Bernard Jackson is a free man today, but he has many bitter memories. Jackson spent five years in prison after a jury wrongly convicted him of raping two women. At Jackson's trial, although two witnesses testified that Jackson was with them in another location at the times of the crimes, he was convicted anyway. Why? The jury believed the testimony of the two victims, who positively identified Jackson as the man who has attacked them. The court eventually freed Jackson after the police found the man who had really committed the crimes. Jackson was similar in appearance to the guilty man. The two women has made a mistake in identity. As a result, Jackson has lost five years of his life.
The two women in this case were eyewitnesses. They clearly saw the man who attacked them, yet they mistakenly identified an innocent person. Similar incidents have occurred before. Eyewitnesses to other crimes have identified the wrong person in a police lineup or in photographs.
Many factors influence the accuracy of eyewitness testimony. For instance, witnesses sometimes see photographs of several suspects before they try to identify the person they saw in a lineup of people. They can become confused by seeing many photographs or similar faces. The number of people in the lineup, and whether it is a live lineup or a photograph, may also affect a witness's decision. People sometimes have difficulty identifying people of other races. The questions the police ask witnesses also have an effect on them.
Question 33: What do we learn about Bernard Jackson?
Question 34: What led directly to Jackson’s sentence?
Question 35: What lesson do we learn from Jackson’s case?
【解析】
本篇文章讲述了Jackson因为被目击证人误认而被判刑，虽然最后洗清了罪名，但是却留下了惨痛的记忆。文章接着论述了为什么会出现这样的问题。可能是因为被害者对犯罪嫌疑人产生的混淆的记忆，或者在指认犯罪嫌疑人的过程中出现了不确定的情况。
虽然总体来说这篇文章难度不大，但是因为涉及专业知识，有一些词汇可能会成为考生的障碍。例如：testimony: 证人证言;witness: 目击证人;jury: 陪审团;sentence :刑期。如果考生平时能对这些单词有所接触，这篇文章在理解上就不会出现太大的问题。
相关阅读：
更多信息：