一段第二句提到“But I don’t generally envisage any sudden shift towards reduced sanction;”可见， 作者并没有接受减弱惩罚的办法， 所以选择A项。