10. Translate into English.

Я опытный полицейский. И я уверен, что высшая мера наказания – это не месть и не акт возмездия. Конечно, смертная казнь никого не удерживает от совершения преступлений. Но она является показателем силы закона, справедливости, в которую еще верят люди. Я не хочу показаться жестоким человеком. Я не смог бы приводить приговоры в исполнение: обезглавить безоружного человека или сделать ему смертельную инъекцию, даже если это убийца. Тем не менее, я никогда не поддержу идею отмены высшей меря наказания. Видите ли, каждый день, почти каждый день я сталкиваюсь с преступниками, которые уже сидели в тюрьме. И что, думаете, тюремное заключение их исправляет? Ничего подобного. Закон нужно ужесточать, а не ослаблять. Вынесение смертного приговора – ответственная и сложная процедура: не должны пострадать невиновные люди. Я считаю, что смертная казнь должна быть сохранена, хотя бы как мера наказания за особо тяжкие преступления. ⁶⁰

11. Read the following newspaper stories. How do you feel when you read them? Work in groups. Discuss each case in turn.

Decide on an appropriate punishment for the offenders in each case.

A)

A sixteen year old girl was seriously injured after being knocked off her motorcycle by a motorist. It is feared that she may never be able to walk again. The motorist failed a breathalyzer test.

B)

An innocent man was released from prison today after serving ten years of a thirty year prison sentence for murder. The man had been found guilty on false police evidence. Before leaving the court, the man’s solicitor spoke to reporters: “Thank God we don’t have capital punishment anymore,” he said.

C)

A boy and a girl were in hospital yesterday after being attacked by guard dogs. They had climbed over a factory wall to fetch their football. They were attacked while looking for the ball. “If they hadn’t been in the factory, this wouldn’t have happened,” said the owner. “My dogs were just doing their job.”

d)

A young mother appeared in court yesterday. She was charged with stealing 20 pounds worth of food from a supermarket. The woman told the court that she had stolen the food for her children. She had lost her job and had no money. ⁶¹

Discuss:

1. Do you think people should be allowed to use a gun or a knife in self-defense?

2. If you carried a knife or a gun with you would you feel safe?

3. What measures can you take to prevent crime against yourself? (your car, flat, etc)

4. How strict are the gun control laws in your country?

5. Do you agree with those who think that guns should be banned in the US?

6. How can you comment the 2nd Amendment to the US Constitution: “A well –regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed”?

Listening: A Lifer Keen on Canaries

Listen to the story and fill the gaps:

Robert Franklin is an American criminal, a convicted__________, who became a self-taught ornithologist during 54 years in prison, 42 of them in_________ ____________. He became known for his contribution to the study of birds.

At the age of 13 Franklin ran away from home and, by the age of 18 was in Alaska, working as a pimp and living with a dance-hall girl. An argument over the girl led to his _________and killing a man. Pleading _______to manslaughter in 1909, he ____ _______to 12 years in a federal prison. After stabbing a fellow-prisoner and proving generally troublesome, he was transferred to Kansas where he continued to be a______, but began to educate himself, taking university extension courses. In 1916 he stabbed and killed a guard and was tried, _______and sentenced to_______, but in 1920 President Woodrow Wilson committed his sentence to ____ imprisonment in solitary confinement.

Thereafter, mostly in solitary confinement, he began raising canaries and other birds, collecting laboratory equipment, and studying the diseases of birds and their breeding and care. Some of his writings were ________ out of prison and published in 1943. Later, however, he was allowed to continue his research, but denied further right of publication. His research was considered an important work in the field of ornithology. ⁶²

Answer the questions:

1. Why was Franklin called troublesome?

2. How many crimes did he commit?

3. What education did he get?

4. What contribution did he make by his research?

Writing

How do people feel about the capital punishment?

What do you think of the capital punishment as an ordinary citizen and a professional?

Additional tests.

Text A

Punishments in the past

By David Write

Punishments in the past were extremely cruel. Physical punishments and death penalty were quite usual even for a minor disobedience or a petty crime.

Criminals were kept in a filthy, overcrowded, cold, damp and dark prison, often confined with manacles.

Torture to extract confession was common and the methods used included ‘pressing with weights’, the rack and the iron maiden. Minor offences could be punished by branding with red-hot iron.

