Choose one of the following statements as your opening sentence, write about your attitude towards careers advice, explaining your reasons.

1) Careers advice is waste of time and effort because I know what I want to do when I graduate from the University.

2) Careers advice could be useful to me for the following reasons…

 

UNIT 8. CRIME AND PUNISHMENT

TOPICAL VOCABULARY

-escape; -try (investigate); -trial; -guilty (innocent); -prison (US. penitentiary, jail); -imprisonment; -justice; -evidence; -abundant evidence; -convict; -conviction; -alibi; -witness; -court; -inquire; -inquiry; -release (on bail); -charge; -on a charge of; -accomplice; -complicity; -accuse (the accused); -attorney; -case; -examine (hear, close) a case; -take a matter to court; -summon smb to court; -court hearing; -plead guilty (not guilty); -jury (members of the jury); -foreman of the jury; -keep (break) the law; -commit a crime;

-cause a disturbance; -get publicity; -make official complaints; -identification parade; -incite (encourage) smb to do smth; -resort to (violence, etc); -generate fear; -be at war; -a grave (serious, petty) crime; -prevent crime; -criminal; -custody; -be in (take into) custody; -the defence; -defence counsel (lawyer); -defendant; -the dock (be in the dock); -give evidence; -plant evidence on smb; -frame a person; -bribe; -tax evasion; -battery; -maim; -rob; -plunder; -loot; -steal; -burglarize; -kidnapping; -murder; -blackmail; -rape;

-serve a term in prison; -sentence (verdict); -pass sentence on smb; -commute a sentence; -commute a death sentence to life imprisonment; -the trail of; -at a trail; -(punishable) offence; -suspended (nominal) sentence; -go on trial; -put smb on trial; -commit smb for trail; -bring in a verdict; -witness for the prosecution (the defence); -a false witness; -swear in a witness; -cross-examine (a witness); -community service (public works); -dismiss the case; -Department of Justice; -Attorney General; -Procurator General; -Supreme Court; -Circuit Court; -District Court; -Court of Appeal; -Grand Jury (US); -Magistrate; -Solicitor (Barrister); -Investigating Judge;

Which is the odd word out?

- to steal, to pilfer, to filch, to purloin, to rob, to smuggle, to thieve, to plunder;

- to chase, to trace, to pursue, to follow, to seek, to be after, to hunt;

- a scoundrel, a robber, a thief, a burglar, a murderer, a killer, a gangster, a bandit, a crook, a swindler;

- a prisoner, a defendant, a prosecutor, an eyewitness, a judge, an attorney, a sheriff, a lawyer, a barrister;

- blackmail, smuggling, theft, robbery, burglary, felony, bribery, swindling, drug addiction, kidnapping, fraud, infidelity.

Choose the right word.

a) guilt – blame – fault.

1) You want Alan to take the ***.

2) They say it was the boy’s ***.

3) To my horror in the public prosecutor’s office Oscar’s *** was said to be known and classified.

4) The evidence against him was so incontrovertible that the defendant had to admit his ***.

5) John’s attempt to shift the ***for his defeat on his companion met no response.

6) He could not prove my *** for the accident.

7) He acknowledged his ***.

b) to rob – to plunder – to loot – to steal – to burglarize.

8) The bank was *** today by two masked gunmen.

9) Invaders *** and *** throughout the entire country.

10) Can’t you see how the great trusts have *** your treasures?

11) The house of Julia Murton was *** on Wednesday night.

12) His mail was repeatedly ***.

13) He gathered a small army and descended upon the Big House which he *** and distributed the spoils among the poor people.

14) The thief ***the drawers of the contents.

15) You’ve … me of my ideas

16) The maid was accused of having … her mistress’ jewelry.

17) The villa must have been *** by some teenagers.

Read the text and comment on it.

Methods and Measures.

