2012年北京师范大学考博英语阅读理解真题.pdf

中国考博辅导首选学校 2012年北京师范大学考博英语阅读理解真题 TEXT ONE As Americas digest the news of another gun atrocity, a mall shooting in Nebraska on December 5th, they cannot be blamed for thinking that guns are in too ready supply. But an article in the latestEconomic Journa suggests that the demand for illegal guns, at least, is not met as easily as people might fear. Sudhir Venkatesh, now of Columbia University, has talked to 132 gang-members, 77 prostitutes, 116 gun-owning youths, 23 gun-dealers and numerous other denizens of Chicagos Grand Boulevard and Washington Park neighbourhoods. He did not find many satisfied customers. （PS:The way to contact yumingkaobo TEL:si ling ling-liu liu ba-liu jiu qi ba QQ: s i jiu san san qi yi liu er liu ） Chicago has unusually tough restrictions on legal handguns. Even so the black market is surprisingly “thin”, attracting relatively fewbuyers and sellers.The authors reckon that the48,000 residents of the twoneighbourhoods buy perhaps 1,400guns a year, compared with at least 200,000 cocaine purchases. Underground brokers sell guns for $150-350, a mark-up of perhaps 200% over the legal price. They also demand a fee of $30-50 for orchestratingthedeal.Eventhen,30-40%ofthetransactionsfallthroughbecausetheseller cannot secure a gun, gets cold feet or cannot agree on a location for the deal. Buyers alsofind ithard toverify thequalityofthemerchandise.Theyoftenknow little about the weapons they covet. “Tony”, who owns a .38 calibre handgun, learnt how to use his weapon by fiddling with it. He even put a stone in it. “Did it fire?” Mr Venkatesh asked. “Im not sure. I think it did,” Tony said. Fortunately for Tony and his peers, their rivals and the victims of crime cannot tell iftheir gunswork any better than they can. Often, showing the “bulge” isenough to gain therespectofrivalgangs.Inrobberiesbrand