Read the following passage carefully and complete the succeeding three items II，III，IV.
To Kill or Not to Kill
(1)Capital punishment has been in effect since the 1600’s．However, in 1972 the U．S．Supreme Court ruled that the death penalty was cruel and unusual punishment，which was unconstitutional according to the Eighth Amendment． It was public opinion that the current methods of execution，hanging， electrocution，and facing a firing squad，were too slow and painful upon the person to be executed．The U．S．Supreme Court reversed this decision when a cleaner way to bring about death was found in 1976．This cleaner way is death by lethal injection，which is quick and painless if administered right．
(2)Many people have argued for and against capital punishment since it was reinstituted．Some say the death penalty is what the criminal deserves while others object to it because death is irreversible．I feel the death penalty is a good form of justice because only about 250 people a year get the death penalty and they are guilty beyond a doubt and don’t deserve living with the possibility of parole．
(3)The sentencing judge or jury are ordered by the Supreme Court to look for specific aggravating and mitigating factors in deciding which convicted murderers should be sentenced to death．Some of these mitigating factors are the defendant’s motivation, character, personal history, and most of all remorse．Every year approximately 250 new offenders are added to death row．In 1994 there were 2，850 persons awaiting execution．Yet no more than thirty-eight people have been executed a year since 1976．This is a ridiculously low number compared to 199 persons executed in 1935．
(4)The reason for this slow execution rate is the process of appeals．From sentencing to execution there is about a seven-to-eight-year wait．The convicts’ cases are reviewed by the state courts and through the federal courts．With all this opportunity for the case to be turned over or the sentence to be changed it is almost impossible for an innocent person to be executed．Only two people have been proved innocent after their execution in the United States．These wrongful deaths occurred in 1918 and 1949．Since then the justice system has undergone a lot o f fine tuning making this extremely unlikely to day.
(5)One argument against the death penalty is that it costs less to imprison someone for life than to execute them．This is a good point that has a 1ot of impact on a lot of people’s views regarding capital punishment since they are the ones footing the bill．through taxes．I personally would not mind paying the little bit extra just so I know for sure that there’s one 1ess murderer on our planet．If the death penalty was done away with，prisoners who should have been executed will be mixed in with other inmates．It would be possible and not too unlikely for them to kill another inmate or possibly a prison guard．If someone is lined up for execution then they more than likely deserve it．They have caused a great deal of grief to the family and friends of the victim or victims and it seems like the only way justice could be served is for the criminal to die.
(6)For the person to simply go to jail seems unfair．There they will eat three meals a day, get to watch cable TV and befriend other inmates．They live a pretty decent 1ife in prison and they don’t deserve it．Out of the fifty states in the United States 37 have and use capital punishment．Out of the same fifty states only 18 have 1ife imprisonment without parole．In the other 32 states a person who should’ve been executed can be released after as 1ittle as 20 years in prison．
(7)There are certain standards that are followed in giving out capital punishment．The defendant can not be insane, and the real or criminal intent must be present．Also，minors very rarely receive the death penalty because they are not fully mature and might not know the consequences of their actions．Finally the mentally retarded are very seldom executed．The reason for not executing the retarded is that they often have difficulty defending themselves in court, have problems remembering details，locating witnesses，and testifying credibly on their own behalf．
(8)If capital punishment were carried out more it would prove to be the crime deterrent it was partly intended to be．Most criminals would think twice before committing murder if they knew their own 1ives are at stake．As it turns out，as very few people are executed，so the death penalty is not a satisfactory deterrent．During highly publicized death penalty cases the homicide rate is found to go down but it goes back up when the case is over．
(9)Thomas Edison，a famous scientist and American hero，helped develop and extensively promoted the electric chair．The electric chair was a popular method of execution from the 1930s to the 1970s．The death penalty is a punishment that will remain active for a long time in the future，even with all the criticism．It is an ancient way of dealing with extremely serious offences that plague our country today．Hopefully the appeals process will be shortened，but remain effective，so more criminals can be executed，making prospective criminals think twice．
II．In this section，there are ten incomplete statements or questions，followed by four choices marked A，B，C and D．Choose the best answer and blacken the corresponding letter on your Answer Sheet.(20 points，2 points for each)
16．The death sentence was instituted some ______ years ago．
A．200 B．300
C．400 D．5 00
17．According to the first paragraph，people generally thought that ______．
A．lethal injection was painful but quick
B．death penalty was cruel and therefore should be abolished
C．facing a firing squad was a cleaner way for capital punishment
D．the methods then used to bring about death were slow and painful
18．A method of execution that is not mentioned in this article is ______．
A．hanging B．injection
C．decapitation D．electrocution
19．Which of the following is closest in meaning to the word “remorse” in Paragraph 3?
A．regret B．rebellion
C．revulsion D．recklessness
20．Two persons put to death，one in 1918 and the other in 1949，were found to have been _____．
A．insane B．wrongly killed
C．mentally retarded D．executed without trial
21．The expression “footing the bill” in Paragraph 5 can be best replaced by ______．
A．paying the cost B．asking for payment
C．causing the expenses D．refunding the expenses
22．In the passage，the author implies that ______．
A．more than 15 states in the United States do not use capital punishment
B．1ife imprisonment without parole is a heavier sentence than capital punishment
C．in the United States those who should’ve been executed 1ive a miserable life in prison
D．in the United States a person who should’ve been executed might be set free after only 20 years’ imprisonment
23．The expression “at stake” in Paragraph 8 means ______．
A．at risk B．at issue
C．in a mess D．out of control
24．The author does not mention that ______．
A．capital punishment faces a lot of criticism
B．the death penalty will continue to be carried out
C．extremely serious offences are troubling the United States
D．the death penalty is a modern way of handling atrocious crimes
25．It is obvious that the author of this article ______．
A．does not object to abolishing capital punishment
B．shows sympathy to those guilty of unpardonable evil
C．is in favor of sentencing those committing grave crimes to death
D．believes that many of those condemned to death do not deserve their punishment
