阅读理解 The United States court system, as part of the federal system of government, is characterized by dual hierarchies. There are both state and federal courts. Each state has its own system of courts, composed of civil and criminal trial courts, sometimes intermediate courts of appeal, and a state supreme court. The federal court system consists of a series of trial courts (called district courts) serving relatively small geographic regions, (is at least one for every state) ,a circuit court of appeals that hears appeals from many district courts in a particular geographic region, and the Supreme Court of the United States. The two court systems are to some extent overlapping, in that certain kinds of disputes (such as a claim that a state law is in violation of the Constitution) may be initiated in either system. They are also to some extent hierarchical, for the federal system stands above the state system in that litigants (persons engaged in law-suits) who lose their cases in the state supreme court may appeal their cases to the Supreme Court of the United States. Thus, the typical court case begins in a trial court — a court of general jurisdiction — in the state or federal system. Most cases go no further than the trial court. For example, the criminal defendant is convicted (by a trial or a guilty plea) and sentenced by the court and the case ends; the personal injury suit results in a judgement by a trial court (or an out-of-court settlement by the parties while the court suit is pending) and the parties leave the court system. But sometimes the losing party at the trial court cares enough about the cause that the matter does not end there. In these cases, the "loser" at the trial court may appeal to the next higher court.

单选题 What does the passage mainly discuss?

单选题 According to the passage, district courts are also known as________.

单选题 The passage indicates that litigants who lose their cases in the state trial court may take them to a ________.

单选题 It can be inferred from the passage that typical court cases are ________.

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】从文章最后一段可以得出这个结论。“Thus，the typical court case begins in a trial court…Most cases go no further than the trial court…”这是“Most cases go no further than the trial court. ”这实际上就相当于“typical court cases are usually solved in the trial courts”。trial courts就是district courts。

单选题 Which of the following is most likely to be the subject of the paragraph following this passage?

【正确答案】 A

【答案解析】本文主要谈论的是美国法院的双重等级制度，告诉人们如何诉讼。那么作者在下一节可能要讨论什么呢?我们看一下本文的最后一句：“In these cases，the "loser" at the trial may appeal to the next higher court.”很显然，作者说那些输了官司的当事人可以到上一级法院上诉。从这里可以推理出作者很可能要讨论上诉的程序，即告诉人们如何上诉。