18考研英語：閱讀理解模擬訓練之法學話題（三）

做題引導
①閱讀並完成題目只是第一步，做完之後一定要認真評讀解析，尤其要學會理解、分析錯誤選項錯誤的原因，思考今後如何避免在做錯的地方再犯錯。
②重點詞彙、難句譯註根據自己的實際情況去掌握。
③時間充足的話，還可拿原文來做翻譯和長難句的練習。

原文閱讀
On Tuesday evening， the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Born-Alive Infants Protection Act on a voice vote. This is a simple， three-paragraph bill that would codify， for federal law purposes， the traditional definition of “born alive.” Specifically， under the bill， the terms “person，” “human being，” “child” and “individual，” whenever they appear in federal laws or regulations， will be construed to include “every infant member of the species homo sapiens who is born alive.” The term “born alive” is then defined as “complete expulsion or extraction from his or her mother，” followed by a heartbeat， respiration， or movement of voluntary muscles.
This is the legal definition already incorporateed in the laws of most states.

At 7：39 p.m. Tuesday， the Associated Press bureau in Washington sent out a dispatch that began， “The House voted Tuesday to define a fetus that is fully outside a woman‘s body as having been ’born alive，‘ which would give the fetus full legal protection.” The term “fetus” was employed repeatedly throughout the rest of the dispatch.

Quickly， I and at least one other reader pointed out to the AP editor on duty that “fetus” is not an appropriate or accurate term to apply to a human infant who is entirely born and alive. If an infant is born alive prematurely， then the proper term would be “premature infant” or “premature baby，”not “fetus.” Sometimes induction of labor is used as a method of abortion， and sometimes this results in a live birth. This is sometimes referred to as a “live birth abortion.” On occasion， other abortion methods also result in live births. But a premature infant is a premature infant—and a legally protected person—regardless of how he or she reached that state.

Regrettably， the AP did not correct its error. Instead AP editors compounded the original error bytransmitting updates that contained this statement： “The legislation is aimed at an abortion procedure critics call ‘partial-birth’ in which a fetus is partially delivered before being destroyed. Thirty states and the District of Columbia already have laws against the procedure.”

In fact， the Born-Alive Infants Protection Act does not restrict partial-birth abortion. In a partial-birthabortion， the fetus/baby is mostly delivered but the head remains in the womb while the skull is punctured—hence the name， PARTIAL-birth.

The fetus/baby destroyed in a PARTIAL-birth abortion has not achieved the “complete extraction or expulsion from his or her mother” required to be “born alive”under H.R. 2175. Moreover， the laws that the AP refers to are laws that define “live birth，” not laws restricting partial-birth abortion. According to the House Judiciary subcommittee that H.R. 2175 have codified the definition of “live birth” for their state-law purposes， and of these， 30 states and D.C. have codified definitions virtually identical to those contained in H.R. 2175. (D.C. has never enacted a restriction on partial-birth abortion.)
Reading Comprehension

1. What does the first paragraph mainly talk about?
[A] A new bill has been passed by the Home.
[B] The bill would be codified.
[C] The term “born alive” has a new definition.
[D] There are many debates about the bill.

2. What did the author probably mean by his saying， “This is the legal definition already incorporated in the laws of most states.”?
[A] The bill should come earlier.
[B] A lot of states have already adopted the definition in their laws.
[C] It will affect the federal laws.
[D] Both B and C.

3. Read paragraph 4 carefully and then point out that why did the author think that “fetus” is not a fitted word to describe that especially situation?
[A] An infant is alive but a fetus is not.
[B] The word “fetus” is not an accurate term.
[C] When you use the word “fetus”， there is something discrimination in your talk.
[D] “Fetus” is not considered as a real person but when you use the word “infant” to describe someone he or she is a real one who alive.

4. According to your understanding， what does partial-birth mean?
[A] It indicated the situation that an infant was failed to born.
[B] A method of abortion.
[C] An unsuccessful born of a child.
[D] Dystocia.

5. What did the Associated Press think about the live-born human infant ?
[A] They thought that the live-born human infant was still a fetus.
[B] They didn‘t think that the live-born human infant was still a fetus.
[C] They have no idea about the definition of a live-born human infant.
[D] They thought it was bloody to use the partial-born method to the fetus.

答案解析
1. [C] 仔細閱讀文中第一段可以發現，該段講述國會通過新法案重點是從法案的影響上來談的。其影響就是會對關於活體產嬰定義產生影響。這也是該段的中心。所以該題選 C.

2. [A] 細節與主旨對映題。此類題型給出文中一個細節並提供選項讓考生選擇，此時考生選擇答案必須依照原文的主旨進行把握。我們看這道題，雖然考查的是一句話，但通讀全文可以看出，作者的態度上儘管認爲該法案尚有不足，但基本上還是持贊同意見的。所以這裏選 A.

