They'll never pick me, you thought. Three teenage kids torched a subway token booth after seeing the movie Money Train on cable television. They were caught at the scene red-handed, so they aren't claiming innocence. Instead, their defense is that the media are the real culprits; Money Train and television made them do it.
You listen as the prosecutor tells you and your eleven colleagues that similar appeals have been rejected in the past. A boy in Florida named Ronnie Zamora killed an elderly neighbor and said he was just imitating Kojak. Some boys gang raped two little girls after seeing a similar attack on an NBC made-for-television movie, Born Innocent. Both times juries like yours refused to place the blame on the media) Millions of people had seen the same content, those juries reasoned, and they didn't kill anyone, rape anybody, or set fire to anything.
Then you listen to the defense. These are good kids. They've never been in trouble. But they'd seen thieves in the movie squirt a flammable liquid into a token booth and set it afire, causing the clerk to open the door to escape. The defendants did what the movie had taught them to do, only this time the clerk didn't get out in time. She was burned to death. The lawyer asks,
Where would these children have gotten such an idea? Their parents didn't teach them this. Why did they think it was possible? Why did they think no one would get hurt? The attorney then quotes former Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole’s comments on the floor of the U.S. Senate after a series of similar attacks occurred when the movie was in the theaters. Those who work in Hollywood’s corporate suites must also be willing to accept their share of the blame, said the Republican who would eventually run for president. Is this how they want to make their livelihoods? Is this their contribution to society?
(1)They were caught at the scene red-handed⋯ (paragraph 1) means _______.
A、When they were caught, their hands were red
B、They were caught when they torched a subway token booth.
C、They were caught at the moment they saw a red hand.
D、They were caught by the police.
(2)In this case, the clerk in the subway token booth ______.
A、opened the door and escaped.
B、got out in time
C、was burned to death
D、was caught by the police
(3)The word attorney (paragraph 3) means______.
A、the judge
B、the lawyer
C、the jury
D、the defendant
(4)What’s Bob Dole’s attitude toward Hollywood’s corporate suites?
A、They accepted their share of the blame
B、They contributed a lot to the society.
C、They make their livelihoods in a right way.
D、They should be blamed.
(5)Which of the following is NOT mentioned in the defense?
A、The author believes that the media should not be blamed.
B、These are good kids and they’ve never been in trouble
C、The kids did what the movie had taught them to do
D、The kids thought no one would get hurt.