课前准备：

阅读文章，完成小试牛刀的问答题。

教师导引：上网搜集作者个人资料和文章背景资料可帮助理解文章。

小贴士：细读文章，每个审判官各有什么性格特点？

小试牛刀

What is the structure of the passage?

Answer:

The whole passage can be divided into three parts.

I. introduction

A. Setting: the jury room of a criminal court

B. Case: the murder of a man by his 18-year-old son

C. Preliminary vote: 11 to I in favor of guilty

D. Main characters: No 8, No 3, No. 7, No 10 and No4

II. The deliberations (paras. 26-267)

A. Essential facts about the case(paras. 26-57)

1. The testimonies of the old man and the short-sighted woman

2. The boy's story

3. The alleged motive for the murder

4. The boy’s record

B. The reasonable doubts raised (paras. 58-267)

1. The switch knife (paras. 58-93)

a. Facts about the knife the alleged murder weapon

b. Another knife of the same kind being brought to the jury room

c. Conclusion: possibility of another person killing the father

d. Second vote: 10 to I in favor of guilty(with No 8 abstaining)

2. The old man's testimony (paras. 94-117)

a. The circumstances under which he "heard" the boy's words

b. Conclusion of the improbability of his hearing those words

c. A plausible motive for the old man's lying

3. The boy's return to the apartment (paras. 118-137)

a. His arrest by the police after his return

b. Possible motives for his return

c. Implausibility of these motives

d. Third vote: 8 to 4 in favor of guilty

4. The old man's another testimony (paras. 138-179)

a. The old man's physical disability

b. The distance he had to cover to reach the door

c. The demonstration

d. Improbability of his reaching the door in time to see the boy running downstairs

5. The boy's alibi (paras. 180-204)

a. His failure to remember the names of the movies and the stars

b. A plausible reason for that fact--emotional stress

c. Failure of No. 4 to remember the names of the star and the movie he has seen recently

6. The downward angle of the stab wound (paras. 205-229)

a. The only way switch knife is used--stabbing down

b. The fact that the boy is much shorter than his father

c. Implausibility of the boy's making a downward stab

d. Fourth vote: 9 to 3 in favor of acquittal

7. The testimony of the woman across the street (paras. 230-267)

a. The woman's short-sightedness

b. The fact that no one wears glasses to bed

c. Improbability of her seeing the murderer clearly under the circumstance

III. The verdict: not guilty (paras. 268-281)

本章概览

学习目标

By the end of the class, students will be able to

1. Understand major concepts of the American judicial system and the logic behind each of them.

2. Read between lines about the social ills of the American society.

3. Make character analysis of each of the twelve jurors.

4. Learn the structure of a play.

知识结构