经济学人352:废除死刑(1)

 　　CAPITAL punishment has been meted¹ out in Connecticut since colonial times, when convicted witches were sentenced to death. In recent years it has been used sparingly . Of the 4,686 murders committed between 1973 and 2007, only 66 led to convictions of a capital felony, according to a 2011 study of capital punishment in Connecticut by John Donohue of Stanford Law School. And only nine of the culprits actually received the death sentence. Indeed, the execution in 2005 of Michael Ross, a serial² killer³ who waived⁴ further appeals, was the first since 1960. Eleven people are in various stages of appeal on death row , including two who have been there for two decades. “Keeping it without using it doesn’t make a lot of sense,” notes Richard Dieter, head of the Death Penalty Information Centre.

　　自从殖民时代宣判有罪的巫婆被处以死刑以来，死刑就存在于康涅狄格州了。近年来，死刑却很少执行。根据斯坦福法学院的约翰?多诺霍在2001年的研究，1973年到2007年期间的4868起谋杀案中，只有66起定罪为死刑。而且仅有9位罪犯真正的处以死刑。事实上，连环杀人案凶手迈克尔?罗斯放弃上诉，于2005年执行死刑，这是1960年以来首例死刑案例。死囚区中有11人在不同的上诉阶段，其中包括两位上诉二十年的囚犯。死刑信息中心主任理查德?迪特指出“保留死刑却不执行并没有多大意义”

　　Connecticut lawmakers agree, including some Republicans. Earlier this month the state’s two legislative⁵ chambers⁶ voted to repeal⁷ capital punishment. Dannel Malloy, the governor, has pledged to sign the bill when it reaches his desk, perhaps as soon as next week. But Arthur O’Neill, a Republican state legislator, wants to put the matter to the people and has asked the governor to schedule a referendum.

　　康涅狄格州的立法者同意这一观点，包括一些共和党人。本月早些时候，该州参众两院投票废除死刑。州长丹侬?马洛伊承诺当法案到他的案头时，他就会签署的，也许最快就在下周了。但是共和党议员阿瑟?欧尼尔希望将这个问题交予民众决定，并建议州长安排一次全民公投。

　　He points to polls which indicate that a majority of voters in Connecticut, a Democratic state, support the death penalty. This is partly because of the notorious “Cheshire murders” case of 2007, which is still on the public’s mind. A mother and her daughters, aged⁸ 17 and 11, were murdered at their home. The mother was raped⁹; the younger daughter was sexually assaulted. The invaders¹⁰, Steven Hayes and Joshua Komisarjevsky, both out on parole, then set the house on fire. Hayes was sentenced to death in December 2010. Komisarjevsky, his accomplice¹¹, was sentenced to death in January. Both are still alive.

　　他提出调查显示民主州康涅狄格州的多数选民支持死刑。这部分原因是因为2007年臭名昭著的柴郡谋杀案仍然留在人们的记忆里。一位母亲和她17岁和11岁的女儿在家被谋杀。母亲被强奸，年轻一点的女儿被性侵。嫌疑犯斯蒂文?海斯和约书亚?科米萨耶夫斯基当时都身处假释，他们纵火烧了那座房子。哈斯于2010年12月判处死刑，帮凶科米萨耶夫斯基于一月判处死刑，但两人都没有执行死刑。

1 meted   

v.（对某人）施以，给予（处罚等）( mete的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The severe punishment was meted out to the unruly hooligan. 对那个嚣张的流氓已给予严厉惩处。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The money was meted out only after it had been carefully counted. 钱只有仔细点过之后才分发。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

2 serial   

n.连本影片，连本电视节目；adj.连续的

参考例句：

• A new serial is starting on television tonight.今晚电视开播一部新的电视连续剧。
• Can you account for the serial failures in our experiment?你能解释我们实验屡屡失败的原因吗？

3 killer   

n.杀人者，杀人犯，杀手，屠杀者

参考例句：

• Heart attacks have become Britain's No.1 killer disease.心脏病已成为英国的头号致命疾病。
• The bulk of the evidence points to him as her killer.大量证据证明是他杀死她的。

4 waived   

v.宣布放弃( waive的过去式和过去分词 )；搁置；推迟；放弃（权利、要求等）

参考例句：

• He has waived all claim to the money. 他放弃了索取这笔钱的权利。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I waived the discourse, and began to talk of my business. 我撇开了这个话题，开始讲我的事情。 来自辞典例句

5 legislative   

n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的

参考例句：

• Congress is the legislative branch of the U.S. government.国会是美国政府的立法部门。
• Today's hearing was just the first step in the legislative process.今天的听证会只是展开立法程序的第一步。

6 chambers   

n.房间( chamber的名词复数 )；（议会的）议院；卧室；会议厅

参考例句：

• The body will be removed into one of the cold storage chambers. 尸体将被移到一个冷冻间里。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Mr Chambers's readable book concentrates on the middle passage: the time Ransome spent in Russia. Chambers先生的这本值得一看的书重点在中间：Ransome在俄国的那几年。 来自互联网

7 repeal   

n.废止，撤消；v.废止，撤消

参考例句：

• He plans to repeal a number of current policies.他计划废除一些当前的政策。
• He has made out a strong case for the repeal of the law.他提出强有力的理由，赞成废除该法令。

8 aged   

adj.年老的，陈年的

参考例句：

• He had put on weight and aged a little.他胖了，也老点了。
• He is aged,but his memory is still good.他已年老，然而记忆力还好。

9 raped   

v.以暴力夺取，强夺( rape的过去式和过去分词 )；强奸

参考例句：

• A young woman was brutally raped in her own home. 一名年轻女子在自己家中惨遭强暴。 来自辞典例句
• We got stick together, or we will be having our women raped. 我们得团结一致，不然我们的妻女就会遭到蹂躏。 来自辞典例句

10 invaders   

入侵者，侵略者，侵入物( invader的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They prepared to repel the invaders. 他们准备赶走侵略军。
• The family has traced its ancestry to the Norman invaders. 这个家族将自己的世系追溯到诺曼征服者。

11 accomplice   

n.从犯，帮凶，同谋

参考例句：

• She was her husband's accomplice in murdering a rich old man.她是她丈夫谋杀一个老富翁的帮凶。
• He is suspected as an accomplice of the murder.他涉嫌为这次凶杀案的同谋。