单选题 Locked in a vault within the North Carolina Department of Revenue is a bit of Kafka: a government-issued stamp that is expected to remain unpurchased, but which users of illegal goods must, by law, affix to substances they are not allowed to possess.
North Carolina is one of about 20 states that tax illegal drugs. The cost varies by state and weight, as does the stamps' appearance (Nebraska's, with a skull surmounting a syringe and joint, looks like Grateful Dead tribute art). Penalties for non-payment also vary, from being classed as a misdemeanour in Georgia to 200% of the tax plus $10,000 or five years in prison in Louisiana.
Few, if any, drug users actually buy the stamps. Most of those sold in Kansas, for instance, go to collectors. And according to a Mobile newspaper, the director of investigations for Alabama's revenue department said the state never expected actually to sell stamps to drug users. Instead, the tax exists to further punish those arrested for possession by making them liable to penalties for tax evasion if their drugs are stampless, as they almost invariably are. And those penalties can be lucrative: over the past decade Kansas has collected $10.3m.
If legislators feel that drug users get off too lightly, they could simply increase the criminal penalties, rather than creating a new class of crime that requires the involvement of another government agency. As it is, these laws are not merely complicated, but have often been found unconstitutional.
In 1994 the US Supreme Court ruled that because Montana's illegal-drug tax was a second punishment for a single crime it amounted to double jeopardy. Other states' drug-tax schemes have also been challenged on constitutional grounds. In response some states have abolished or modified their schemes, usually by allowing buyers of the stamps to remain anonymous or by forbidding revenue departments from telling law enforcement when someone buys the stamps.
The concept of taxing illegal drugs punitively dates back to the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937. This did not ban the drug completely; it subjected anyone who dealt in it commercially to a nominal tax but a heavy array of regulations and criminal penalties for non-compliance. Bureaucracy lives on.

单选题 We may infer from the first paragraph that ______.
A. Kafka is locked in a vault within the North Carolina Department of Revenue
B. The government-issued stamp may not be welcome
C. Users of illegal goods must purchase stamps everyday
D. Users are not allowed to possess the stamps

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】[解析] 事实细节题。A选项张冠李戴，错把卡夫卡当作首句的主语，完全没有理解该句的意思。
B选项是第一段中“a government-issued stamp that is expected to remain unpurchased”的改写，意为“这种印花税估计还是没有人会买”，所以B选项为正确选项。C选项错在言过其实，并不是说违禁物品的使朋者每天都需要购买。D选项属于无中生有。

单选题 Which of the following is true according to the text?
A. The cost varies, because of the state, weight or the stamps' appearance.
B. For non-payment, the only penalty is to impose a fine.
C. Only few drug users buy the stamps.
D. The Department of Revenue wants to sell stamps to drug users and collectors.

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】[解析] 本题考查综合细节。A选项定位在第二段第二句，其根据是state and weight，不包括stamps'appearance。关于B选项，文中第二段第三句说Penalties for non-payment also vary，所以与B项的意思正好相反。而C选项是第三段第一句Few, if any, drug users actually buy the stamps的改写，所以正确。D选项属于无中生有。

单选题 The word "legislators" (Paragraph 4) most probably means ______.
A. protectors B. judges C. critics D. lawmakers

【正确答案】 D

【答案解析】[解析] 本题考查词义推理。该词语所在句的含义是：如果______认为对吸毒者的处罚太轻，他们只要稍稍增加刑责即可，无须新立一项罪名。这很明显地表现了这个主语是有权利新立罪名的，所以是立法者。A的意思是支持者，B是法官，C是批评家，无疑D立法者是正确答案。

单选题 The author uses the example of Montana's tax to show that ______.
A. these states punish the drug traffickers too harshly
B. the taxes are so complicated that even the US Supreme Court cannot understand them
C. these taxes are illegal constitutionally
D. there is bureaucracy living on the US Supreme Court

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】[解析] 本题考查考生对文章前后关系的理解能力。在第四段最后一句提到 "As it is, these laws are no merely complicated, but have often been found unconstitutional" (实际上，这些法规不仅晦涩复杂，而且大多违反宪法)。该段承接上文，是对违反宪法的举例说明。A选项在最后一段第二句中有提到，但不是列举蒙大拿州税法的理由；B选项在原文中对应“these 1aws are not merely complicated”，很容易误选，但后半句错误，不是最高法院不理解他们，而是他们的行为违反了宪法；文中未提及官僚主义依赖最高法院生存，故排除D项。

单选题 What does the author think of bureaucracy?
A. Indifferent. B. Supportive. C. Indignant. D. Apprehensive.

【正确答案】 D

【答案解析】[解析] 本题是对作者态度的考查。文中描述对官僚作风态度的关键句子是Bureaucracy lives on，主要是说明其对官僚主义的不安，或者说是一种忧虑，并不能理解为漠不关心(Indifferent)．愤怒(Indignant)，更不会是支持(supportive)。而D选项Apprehensive恰恰表示了“担心的，忧虑的，不安的”，故选D。