单选题  
Gay Rights in Chile

    Every now and then a society is confronted by a crime so horrific that it prompts profound reflection and, eventually, change. Among such crimes was the murder in Chile of Daniel Zamudio. On October 28th 2012 a court sentenced one of his attackers to life in prison. Two of the others got 15 years each; the fourth got seven years.
    Zamudio was beaten unconscious in a park in the capital, Santiago, for being gay. His foul attackers carved swastikas (纳粹党所用的十字记号) into his skin, branded him with cigarettes and hit his right leg very hard with an 8 kg rock. According to the court testimony, they then urinated (小便) on his body. Zamudio died in hospital three weeks later. He was 24.
    The change that followed was brisk. Within weeks of the murder, legislators passed into law an anti-discrimination bill that had been kicking around Congress, largely ignored, for seven years. Gay rights have been a theme in the current presidential campaign. Most of the candidates say they now back gay marriage.
    Chile has never been an easy place for homosexuals (同性恋). The Catholic church maintains a frightening, if gradually decreasing, grip on public morality. Divorce was banned until 2004, and gay sex decriminalised only in 1999 (in Argentina and Brazil it has been legal since the 19th century). Chile is one of only four countries in South America where the age of consent is higher for gays than for heterosexuals (异性恋).
    And, depressingly, brutal attacks like the one on Zamudio continue. On October 20th 2012 a 21-year-old gay man, Wladimir Sepulveda, was assaulted in the town of San Francisco de Mostazal, 60kin south of Santiago, as he walked home with another man. His six attackers included two women. Witnesses said the attackers shouted homophobic (仇视同性恋的) insults at Mr. Sepulveda, shoved him to the ground and kicked and beat him unconscious. He remains in a coma (昏迷), fighting for his life—a sad reminder that Chile is not as safe and orderly a haven in an often violent continent as Chileans like to think. At least not for everyone.
单选题     Why was Daniel Zamudio beaten by four attackers?
 
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】根据题干中的why was Daniel Zamudio beaten定位到原文前两段。第一段讲述了丹尼尔·萨姆迪奥被谋杀的残忍事实以及法庭对行凶者的判决。随后作者在第二段首句中指出，萨姆迪奥在首都圣地亚哥的一个公园里被暴打至失去知觉，因为他是同性恋者。故选B。
单选题     What's the change followed the murder of Daniel Zamudio?
 
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】根据题干中的change和the murder of Daniel Zamudio定位到原文第三段。该段中提到，此事带来了迅速的变化，包括立法者在该谋杀案发生后仅数周就通过了七年来多次被提交至国会却一直被置之不理的反歧视法案。而同性恋者的权利已经成为现今总统竞选的一个主题，大多数候选者都表示支持同性恋婚姻。B项表述符合原文，故选B。
单选题     What does the word 'decriminalised' (Line 3, Para. 4) mean?
 
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】根据题干中的decriminalised定位到文章第四段第三句。该句括号中的内容对其进行解释和补充，其中指出在阿根廷和巴西，同性恋性行为自从19世纪起就已经合法化了。此处的it指代的是前文中提到的gay sex。括号中的内容为对前面内容的拓展，讲述的是同样性质的内容，故而不难推知decriminalised与legalised同义。decriminalise意为“使合法化；非刑事化”。故选C。
单选题     What does the continuation of brutal attacks imply?
 
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】根据题干中的continuation of brutal attacks定位到文章最后一段。该段首句中提到，令人难过的是，与发生在萨姆迪奥身上的事件类似的残忍攻击行为仍在继续。随后讲述了另外一个例子，并在该段最后揭示出作者介绍此案所要表达的深意，即智利并不是像智利人以为的那么安全有序，至少不是对所有人来说都是如此。D项表述符合原文，故选D。
单选题     What does the author think about the life of homosexuals in Chile?
 
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】本题考查作者是如何看待同性恋者在智利的生活的。作者在原文最后两段表达了自己的看法，在倒数第二段首句中，作者说到同性恋者在智利的生活从来都不轻松。随后提到了同性恋者在智利的各种艰难。最后一段末尾作者指出，和智利人倾向于认为的不一样，智利并不是在充斥着暴力的大陆上的一个安全、有秩序的避风港。由此可知，在作者看来，同性恋者在智利的生活依旧是艰难的，故选C。