問題詳情

第 44 至 47 題為題組The term “forensic linguistics,” in its broadest sense, covers all areas of study where language and lawintersect. A famous example of its application is the case of Chris Coleman, who was suspected of killinghis family in 2009. Robert Leonard, the head of the forensic linguistics program at Hofstra University,presented some important linguistic evidence in the trial against Coleman. Relying heavily on word choiceand spelling, Leonard suggested that the same person had written the threatening e-mails and sprayed thegraffiti, and that those samples bore similarities to Coleman’s writing style. Coleman was later found guiltyof the murder.Robert Leonard was not the first one who resorted to linguistic evidence in criminal investigation. Thefield of forensic linguistics was brought to prominence by his colleague James Fitzgerald in 1996 with hiswork in the case of the Unabomber, who had sent a series of letter bombs to college professors over severalyears, causing serious casualties. Working for the FBI, Fitzgerald urged the publication of the Unabomber’sletter—a lengthy declaration of the criminal’s philosophyAfter the letter was published, many people called the FBI to say they recognized the writing style.By analyzing sentence structure, word choice, and other linguistic patterns, Fitzgerald narrowed down therange of possible authors and finally linked the letter to the writings of Ted Kaczynski, a solitary formermathematician. For instance, Kaczynski tended to use extensive parallel phrases, which were frequentlyfound in the bomber’s letter. Both Kaczynski and the bomber also showed a preference for dozens ofunusual words, such as “chimerical” and “anomic.” The bomber’s use of the terms “broad” for women and“negro” for African Americans also enabled Fitzgerald to roughly calculate the suspect’s age. The linguisticevidence was strong enough for the judge to search Kaczynski’s isolated cabin in Montana; what was foundthere put him in prison for life.On some level, finding hidden meanings from linguistic evidence is what we all do intuitively in ourdaily language interaction. This is exactly the same work forensic professionals do. As one forensiclinguisticsfirm, Testipro, puts it in its online promotional ad, the field can be regarded as “the basis of theentire legal system.”

44. What is the main idea of the passage?
(A) Robert Leonard has provided linguistic evidence in court cases.
(B) The FBI relies mainly on language experts to solve its crime cases.
(C) Studying texts can provide critical evidence in criminal investigations.
(D) Finding hidden meanings in language use is important for daily interactions.

參考答案

答案：D
難度：困難0.297872
統計：A(7),B(10),C(14),D(14),E(0)

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