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  3. California is having problems with its death penalty. It hasn’t executed anyone since 2006, when a federal court ruled that its

California is having problems with its death penalty. It hasn’t executed anyone since 2006, when a federal court ruled that its

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问题     California is having problems with its death penalty. It hasn’t executed anyone since 2006, when a federal court ruled that its method of lethal injection was improper and could cause excessive pain. The state spent five years coming up with a better method — and last month, a judge threw that one out too. One indication of just how encumbered California’s capital-punishment system is: the prisoner who brought the latest lethal-injection challenge has been on death row for 24 years.
    It isn’t just California. The Death Penalty Information Center reported last month that the number of new death sentences nationally was down sharply in 2011, dropping below 100 for the first time in decades. It also reported that executions were plummeting — down 56% since 1999.
    There has long been an idea about how the death penalty would end in the U. S. : the Supreme Court would hand down a sweeping ruling saying it is unconstitutional in all cases. But that is not what is happening. Instead of top-down abolition, we seem to be getting it from the bottom up — governors, state legislatures, judges and juries quietly deciding not to support capital punishment. New Jersey abolished its death penalty in 2007. New Mexico abolished its death penalty in 2009. There are now 16 states — or about one-third of the country — that have abolished capital punishment.
    There are several reasons we seem to be moving toward de facto abolition of the death penalty. A major one has been the growing number of prisoners on death row who have been exonerated — 139 and counting since 1973, according to a list maintained by the Death Penalty Information Center. Even many people who support capital punishment in theory balk when they are confronted with clear evidence that innocent people are being sentenced to death.
    Another factor is cost. Money is tight these days, and more attention is being paid to just how expensive death-penalty cases are. A 2008 study found that California was spending $ 137 million on capital cases — a sizable outlay, particularly since it was not putting anyone to death.
    According to the polls, a majority of the country has not yet turned against the death penalty — but support is slipping. In 1994, 80% of respondents in a Gallup poll said they supported the death penalty for someone convicted of murder. In 2001, just 61% did. In polls where respondents are given a choice between the death penalty or life without parole and restitution, a majority has gone with the non-death option.
    Many opponents of the death penalty are still hoping for a sweeping Supreme Court ruling, and there is no denying that it would have unique force. Five Justices, with a stroke of their pens, could end capital punishment nationwide. But bottom-up, gradual abolition has other advantages. What we are seeing is not a small group of judges setting policy. It is a large number of Americans gradually losing their enthusiasm for putting people to death.
Which of the following statements is Not true according to the passage?
选项 A、California has abolished death penalty because it fails to find proper execution means.
B、The execution of death penalties has dropped below 100 since 1999.
C、Americans are no longer die-hard fans of death penalty.
D、There is an economic consideration behind the trend of repealing death penalty.
答案B
解析 [A]表述是正确的。第一段中以加州为例，提出了现在美国很多州都不再热衷于判处人死刑的现象。加州自2006年起，就没有执行过一例死刑，最初的原因是因为联邦法院认为加州施行的注射行刑方法有失妥当。其后，加州一直寻求更人道的方法，但是又一直被法官否决。[B]的说法错误。在第二段中，作者提到了两个年份，一个是2011年，一个是1999年，另外还有两个数字，一个是100，一个是56％，[B]混淆了年份对应的事件。原文中说的是2011年全国新增死刑判决总数首次跌破100例，而不是自1999年之后死刑执行次数跌破100。[C]的表述正确。文章倒数第二段中，作者提到美国就死刑展开的民意调查。调查结果显示，死刑支持率正在不断流失。1994年，有80％的受访者支持死刑，2001年，这一比例下降至61％。而且如果让受访者在死刑和终身监禁两个选项之间进行选择，大多数受访者会选择非死刑选项。可见，许多的美国人已经不再是死刑的忠实追随者。[D]表述正确。作者在文章第五段介绍了政府倾向于废除死刑的第二个原因，那就是经济考虑。执行死刑需要花费巨大的成本，这对于捉襟见肘的政府来说是一笔不小的开支。
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