2012年10月高级英语自考试题

全国2012年10月高级英语自考试题

请考生按规定用笔将所有试题的答案涂、写在答题纸上。全部题目用英文作答（英译汉题目除外）。
选择题部分
注意事项：
1. 答题前，考生务必将自己的考试课程名称、姓名、准考证号用黑色字迹的签字笔或钢笔填写在答题纸规定的位置上。
2. 每小题选出答案后，用2B铅笔把答题纸上对应题目的答案标号涂黑。如需改动，用橡皮擦干净后，再选涂其他答案标号。不能答在试题卷上。 I．Each of the following sentences is given four choices of words or expressions．Choose the right one to complete the sentence．(15 points，1 point for each)
1．The presiding judge described the terrorist attack as an ______ crime．
A．alluring  B．abusive
C．abnormal  D．abominable
2．The billionaire ______ his only daughter his entire estate．
A．deprived  B．entrusted
C．presented  D．bequeathed
3．Through ______ teeth she told her ex-supervisor to leave immediately．
A．sneezing  B．clenched
C．shivering  D．drenched
4．Despite all the goodwill in the world，the Middle East peace process remains as ______ and frustrating as ever．
A．elusive  B．evasive
C．inclusive  D．conducive
5．The two great tennis players together make a(n) ______ combination．
A．sizeable  B．affordable
C．perishable  D．formidable
6．He lived quietly with a woman who was neither young nor old，neither ______ nor pretty．
A．sociable  B．irritable
C．homely  D．snobbish
7．These TV viewers show a(n) ______ lack of understanding．
A．generous  B．irresistible
C．lamentable  D．good-natured
8．He showed great ______ of character when he refused to accept the bribes．
A．force  B．ability
C．strength  D．potential
9．I will go back to my peaceful house although it is humble and ______．
A．cozy  B．mean
C．worn  D．shabby
10．When the authority of fathers begins to ______，political power generally collapses，as well．
A．falter  B．filter
C．rumble  D．ramble
11．The glass remained ______ after being dropped．
A．intact  B．content
C．abstract  D．compact
12．I ______ this speech to the memory of these women and children．
A．devote  B．promote
C．dedicate  D．indicate
13．Try to do some physical activity three times a week for ______ health．
A．opium  B．optimum
C．minimum  D．maximum
14．They need to be ______ at collaborating with colleagues outside their own department．
A．adopt  B．adept
C．adapt  D．abrupt
15．He determined who would go first with a coin ______．
A．toss  B．fling
C．twist  D．throw
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