7. The only arguable plea for capital punishment…:
arguable 可 争 论 的 , 可 辩 论 的 ；
prospect :hope；but since ；used to :过去常常；claim 理由；mass destruction: 极大杀伤
力； the right of society to retribution in this world with the prospect of life in another 等于:
with the prospect of life in another, a society has a right to give one the retribution.因为拥有给你来生的幸福期待,所以社会有权力能给你报应(惩罚), with 这里做原因状语存在；
8. nevertheless=however；claim 理由,观点；none the less ；该句:这个观点是可以得到支持
的-如果这种同情能够激励那些要废除死刑的人,那么这种同情就不是对那些死刑犯感情
的同情,而是对毁掉生命奇迹的一种同情； 如改为:it is a claim that can be sustained if
compassion animates those who urge the abolition of the death penalty and it is not a sentimental compassion for the mental agony inflicted upon a condemned man but a dread of destroying the miracle of life. 即句子结构为: it is …sustained if death penalty and it is 这是一个能够支持的论点,如果这种同情能够激发那些不支持死刑犯的人士,而这种同情不是对被宣告有罪的人们精神折磨的同情,而是对对毁掉生命奇迹的一种同情.
9. offences against the law 犯罪行为； today 时间状语； severity :serious ;
penal code 刑法；civil code 民法；
When in the eighteenth century offences against the law that today would no earn a month in prison were punished with the death penalty, the severity of the penal code had no serious effect on the prevalence of crime.