考研英语（二）历年真题阅读要点之2010-Text 4（一）

 　英语(二)真题较少，但是不可掉以轻心，一定要合理利用。为了帮助大家更好地复习，小编为各位同学梳理一下历年真题阅读文章中涉及的要点，包括词汇、短语、长难句以及简单的阅读方法。接下来看一下2010年Text 4，这篇文章主要探讨了美国陪审团制度的历史和发展。

　　Many Americans regard the jury system as a concrete expression of crucial democratic values, including the principles that all citizens who meet minimal qualifications of age and literacy are equally competent to serve on juries; that jurors should be selected randomly from a representative cross section of the community; that no citizen should be denied the right to serve on a jury on account of race, religion, sex, or national origin; that defendants are entitled to trial by their peers; and that verdicts should represent the conscience of the community and not just the letter of the law. The jury is also said to be the best surviving example of direct rather than representative democracy. In a direct democracy, citizens take turns governing themselves, rather than electing representatives to govern for them.

　　regard...as...“视为，看作”;jury system“陪审制”;concrete“具体的”;crucial“重要的”;democratic“民主的”;meet“满足”;minimal“最低的”;qualification“条件，资格”;literacy“读写能力”;be competent to do“称职，胜任”;serve on“成为...中的一员”，也可以表示“担任”;juror“陪审员”;select“挑选”;randomly“随机地”，相当于at random;representative“有代表性的”;cross section可以指“具有代表性的实例”;deny“拒绝给予”;on account of“由于”;national origin可以指“国籍”;defendant“被告”，plaintiff“原告”;be entitled to“有...资格”;trial“审讯”;verdict“裁定”;conscience“良知”;letter of the law“法律条文”;surviving“幸存的”;direct“直接的”;take turns doing“轮流做某事”;govern“管理，统治”;rather than“而不是”;elect“选举”，presidential election“总统大选”。

　　... jury selection procedures conflicted with these democratic ideals... jury duty was limited to persons of supposedly superior intelligence, education, and moral character... had prohibited intentional racial discrimination in jury selection ... the practice of selecting so-called elite or blue-ribbon juries provided a convenient way around this and other antidiscrimination laws.

　　procedure“流程”;conflict with“与...冲突”;ideal“理想”;be limited to“局限于”;supposedly“可能，按照推测”;superior“出众的”;intelligence“才智”;moral character“道德品质”;prohibit“禁止”;intentional“故意的”;racial discrimination“种族歧视”;practice“做法”;elite“精英”;blue-ribbon“第一流的”;convenient“便利的”;antidiscrimination law“反歧视法”。