Comprehension Check

1. Divide the text into fragments and entitle them. State the main theme of each fragment.

2. Look through paragraph 1 and find sentences which may serve as answers to the following questions.

1. When and where are fines as a kind of punishment used?

2. What does community service as a punishment mean?

3. What is a suspended prison service?

4. What can you say about living conditions in prison in your country comparing with the ones in the Netherlands, for example?

5. Do you have corporal punishment in your country?

Written practice

1. On the basis of the text write a list of the different punishments for crimes which exist in your country. Write the names which you do not know in English in your own language.

2. Find the English terms for the different punishment in your list using a dictionary and the list of punishments for crimes available in the UK given below.

Capital punishment

Community service order

Suspended sentence

Imprisonment

Life imprisonment

Fine probation

Corporal punishment

Do the same forms of punishment exist in the criminal justice systems in the UK and in your country?

3. Put the punishment in the order you think best on the word ladder below, starting with the least serious and ending with the most serious. For example, you may think that the least serious punishment is probation, followed by a fine, followed by a community service order, as in the example.

Example:

Give reasons for the position of each punishment.

Discussion Points

1. "Imprisonment is revenge, but not rehabilitation". Write a paragraph containing two arguments for and two against this statement.

2. Which punishment can help to rehabilitate the offender?

3. What forms of reforming and reeducation can you suggest? Give reasons of using these forms instead of capital punishment, for example.

4. What do you think are the main aims of the penal system in your country? Do you agree with then?

Extra Activity

Read the text and answer the questions.

The Prison Cell

The cell door slammed behind Rubashov. He remained leaning against the door for a few seconds, and lit a cigarette. On the bed to his right lay two fairly clean blankets, and the straw mattress looked newly filled. The wash basin to his left had no plug, but the tap functioned. The pail (бак) next to it had been freshly disinfected, it did not smell.

He yawned, took his coat off, rolled it up and put it on the mattress as a pillow. He looked out into the yard. The snow shimmered (мерцать) yellow in the double light of the moon and the electric lanterns. Stars still shone clear and frostily, in spite of the lamps. On the outside wall, which lay opposite Rubashov's cell, a soldier with a rifle was marching the hundred steps up and down; he stamped at every step as if on parade. From time to time the yellow light of the lamps flashed on his bayonet.

Rubashov took his shoes off, still standing at the window. He put out his cigarette, laid the stub on the floor at the end of his bedstead, and remained sitting on the mattress for a few minutes. He went back to the window once more. The courtyard was still; above the machine gun tower he saw a streak of the Milky Way.

Rubashov stretched himself on the bunk and wrapped himself in the top blanket. It was five o'clock and it was unlikely that one had to get up here before seven in winter. He was very sleepy and, thinking it over, decided that he would hardly be brought up for examination for other three or four days. He took his pince-nez off, laid it on the stone-paved floor next to the cigarette stub, smiled and shut his eyes. He was warmly wrapped up in the blanket and felt protected; for the first time in months he was not afraid of his dreams.

When a few minutes later the warder turned the light off from outside, and looked through the spy-hole into his cell, Rubashov, slept, his back turned to the wall, with his hand on his outstretched left arm, which stuck stiffly out of the bed; only the hand on the end of it hung loosely and twitched in his sleep.

1. Do you think Rubashov has been in prison before? Give reasons for your answer.

2. What do you think the "daily exercise" consists of?

3. What do you think Rubashov has been dreaming about for the past few months?

4. What country do you think the story takes place in?

Read for Enjoyment

Legal Advice

Bursting into the lawyer's office, a butcher cried, "If a dog steals a piece of meat from my shop, is the owner responsible?"

"Of course," said the lawyer.

"Well, your dog took a piece of meat worth half a dollar about five minutes ago."

"All right," said the lawyer without blinking," give me the other half dollar and that will make my fee."

UNIT 10

For Study