After the discovery of overland, Australia was a popular destination for convicts. The age of criminal responsibility was low and young children might suffer the same fates as adults.

Two favorite punishments were the stocks and the pillory which were in some ways similar. The offender would be exposed for some period of time – perhaps an hour – to the ridicule of passers-by. The onlookers would throw rubbish, rotten fruit and stones at the criminal. The effect would be that all his neighbors would know of his offence. These gave rise to such expressions as ‘a laughing stock’, ‘pilloried by the press’ etc.

Many crimes were punished by death, which usually meant hanging in a public place. This was regarded as a great spectacle and crowds would come to watch the hanging of a well-known person. The atmosphere was like a carnival. The seats were sold, rooms overlooking the place were let for the day. Souvenirs would be sold, including pieces of the hanging rope, items of the executed person and even bits of his body as they were thought to have curative or magical properties.

Persons of high rank would be often beheaded and some could choose the implement used – an axe or a sword.

Answer the questions:

What punishments in the past were especially cruel?

How did the onlookers behave towards criminals in stocks or at the pillory?

What were the conditions in prison of the past?

Why was hanging public?

Why were souvenirs sold?

Fill in the missing words from the text:

1.The _____ was exposed to the ridicule of passers-by. 2. The punishment in the past was ____ by our standards. 3. It was common to punish people for a minor _____ . 4. Torture to extract _____ was common. 5. Minor offences were punished by ____ with hot-red iron. 6. Australia was a popular ______ for convicts. 7. The age of criminal _______ was low. 8. Crowds would come to ___ the hanging of a well-known person. 9. Persons of high rank were often _____ with an axe or a sword.

Text B. Scam

1. Match the phrasal verbs in bold in questions 1-8 to the definitions a-h.

1. Have you ever been given something by mistake and then had to hand it back?

2. Have you ever been ripped off by a shop assistant or taxi driver?

3. Have you ever been turned away from somewhere because you were wearing the wrong clothes?

4. Have you ever fallen for a little lie?

5. Have you ever got your own back on someone who had done you a bad turn?

6. Have you ever got away with doing something bad?

7. Have you ever made up an excuse for being late?

8. Have you ever regretted giving away personal information?

1. believed that a trick, a lie or a joke was true

2. cheated (eg someone charges you too much money for something)

3. escaped without punishment

4. invented

5. punished someone for something they have done to you

6. refused entry

7. return something

8. telling information or facts that you should keep secret

Read the headlines and explain the connection between them.

1. Police arrest internet scam gang

2. Tougher penalties for online crime

3. Scam victims fight back

Read the article and choose the best headline for it. Put the sections of the article in the correct order.

Find the idioms 1-4 in the article and choose the correct definition, a or b.

1 take the bait

a) accept what is offered b) refuse what is offered

2 putting up a fight

1. not trying to achieve something b) trying hard to achieve something

3 play someone at their own game

1. do someone what they have done to you b) make a lot of money

4 give them more teeth

1. make them less powerful b) make them more powerful

1)It is estimated that scam victims in the US are ripped off to the tune of 200 million dollars every year. Many of them are fooled by an email that has got through their anti-spam system. It informs them that they have been singled out to receive a very large sum of money. All they have to do is send their postal addresses and bank details to a ‘government official’ in some distant country. Those who take the bait exchange emails for a few days before being told that the money is almost ready for transfer to their account. The only slight problem is that the small sum of the US$80 is needed for bank charges. Hundreds of optimists around the world have the US$80 transferred to the

ago that she would never see her money again, other victims have been more fortunate and have had their money handed back. In the US, internet service providers claim to be winning the war on scam after seeing a drop of 75% in the last two years. The war may not be over, but it has most certainly begun.

