18考研英语:阅读理解模拟训练之法学话题(一)
做题引导 原文阅读 There, in a nutshell, is what happens more and more often in the juvenile-court system. Minority youths arrested on violent felony charges in California are more than twice as likely as their white counterparts to be transferred out of the juvenile-justice system and tried as adults, according to a study released last week by the Justice Policy Institute, a research center in San Francisco. Once they are in adult courts, young black offenders are 18 times more likely to be jailed-and Hispanics seven times more likely-than are young white offenders. “Discrimination against kids of color accumulates at every stage of the justice system and skyrockets when juveniles are, tried as adults,” says Dan Macallair, a co-author of the new study. “California has a double standard: throw kids of color behind bars, but .rehabilitate white kids who commit comparable crimes.” Even as juvenile crime has declined from its peak in the early 1990s, headline grabbing violence by minors has intensified a get-tough attitude. Over the past six years, 43 states have passed laws that make it easier to try juveniles as adults. In Texas and Connecticut in 1996, the latest year for which figures are available, all the juveniles in jails were minorities. Vincent Schiraldi, the Justice Policy Institute's director, concedes that “some kids need to be tried as adults. But most can be rehabilitated.” Instead, adult prisons tend to brutalize juveniles. They are eight times more likely to commit suicide and five times more likely to be sexually abused than offenders held in juvenile detention. “Once they get out, they tend to commit more crimes and more violent crimes,” says Jenni Gainsborough, a spokeswoman for the Sentencing Project, a reform group in Washington. The system, in essence, is training career criminals. And it's doing its worst work among minorities. 注(1)本文选自By Anamaria Wilson Time; 02/14/2000, Vol. 155 Issue 6, p68, 1/3p 1. From the first paragraph we learn that _________. 2. According to the passage, which of the following is TRUE? 3. The word “skyrocket” (Line 13, Paragraph 2) means ________. 4. It can be inferred from the last paragraph that ________. 5. The passage shows that the author is _________ the present situation. 2. 答案为B,属事实细节题。原文对应信息是:“Discrimination against kids of color accumulates at every stage of the justice system and skyrockets when juveniles are, tried as adults”。其它选项意思与原文不符。 3. 答案为A ,属猜词题。从单词所在的句子语境中,我们可以判断skyrocket与accumulate的意思相近,并且程度更强。了解到这一点就不难作出选择。 4.答案为A,属推理判断题。原文相关信息是“The system, in essence, is training career criminals. And it's doing its worst work among minorities”。 5.答案为D,属情感态度题。作者通篇都在阐述司法机关对有色人种青少年的不公正待遇。 核心词汇 原文翻译 简而言之,这样的事情在少年法庭上越来越常见。据旧金山一家研究中心—司法政策研究—上周发表的一项研究结果,在加州因暴力重罪嫌疑被捕进而移交到少年法庭系统作为成人被审判的少数民族青少年的数量可能是白人少年的两倍。一旦被移交成人法庭,那些青少年黑人犯法者被送进监狱的可能性是白人的十八倍,美籍西班牙人是白人的八倍。 “司法系统对有色人种青少年的歧视每升一级都加一次码,而这些年轻人一旦以成人的身份被审判的话,这种歧视便被极度升化,达到无以复加的地步。” 这项研究的合作者丹?麦卡莱尔(Dan Macallair)说,“加利福尼亚历来奉行双重标准:把犯罪的有色人种青少年投进监狱,但对犯有同等罪行的白人少年却实行教育感化。” 正当青少年犯罪率从二十世纪九十年代初期的高峰开始下降的时候,常常成为报刊头条新闻的少数民族未成年人暴力犯罪强化了公众的强硬态度。在过去六年中,四十三个州通过的法律使青少年以成人的身份受审变得更加易如反掌。1996年,美国德克萨斯州和康涅狄格州(这两个州是唯一能收集到最近一年青少年犯罪记录的州)的资料表明,在监狱服刑的所有青少年都是有色人种。司法政策研究所所长文森特?希拉迪(Vincent Schiraldi)承认,“有些青少年需要作为成人进行审判,但是他们中大多数人是可以教育感化的。” 成人监狱经常虐待这些青少年。这些人自杀的可能性是少管所的罪犯的八倍,遭到性虐待的可能性是他们的五倍。华盛顿的一个改革团体—“审判项目组织”的女发言人Jenni Gainsborough认为,“这些人一旦被释放,他们往往会疯狂作案,实施更多的暴力犯罪。” 这种体系实质上是在培养职业罪犯;对有色人种而言,它起的作用更糟。 难句点津 主体句式:Minority youths are more than … 结构分析:这是一个比较长的简单句。“more than twice as likely as their white counterparts”是一种表示倍数的表达方式:“to be transferred out of the juvenile-justice system and tried as adults”不定式短语来修饰white counterparts; “according to a study released last week by the Justice Policy Institute”是现在分词做伴随状语:“a research center in San Francisco”是“the Justice Policy Institute”的同位语。 句子译文:据旧金山一家研究中心—司法政策研究—上周发表的一项研究结果,在加州因暴力重罪嫌疑被捕进而移交到少年法庭系统作为成人被审判的少数民族青少年的数量可能是白人少年的两倍。 |