II. Write a 120-180-word summary of the text.

TEXT 2

I. Think ahead. Before reading the article answer the following questions: “What is capital punishment? Can you name any countries which have it?” Capital Punishment: For and Against

Capital punishment is one of these issues that divide people into two warring camps: those who want to abolish it where it exists, and those who strive to introduce it where it is not a part of the penal code. Each side comes up with forceful arguments, and there seems to be no end to bitter disputes. The proponents of the capital punishment all over the world are most usually people who came into direct contact with the seamy side of life, relatives of crime victims, and parents of kidnapped and abused children, policemen who see perpetrators of most hideous crimes go scot-free for lack of appropriate evidence. These are people who have seen the ugly face of crime once too often or too vividly to want a repeat show. In their opinion death by execution is the only really effective way to put an end to it. Various people campaign to introduce or preserve the capital punishment for different reasons. Some say it is the ultimate deterrent, the sword of Damocles that prevents criminals from murdering, raping, kidnapping. It is believed that a man will think twice before killing if he knows that, if caught, he might face the firing squad. Others suggest that retaliation, or « just reward for each deed», should be applied to murderers, that violence should be punished by violence. Eye for eye, tooth for tooth. They deny the convict any clemency saying that he did not feel sorry for the victim and should not expect mercy in return. One more viewpoint is that executions of notorious criminals are like a surgical operation that helps purge the human race, rid it of lowlife no-good elements, cut off the rotten branches. Those who hold this opinion say that the capital punishment serves a dual purpose: it excludes any possibility to commit more crimes by recidivists, gives a fair warning to those who potentially could become murderers. In other words, it is a matter of social self-purification and self-preservation.

There is also a large group of people who are against the capital punishment, and their arguments appear equally convincing. For example, they say that a lot of murders are committed by unstable deranged people who do not realize what they are doing and, therefore, do not consider the possibility of capture and execution. On the other hand, cold-blooded assassins get only more embittered if they know that death is the penalty for their misdeeds, which makes them more cunning and sophisticated. Another strong point is that when the State kills the murderer, it becomes like a murderer. Execution then appears to be an act of impotent rage of the society which cannot educate and reform the killer and is trying to wash its hands, turn away from the abortive product of its own making. A more subtle point is that the real punishment is not the instant death as a result of the execution, but long years of repentance when the murderer sentenced for the life is haunted by the terrible memories of this crime. From this point of view execution is rather merciful in comparison with the moral agony which the prisoner goes through if he is left alive. Abstract philanthropists and religious people maintain that is God that gives life to a human being and that, consequently; only God can take it away. That means that the State usurps the Divine Prerogative to grant life and take it away. A still more exotic Oriental doctrine of Karma holds that the sins of this life will be punished in one of the future lives, and victims of crime are now setting their debts from previous lives. One more argument, and a very strong one, is that it possible that an innocent person is wrongly convicted, and when such person is executed such judicial error cannot be corrected.