Throughout history people have been put to death for various forms of wrongdoing. The death penalty is the most controversial penal practice in the modem world. Other harsh, physical forms of criminal punishment—referred to as corporal punishment (体罚) —have generally been eliminated in modem times. In the majority of countries, contemporary methods of punishment—such as imprisonment or fines—have abandoned infliction (施加) of physical pain. Although imprisonment and fines are universally recognized as necessary to the control of crime, the nations of the world are split on the issue of capital punishment. About 90 nations have abolished the death penalty and an almost equal number of nations retain it. The trend in most industrialized nations has been to first stop executing prisoners and then to substitute long terms of imprisonment for death as the most severe of all criminal penalties. The United States is an important exception. The federal government and a majority of U.S. states provide for the death penalty, and on average 75 executions occur each year throughout the United States. Since ancient times most governments have punished crimes by death as a routine part of the administration of criminal law. However, in the nfid-18th century, social critics began to criticize government practices they considered unjust, including capital punishment. The debate over whether governments should utilize the death penalty continues today. Critics of capital punishment argue that it is cruel and insulting while supporters assert that it is a uniquely effective punishment that prevents crime. However, advocates and opponents of the death penalty dispute the proper interpretation of statistical analyses of its preventing effect. Opponents of capital punishment see the death penalty as a human fights issue involving the limits of governmental power. In contrast, the advocates tend to regard capital punishment as an issue of criminal justice policy. Because of these alternative viewpoints, there will be further debate not only about what is the right answer on capital punishment, but about what type of question is being asked when the death penalty becomes a public issue. According to the first paragraph, corporal punishment ______.