Comprehension Check

1. Look through the text and say whether the following statements are true or false?

1. Customs are written rules and regulations made by governments.

2. We can break the rules of social institutions without suffering any penalty.

3. Some laws are made by governments and nations and enforced against all citizens within their power.

4. Unlike social customs, laws are usually international.

2. Look through paragraph I and give your own examples of a descriptive and prescriptive law.

3. Read paragraphs 2 and 3 and say what their theme is. Find out the definition and sources of customs. Find the sentences devoted to different ways of punishment for breaking customs.

4. Scan paragraph 4 to find the proof that the law in some cases is not enforced against someone.

5. Reread paragraphs 5 and 6 and name four possible influences on a government when it is making a law.

6. On the basis of paragraph 7 try to prove that some laws appear to differ from common sense.

7. On the basis of the text match the terms and their definitions. Consult the glossary if necessary.

1. Crime 2. Abuse 3. Penalty 4. Evidence 5. Court

a) that which tends to prove the existence or non-existence of some fact; b) (a large room in) a building where trials and other legal cases happen, or the people present in such a room, esp. the officials and those deciding whether someone is guilty; c) an act committed in violation of a law; d) a punishment fixed by law, as for a crime; e) to use or treat (someone or something) wrongly or badly, esp. in a way that is to your own advantage.

8. Pick out from the text all the word combinations with the following words (terms) and give their Russian equivalents.

-laws -justice

-to break -court

-crime -rule

Written Practice

1. In order to retell the text it's always necessary to compress the information contained in paragraphs. So make the following sentences shorter retaining the main idea.

Model:

The ways in which people talk, eat, drink, work and relax together are usually guided by many such informal rules which have very little to do with laws created by governments. The ways people behave are guided by informal rules, which are not made by governments.

1. We learn how we are expected to behave in society through the instruction of family and teachers, the advice of friends, and our experiences in dealing with strangers.

2. The rules of social institutions tend to be more formal than customs, carrying precise penalties for those who break them.

3. But if we continually break the rules, or break a very important one, other members of society may ridicule us, criticize us, act violently toward us or refuse to have anything to do with us.

4. In order to be enforced, common sense needs to be defined in law, and when definitions are being written, it becomes clear that common sense is not such a simple matter.

5. Anarchists themselves argue that human beings would be able to interact peacefully without laws if there were no governments to interfere in our lives.