a codeword on a piece of card and hold it in the photo. Amazingly, many of the conmen fall for the scam baiters’ tricks. These photos are then posted on the websites in ‘Halls of Shame’. The website galleries are full of photos of men and women holding pieces of card with ridiculous code words or, worse still, who have had their arms tattooed with something silly. Other scam baiters have actually managed to get the would-be conmen to pay – for bank charges and the like. The emails from the conmen

other side of the world. They will never see it again. The lucky ones stop there, but others will continue to pay advance fees, administrative sots, legal expenses and credit card charges in the desperate belief that they will soon be enormously rich. Winnie Mitchell, a divorced mother of six from San Fernando, lost her life savings when she gave away her bank details after falling for one email scam. But Winnie’s eldest daughter, Paloma, was not prepared to see her mother ripped off without putting up a fight. Paloma, a games programmer in nearby Mission Hills, joined a group of online scam baiters. The sport of scam baiting is to play the scammers on their own computers and wait, with pleasure, for the next email that offers them US$8 million and the

are also forwarded to government agencies that are involved in the fight against internet crime. They have the emails traced so that the accounts can be shut down and the photographs are sent to the local police forces who can make arrests. Anti-scam campaigners in many countries have got their governments to introduce tougher anti-scamming laws and these have given the police more teeth. Although Winnie Mitchell accepted long

chance to get their own back on the gangs that run the scams. The scam baiters’ achievements are posted on websites devoted to their hobby. Their stories are happy reminders that the bad guys don’t always get away with it. One email exchange between a scam baiter and a would-be conman begins in typical fashion with a mail from a ‘development commission’ asking for help in transferring a large sum of money. The scam baiter replied that he was sure he could get his ‘board of directors’ to agree to help. He made up a story about how his directors wanted more information about the representatives of the ‘development commission’. Could he please have his photograph taken with a digital camera and attached to the next email? For ‘security purposes’, he asked the would-be conman to write⁶³

Work in pairs. Discuss these questions:

• Have you ever received emails asking for money? What did you do?

• Do you know of any other scams, email or otherwise?

• What punishments do you think scammers should get?

• What is the most effective way to prevent such kind of crimes?

Prepare a presentation about punishments in the past. Illustrate your project with charts, pictures and photographs.

Text C. The Netherlands: a Land without Prisons

Holland is the most advanced country in its approach to offenders. The Dutch hold the view that harsh treatment only aggravates the problems that lead a person to crime. ‘A prison sentence does little to resocialise a person,’ says the vice-president of the Hague Court. ‘It more likely leads to rancor and bitterness. A mild sentence, possibly even just s fine, shows an offender that society cares about him.’ Because of this benevolent concept fewer and fewer people are serving time in Holland.

Whenever possible, the Dutch prefer to fine law-breakers rather than clap them in jail. But even for those imprisoned, every effort is made to provide an environment that will rehabilitate the convicts. While Dutch prisons are not Hilton hotels, neither are they fortresses full of cellblocks and harassment. Several prisons in Holland are country villas with only a handful of prisoners. In many institutions prisoners are allowed to wear their own clothes and keep personal possessions. They are given comfortably furnished rooms with homey curtains, and they are often allowed to work outside the prison or leave from time to time to visit their families.

Moreover, Holland has an extraordinary one-to-one ratio between prisoner staff members and inmates. ‘Our objective,’ says the Deputy Prison Director, ‘is not to make life pleasant for prisoners, but to normalize it as much as possible to prepare the prisoners for a return to society.’

Dutch officials maintain that their philosophy of short prison sentences and humanitarian treatment is essential if convicts are not to become repeaters. ‘A heavy sentence,’ they say, ‘keeps a person out of possible mischief longer, but it merely postpones and aggravates the problem of recidivism.’

Given that kind of success, it is not surprising that Holland’s liberal penal philosophy has won applause. ⁶⁴

• Compare the situation with prisons in Russia and in Holland.

• What are positive and negative aspects of the Dutch system?

• Is it possible to use some aspects of this system in Russia? Why? Why not?

Text B. The true story of a real fake

1. These words and phrases are in the text. What do you think the text is about?

Good-looking; trickster; cheated; mystery; charm; illegally; pretended; prison; $3 million; consultant; egotistical

2. Read the text. Match the headings to the correct paragraph.

1. Childhood and tricks

2. Frank today

3. Wanted all over the world

4. The FBI’s opinion of the Frank

5. Three top jobs and five happy years

1. Three top jobs and five happy years

Frank Abagnale, a good-looking American boy with more dreams than money, pretended to be first a pilot, then a doctor and then a lawyer.

For five years he travelled the world for free, stayed in expensive hotels and had relationships with beautiful women. By the age of twenty-one he had tricked and cheated his way to $2.5 million.