3. [D] 仔細比較原文可以發現，文中作者認爲胎兒和嬰兒的主要區別在於胎兒不被法律認可爲人，而嬰兒則可以受到此類保護。

4. [B] 細節題。仔細閱讀文中最後兩段就可發現 partial-birth 指的是一種墮胎方法。

5. [B] 推斷題。本題需要先排除干擾項 D 項。D 項的表述不是美聯社的觀點。在文中，作者提到美聯社時說他們是錯用了詞語，把活產嬰兒說成是胎兒。注意，這裏作者認爲是美聯社稱活產的嬰兒爲胎兒是用詞錯誤而並沒有認爲美聯社不把產下的活嬰兒當作嬰兒看。 這道題問我們美聯社的人怎麼看待活產嬰兒問題，即使問得很客觀，但歸根結底這是篇闡述作者個人觀點的議論文，只有緊緊抓住作者的觀點才能得出正確選項。故該題選 B.

核心詞彙
representative 代表;典型的，有代表性的
codify 編成法典
Associated press 美聯社
dispatch 急件
legislation 立法

原文翻譯
活體產嬰依然應該算作胎兒麼?

在週二晚上，美國衆議院在一次表決中通過了一項活體產嬰保護法案。這份法案很簡單，只有三個段落，這將對聯邦關於“活體產嬰”的定義編入法典。特別是，有了該法案後，一些諸如“人、人類、兒童、個體”的術語不論什麼時候出現在聯邦法律或規章中時，將被解讀爲包括了每一個已出生的人類活體胎兒。“活體產嬰”這個詞條由此被定義爲完全從他或她的母體中分離出來，有心跳，有呼吸或者有主動肌羣的活動。該條目已經進入了很多州的司法解釋。

週二晚 7：39，美聯社駐華盛頓辦事處發出了一個急件，開頭如下：“國會週二舉行投票表決，將完全脫離母體的嬰兒定義爲活體產嬰。這將給予這些胎兒們完全的法律保護。”“胎兒”這個詞條在接下來的報道中被反覆不斷地提到。 很快，我和至少一個讀過這篇報道的人指出，美聯社的值班編輯仍用“胎兒”一詞指代一個已經全部生出來併成活了的人類的嬰兒已經不大準確了。如果一個嬰兒早產併成活，那麼應該稱之爲“早產嬰兒”或“早產寶寶”而不是“胎兒”。

有時候，引產被用來作爲墮胎的一種辦法，但這往往導致產下活體嬰兒。這種情況常被稱爲活體生產墮胎。有時候，其他墮胎方法也會導致產下活嬰。但是一個早產嬰兒已經是一個早產嬰兒，是受法律保護的一個人，而不管他或她是怎麼來到世上。

遺憾的是，美聯社沒有改正他們的錯誤。取而代之的是美聯社的編輯們將最初的錯誤更嚴重化了。在他們發送的補充報道中，有這樣一條陳述：“這項立法目的是針對一種被批評人士稱爲部分生產的墮胎方法的。部分生產也就是指在破壞這個胎兒之前只把它部分生出來。三十個州和哥倫比亞特區已經立法反對這種墮胎方法。”

事實上，活產嬰兒保護法案並沒有限制部分生產法墮胎。在一次部分生產墮胎中，胎兒或者可以稱爲嬰兒的大部分都被生出來，但是頭部依然留在母體子宮內，直到被穿孔。因此命名爲部分生產。被部分生產破壞掉的胎兒沒有觸碰H.R.2175號法案所說的“完全離開他或她的母體”的限制條件，因此不能說是違法。而且，美聯社提到的法案限制的是活體生產，而不是限制部分生產法墮胎。據國會司法委員會的說法，H.R.2175將活體產嬰編入法典，是符合州立法的目的的。據此，三十個州和哥倫比亞特區將 H.R.中的定義原封不動的搬入到它們自己的法典中。(哥倫比亞特區此前從未有過一項關於部分生產法墮胎的法律。

難句點津
1. At 7：39 p.m. Tuesday， the Associated …full legal protection.“
本句話難在語序的調整上。只要把語序調整，符合漢語習慣本句話就不難翻譯了。本句應譯爲：週二晚 7：39，美聯社駐華盛頓辦事處發出了一個急件，開頭如下：”國會週二舉行投票表決，將完全脫離母體的嬰兒定義爲活體產嬰。這將給予這些胎兒們完全的法律保護。“

2. If an infant is born alive …or “premature baby，” not “fetus.”
“prematurely”是副詞，意思是“未成熟地，太早地，早熟地”。本句應譯爲：如果一個嬰兒早產並存活，那麼合適的稱呼應該是早產嬰或者早產寶寶，而非胎兒。

3. But a premature infant is a …he or she reached that state.
這是一個強調句，兩次重複提到“premature infant”目的在於強調早產兒應該被看作受法律保護的人。本句應譯爲：但是一個早產嬰兒就是一個早產嬰兒，一個受法律保護的人，不管他或她是怎麼來到這世上的。that state 在這裏指出生。

4. The legislation is aimed at an abortion …being destroyed.
這句話成分有些複雜。critics call ‘partial-birth’是修飾 procedure 的，而 in which a fetus is partially delivered before being destroyed.這句話又是用於修飾 partial-birth 的。本句應譯爲：這項立法目的是針對一種被批評人士稱爲部分生產的墮胎方法的。部分生產也就是指在破壞這個胎兒之前只把它部分生出來。

5. Thirty states and the District of Columbia already have laws against the procedure.
這裏“against”的意思相當於“forbid”。本句應譯爲：已經有三十個州和哥倫比亞特區立法禁止這種程序。