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1、2008年华中师范大学博士研究生入学考试英语试题（A卷）（注意：答案必须写在答题纸上，写在试卷上无效）Part I Reading Comprehension (40%)Directions: In this part there are four passages followed by questions or unfinished statements, each with four suggested answers marked A, B, C, and D. Choose the one you think is the best answer, and then write yo
2、ur answer on the Answer Sheet. Passage OneIn Americas fiercely adversarial legal system, a good lawyer is essential. Ask O.J Simpson. In a landmark case 35 years ago, Gideon v. Wainwright, a unanimous Supreme Court ruled that indigent defendants must be provided with a lawyer at state expense becaus
3、e there could be no fair trial in a serious criminal case without one.“This seems to us to be an obvious truth,” wrote Justice Hugo Black in his opinion. At the time, the decision was hailed as a triumph for justice, an example of Americas commitment to the ideal of equality before the law.This is t
4、he image most Americans still have of their criminal-justice system-the fairest in the world, in which any defendant, no matter how, gets a smart lawyer who, too often, manages to get the culprit off on a technicality. Nothing could be further from the truth. About 80% of people accused of a felony
5、have to depend on a publicly-provided lawyer; but over the past two decades the eagerness of politicians to look harsh on crime, their reluctance to pay for public defenders, and a series of Supreme Court judgments restricting the grounds for appeal have made a mockery of Gideon. Today many indigent
6、 defendants, including those facing long terms of imprisonment or even death, are treated to a “meetem and pleadem” defense - a brief consultation in which a harried or incompetent lawyer encourages them to plead guilty on if that fail, struggle through a short trial in which the defense is massivel
7、y outgunned by a more experienced, better-paid and better-prepared prosecutor.“We have a wealth-based system of justice,” says Stephen Bright, the director of the Southern Center for Human Rights. “For the wealthy, its gold-plated. For the average poor person, its like being herded to the slaughter-
8、house. In many places the adversarial system barely exists for the poor.”Many lawyers, of course, have made heroic efforts for particular defendants for little or no pay, but the charity of lawyers can be relied on to handle only a tiny fraction of cases. As spending on police, prosecutorsand prison
9、s has steadily climbed in the past decade, increasing the number of people charged and imprisoned, spending on indigent defense has not kept pace overwhelming an already hard-pressed system.1. It can be inferred from the passage that O.J Simpson was probably_.A. a person who was found not guilty bec
10、ause he hired a very good lawyer.B. a person who won his case because he was provided with a lawyer at state expense.C. a person who was denied a lawyer and thus lost his case in the court.D. a brilliant lawyer who won numerous cases for the average poor people.2. What is the authors view of America
11、s adversarial legal system?A. It is the embodiment of the ideal of equality before the law.B. It is the fairest criminal-justice system in the world.C. As it is, it benefits the rich but works against the poor.D. It is unfair by nature and should be overhauled.3. Which of the following statements is
12、 true?A. Lawyers who provide defense for the poor often work heroically for little or no pay at all.B. As crime rate increases, American politicians have become more tolerant towards crime than before.C. In America, if a person refuses to accept the judgment of a lower court, he can always appeal to
13、 the Supreme Court.D. Government-provided lawyers tend to go through the formalities of defense and prove to be no match for the prosecutors. 4. What is the authors specific purpose in writing this passage?A. To appeal for more public spending on court defense for the poor.B. To criticize Americas f
14、iercely adversarial legal system.C. To draw attention to the injustice of the American legal system.D. To make a suggestion on how to mend the criminal-justice system.Passage TwoThe media can impact current events. As a graduate student at Berkeley in the 1960s, I remember experiencing the events re
15、lated to the Peoples Park that were occurring on campus. Some of these events were given national media coverage in the press and on TV. I found it interesting to compare my impressions of that was going on with perceptions obtained from the news media. I could begin to see events of that time feed
16、on news coverage. This also provided me with some healthy insights into the distinctions between these realities.Electronic media are having a greater impact on the peoples lives every day. People gather more and more of their impressions from representations. Television and telephone communications are linking people to a global village, or what one writer calls the electronic city. Consider the infor