(b)

In the golden age of James Bond, Abagnale really was an international man of mystery. He was wanted by the FBI and Interpol (International Police) in twenty-six countries. His good looks and graying hair helped him, but his charm was his most important tool. He dressed well and everybody believed the stories he made up. Leonardo DiCaprio, who plays Frank Abagnale in the film ‘Catch me if you can’ said, “Frank Abagnale is one of the greatest actors who has walked the earth”.

(c)___________________________________________

Abagnale was a lonely child. When his mother, who was French, broke up with his father, a New York shopkeeper, Abagnale had to choose which parent to live with. Instead, aged sixteen, he dropped out of school, ran away from home and began his life as an international trickster. He used magnetic ink to change bank code numbers illegally. He managed to steal $40,000 of other customers’ money before the banks worked out what he was doing. He also got a Pan Am pilot’s uniform by saying that his was lost at the dry cleaner’s and that he had an urgent flight. This allowed him to stay in any hotel he wanted; Pan Am always paid the bill. He even pretended to be a doctor and worked as a hospital administrator for a year. With no formal training, he picked up the skills by reading medical books and watching other doctors at work.

(d)______________________________________________

Abagnale broke the law repeatedly. He ran out of the luck in France, where he spent time in prison, before the FBI finally caught up with him in the USA. Despite his crimes, Abagnale never had any enemies. Joseph Shea, the FBI man who arrested him and later became his friend, said, “I think Frank is close to genius. What he did as a teenager is incredible. His crimes weren’t physical. There were no guns, no knives, he just used his brain. He’s charming and I adore him. I think he’s a good man and a moral character, but like anybody he wants to better himself and in this country, money is the way to do it. He makes $3 million a year and that’s a lot more than I ever made”

(e)_________________________________________________

These days Abagnale doesn’t need to trick anybody: he is a successful consultant. He advises companies and security, and he also lectures – for free – at the FBI Academy. It is ironic that he has ended up working for the people who were trying to catch him for so long! He wrote his autobiography in the 1970s and sold the film rights for $250,000. Abagnale says, “When I was twenty-eight, like when I was sixteen, I was egotistical and self-centered. We all grow up.” That’s true. But not many people grow up like Frank Abagnale.⁶⁵

Answer the questions:

1. How old was Frank when he left home?

2. What did he look like?

3. How did he get his first $40,000?

4. How did he get a pilot’s uniform?

5. Who was Joseph Shea? What type of person do you think he was?

6. What does Frank do now?

7. How does Frank feel about his past?

Read the summary of Frank’s story and find eight differences between the text and the summary.

Frank Abagnale, a good-looking English boy, pretended to be first a pilot, then a doctor, and then a lawyer. For five years he travelled the world for free, stayed in expensive hotels and had relationships with beautiful women. Furthermore, by the age of twenty-one he had tricked and cheated his way to $250 million. In the golden age of James Bond, Abagnale really was an international man of mystery. He was wanted by the FBI and Interpol (International Police) in twenty-six cities. Abagnale’s charm was his most important tool. He dressed well and everybody believed everything he said. Leonardo DiCaprio, who plays Frank Abagnale in the film ‘Catch me if you can’, says ‘Frank Abagnale is one of the greatest actors who has ever walked the earth.’

Abagnale was a lonely child. When his German mother divorced his father, Abagnale had to choose which parent to live with. Instead, he ran away from home and began his life as an international trickster. He got a Pan Am pilot uniform by saying that his was stolen and that he had an urgent flight. This allowed him to stay in any hotel he wanted: Pan Am always paid the bill. What’s more, he even pretended to be a footballer and played for a professional team for a year.

He broke the law constantly but he never went to prison until he was finally caught in the USA. Despite his crimes, Abagnale never had any enemies.

These days Abagnale does not need to trick anybody: he is a successful consultant. He advises companies how to cheat their customers, and he also lectures at the FBI Academy. He wrote his autobiography in the 1970s and sold the film for $250,000. ⁶⁶

Discuss.

1. Joseph Shea said, ‘I think he’s a good man and a moral character.’ What do you think of Frank?

2. Frank says, ‘I thought it would be great to have a movie about my life.’ Would you like a movie about your life? Why? Which actor would you choose to act as you?