(from “Studying Crime by Studying its Victims”)

Everyone of us has heard, probably in the recent past, about the rising rate of crime. But what is the crime rate in America today? Oddly enough, nobody really knows. Police statistics are our primary source of information about crime. But what do those statistics actually mean? When a police department reports that the crime rate is up, people in the community often react with fear and dismay. But such reports may not reflect an actual increase in crime. Instead they may mean that more criminals are being caught – or they may indicate that more people are reporting crimes.

At present we have no truly reliable measures of criminal activity. Many crimes go unreported – rape victims, for example, often are ashamed to talk to the police. The statistics don’t include detected crimes like bribery of customs officials. And since many crimes are never solved, the number of arrests does not tell us much. For many other crimes, however, arrest seldom leads to conviction. For example, only about one-quarter of all burglaries and auto thefts are “cleared” when a suspect is brought in. Obviously, the official figures conceal a vast reservoir of undetected, unreported, and unrecorded crimes.

According to the most conservative estimate, one in every ten people is a victim of a crime each year – a figure 400 per cent higher than that reported by the police.

Dramatic as these estimates are, they’re probably still too low. Surveys of victims are valuable – both in theory and in practice. From theoretical standpoint, improved surveys will make it possible to relate the experience of being a victim to various sociological factors – such as income, education, and race – as well as to such psychological factors as fear of crime and attitude towards law enforcement. In other words, it should be possible to get a good picture of the victim. And perhaps we’ll find out whether some people are more likely than others to be the targets of crime.

From a practical standpoint, the survey should give some accurate information on crime rates. When an increase in crime is reported, the average citizen often concludes that the police aren’t doing their job. In fact, the opposite is often true. A low crime rate may simply mean that the police aren’t overlooking a good deal of criminal activity. Surveys on victimization could give the public a better picture of what the police are actually doing about crime.

Answer the following questions.

1) What types of crime do you know? Have you ever been a victim of a crime? 2) Do the accused always get a fair sentence? 3) Have you ever been a witness of a crime? 4) Did you ever have to give evidence in court? 5) What minor crimes can bring you to court trail? 6) What are the motives of kidnapping? 7) What are the reasons for the increase in violence among teenagers in our country? 8) Do you think that people who have served in prison or penitentiary come out morally improved and uncapable of commiting a crime? 9) Are you in favour or against capital punishment? Do you think it may lower crime rates? 10) What measures can the state take to prevent crimes?

Comment on the following quotations.

1. Society prepares the crime; the criminal commits it. (H. Buckle)

2. If poverty is the mother of crimes, want of sense is the father. (J de la Bruyere)

3. Every unpunished murder takes away something from the security of every man’s life. (D. Webster)

4. Many commit the same crimes with a very different result. One bears a cross for his crime, another a crown. (D. J. Juvenal)

5. One eyewitness is of more weight than ten hearers. (T. M. Plautus)

6. He who decides a case without hearing the other side, though he decides justly, cannot be considerate just. (L. A. Seneca)

7. It’s better to risk saving a guilty person than to condemn an innocent one. (F. M. A. Voltaire)

6. Use the following proverbs in situations of your own. Give Russian equivalents if possible.

1. He that once deceives is ever suspected.

2. Rather suffer an injustice than commit it.

3. A lawyer never goes to law himself.

4. Necessity knows no law.

5. Opportunity makes the thief.

6. The end justifies the means.

Solve the problems.

1) Your mother is going to die unless you buy a very expensive medicine, which can save her life, but you can’t afford it. Would you rob the chemist’s shop to get it?

2) There was a mass kidnapping at the airport. The kidnappers wanted a ransom and they shot a hostage every hour between 12 noon and 11 p. m. When the last hostage was shot, they vanished down the secret tunnel and got away. You are a police officer. What would you do?

3) Having discovered that someone was regularly drinking his whisky, the man decided to put the poison into one of the bottles. Do you think he had the right to do that?

4) Your brother is being looked for by the police. You are aware of it and you hid him in your house for a while. You know where he is now. Would you tell the truth when asked by the police?

5) Your baby is kidnapped and you were asked a very large sum of money. What would you do?