In Bassaria a group of that country’s most senior judges has criticized the uniform mandatory sentences recently introduced for certain specific crimes.The judges argue that such sentences， by depriving them of all discretion in setting sentences， make it impos-sible for them to consider either aggravating or exten-uating circumstances and so make it impossible to achieve true justice―the fitting of the severity of the punishment to the gravity of the particular crime.

Which of the following， if true， provides the strongest evidence for the claim that in Bassaria the newly introduced mandatory sentences are not necessarily a change for the worse with respect to achieving true justice as defined in the argument?

(A)Before mandatory sentencing， judges in eastern Bassaria imposed strikingly different sentences from those in western Bassaria for equally grave instances of the same kind of offense.

(B)In Bassaria the frequency of crimes that have been made subject to mandatory sentences is lower now than it was just prior to the intro-duction of mandatory sentencing.

(C)The law introducing mandatory sentences was passed in the legislature of Bassaria by a large majority and is unlikely to be repealed in the foreseeable future.

(D)There used to be a wide difference between the minimum and the maximum sentences allowed by law in cases of crimes now subject to man-datory sentences.

(E)In Bassaria judges are appointed for life and are thus not easily influenced by political pressure groups.

8.Each of two particular inspection systems that are based on different principles would detect all product flaws but would also erroneously reject three percent of flawless products.Assuming there is no overlap between the products erroneously rejected by the two systems and also no interference between the systems if both operate，using both systems and rejecting only those products found flawed by both would be a way of avoiding all erroneous rejections.

Which of the following most precisely characterizes the reasoning in the argument?

(A)The reasoning is conclusive， that is， the conclusion cannot be false if the statements offered in its support are true.

(B)The reasoning is strong but not conclusive， if the statements offered in support of the conclusion are true， they provide good grounds for that conclu-sion， though it is possible that additional infor-mation might weaken the argument.

(C)The reasoning is weak; the statements offered in support of the conclusion， though relevant to it，by themselves provide at best inadequate grounds for the conclusion.

(D)The reasoning is flawed in that the conclusion is no more than a paraphrase of one of the pieces of evidence offered in its support.

(E)The reasoning is flawed in that the argument treats evidence that a factor is necessary to bring about an event as if it were evidence that the factor is sufficient to bring about that event.

参考答案：

AA