【正文】 when the law has been executed upon them there is a sigh of relief. In other words, there is katharsis. I know of no public demand for the death penalty for ordinary crimes, even for ordinary homicides. Its infliction would shock all men of normal decency of feeling. But for crimes involving the deliberate and inexcusable taking of human life, by men openly defiant of all civilized orderfor such crimes it seems to nine men out of ten, a just and proper punishment. Any lesser penalty leaves them feeling that the criminal has got the better of societythat he is free to add insult to injury by laughing. That feeling can be dissipated only by a recourse to katharsis, the invention of the aforesaid Aristotle. It is more effectively and economically achieved, as human nature now is, by wafting the criminal to realms of bliss. The real objection to capital punishment doesn’t lie against the actual extermination of the condemned, but against our brutal American habit of putting it off so long. After all, every one of us must die soon or late, and a murderer, it must be assumed, is one who makes that sad fact the cornerstone of his metaphysic. But it is one thing to die, and quite another thing to lie for long months and even years under the shadow of death. No sane man would choose such a finish. All of us, despite the Prayer Book, long for a swift and unexpected end. Unhappily, a murderer, under the irrational American system, is tortured for what, to him, must seem a whole series of eternities. For months on end he sits in prison while his lawyers carry on their idiotic buffoonery with writs, injunctions, mandamuses, and appeals. In order to get his money (or that of his friends) they have to feed him with hope. Now and then, by the imbecility of a judge or some trick of juristic science, they actually justify it. But let us say that, his money all gone, they finally throw up their hands. Their client is now ready for the rope or the chair. But he must still wait for months before it fetches him. That wait, I believe, is horribly cruel. I have seen more than one man sitting in the death house, and I don’t want to see any more. Worse, it is wholly useless. Why should he wait at all? Why not hang him the day after the last court dissipates his last hope? Why torture him as not even cannibals would torture their victims? The mon answer is that he must have time to make his peace with God. But how long does that take? It may be acplished, I believe, in two hours quite as fortably as in two years. There are, indeed, no temporal limitations upon God. He could forgive a whole herd of murderers in a millionth of a second. More, it has been done. 1. What is the author’s point in this essay? Sum up the author’s argument in 50 words. (4%)2. How does the author put forward his argument? What does he do before he proposes his own idea about the death penalty? (4%)3. What method does the author use to refute the first argument proposed by the uplifters, that the death penalty should be abolished because it is unpleasant? How do you characterize the supporting details the author provides throughout the essay? (4%)4. What is the author’s real objection to the death penalty? Sum up his description of how the death penalty is carried out currently within 50 words. (4%)5. Does the author expect his audience to agree with him? Where in the essay does he indicate his audience may disagree? (4%)高級英語第一冊試題B. Vocabulary: Choose the appropriate word to fill in the blank. You may have to change the form of the word in some sentences. (10%)1. To ask what the _______ of puters are is like asking what are the applications of electricity.usage application practice2. Most Americans remember Mark Twain as the father of Huck Finn39。 I simply argue that it is almost universal among human beings. In the face of injuries that are unimportant and can be borne without damage it may yield to higher impulses。 suicide rates are elevated in the bereaved, along with accidents not involving cars. Involvement in life helps prolong it. Mortality, says Duke University psychiatrist Daniel Balzer, is higher in older people without a good socialsupport system, who don’t feel they’re part of a group or a family, that they “fit in” somewhere. And that’s a mon problem for men, who tend not to have as many close friendships as women. The sudden absence of routines can also be a health hazard, says Blazer. “A person who loses a spouse shows deterioration in normal habits like sleeping and eating,” he says. “They don’t have that other person to orient them, like when do you go to bed, when do you wake up, when do you eat, when do you take your medication, when do you go out to take a walk? Your pattern is no longer locked into someone else’s pattern, so it deteriorates.” While earlier studies suggested that the first six months to a year—or even the first week—were times of higher mortality for the bereaved, some newer studies find no special vulnerability in this initial period. Most men and women, of course do not die as a result of the loss of a spouse. And there are ways to improve the odds. A strong sense of separate identity and lack of overdependency during the marriage are helpful. Adult sons and daughters, siblings and friends need to pay special attention to a newly widowed parent. They can make sure that he or she is socializing, getting proper nutrition and medical care, expressing emotion and, above all, feeling needed and appreciated. 6. According to researchers, Richard Nixon’s death was [A] caused by his heart problems. [B] indirectly linked to his wife’s death. [C] the inevitable result of old age. [D] an unexplainable accident.7. The research reviewed in the passage suggests that [A] remarried men live healthier lives. [B] unmarried men have the longest life spans. [C] widowers have the shortest life spans. [D] widows are unaffected by their mates’ death.8. On