The idea behind “the rule of law” is that it is laws based on logical
reasons and clear thinking that should govern social life. “We live under a rule
of law, not of men.” American teachers tell their students. The students accept
the idea. They believe that “no man is above the law”, and that laws apply
equally to all people no matter how wealthy they are, what their personal
connections are, or what their stations in life are. Their faith in the rule of
law explains the belief many Americans held, and many foreigners could not
understand, that President Richard Nixon should be removed from office as a
result of his behavior in connection with what was called “Watergate
Scandal(水門事件)”. Nixon had broken the law and therefore should be punished,
Americans believed, even if he was the President.
The belief in the rule of law goes beyond the area of politics to other
areas of life that are governed by formal rules and procedures. To get a job
with government institutions, for example, or to get government funding for a
research project, one must follow published procedures and show that one meets
the published requirements. Personal connections are not supposed to matter
under the rule of law.
This is not to say that personal contacts, wealth, and social influence do
not matter in situations where laws and rules are to be obeyed. They may. What
is said above describes the ideal with which Americans agree. In reality,
connections can sometimes help a person get a government job. Rich people can
sometimes go unpunished for illegal behavior that poor people would be likely to
be punished for. But in general the rule of law prevails, and Americans are
proud that it does.
問題：
1.The word “stations”(Para. 1) is closest in meaning to .
A.stages
B.situations
C.successes
D.social positions
【參考答案】D
[考點(diǎn)]詞語理解題
【精析】D 由后面緊跟著舉的尼克松總統(tǒng)的例子可知，只要觸犯了法律，不管地位如何，一定要受到懲罰，哪怕他是總統(tǒng)，且根據(jù)第一段中的wealthy(富有的)， personal connections(人際關(guān)系)可推知，station應(yīng)是“社會地位”的意思。故選D。
2. The writer mentions President Richard Nixon in the first paragraph in order to show that .
A.no man is above the law
B.the president should make sure of the rule of law
C.the rule of law is important in politics
D.American people have the right to remove the president
【參考答案】A
[考點(diǎn)]推理判斷題
【精析】A 根據(jù)第一段第五、六句“They believe that ‘no man is above the law'…that President Richard Nixon should be removed from office…”可推知，作者舉尼克松總統(tǒng)的例子是想說明美國人的“no man is above the law”這一信仰是非常堅(jiān)定的。故選A。
3. It can be learned from the last paragraph that in the United States the rule of law .
A.is not carried out as fully as it should be
B.makes poor people also likely to be successful
C.is, in reality, almost unlikely to realize
D.makes sure that everyone is punished for his wrongdoing
【參考答案】A
[考點(diǎn)]推理判斷題
【精析】A 根據(jù)最后一段第四、五句“In reality, connections can sometimes…that poor people would be likely to be punished for.”可推知，在美國，法律并沒有完全按照它應(yīng)該的那樣被執(zhí)行。故選A。
4. The pronoun “They” in the second line of the last paragraph refers to all of the following EXCEPT .
A.personal connections
B.laws and rules
C.social influence
D.wealth
【參考答案】B
[考點(diǎn)]推理判斷題
【精析】B 最后一段前兩句的意思為“這并不是說人際關(guān)系、財(cái)富和社會影響在法律和法規(guī)要被遵守的地方不起作用。它們可能起作用?！庇纱丝赏浦?，“They”指的是前文中的“人際關(guān)系、財(cái)富和社會影響”。故選B。
5. The main idea of the last paragraph is .
A.Americans are idealistic(理想主義的) about laws
B.rich people can sometimes go unpunished for illegal behavior
C.the American employment system is unfair
D.laws are more important than personal connections or influence in most cases in the US
【參考答案】D
[考點(diǎn)]主旨大意題
【精析】D 根據(jù)最后一段可知，在美國現(xiàn)實(shí)社會中，人際關(guān)系、財(cái)富和社會影響也影響著法律法規(guī)的實(shí)施，但整體來說，美國人還是很為美國的法治社會而自豪的，法律法規(guī)依然盛行。所以可推知，本段主要講述的是：在大多情況下法律在美國要比人際關(guān)系和社會影響重要。根據(jù)最后一句的“But”也可知，其后的部分才是本段的主要內(nèi)容。故選項(xiàng)D最能概括段意。