Law and order, crime and punishment1. Look at the picture on the right. What can you see in it? Why do you think they can be called the symbols of justice? What do the scales, the double-edged sword and the blindfold symbolize? 2. Classify the vocabulary below into 4 groups. A thief, a verdict, a suspended sentence, to accuse, a court, a kidnapper, capital punishment, a mugger, to arrest, a shoplifter, to deny, a pickpocket, a defense lawyer, to release on bail, to admit, a blackmailer, a judge, a hijacker, to put on probation, a forger, a jury, a smuggler, Community Service, an arsonist, a prosecution lawyer, to execute, the accused, a rapist, a witness, corporal punishment, a fine, to question, a plea, a jail sentence, to acquit. 3. Work with a partner and correct the mistakes in the following sentences, putting the stress on the corrected information. 1. A mugger threatens to make secrets known to the public. 2. A shoplifter steals things from people's pockets, especially in a crowd. 3. A hijacker takes goods or people from one country to another illegally. 4. A jury questions the witness. 5. The jud ge pleads guilty or not guilty at the beginning of a trial. 6. You normally get a jail sentence if you are caught driving too fast on the motorway. 7. Some people think capital punishment is a more useful and positive way of punishing people than giving a jail sentence. 8. He denied stealing the car when he saw all the evidence against him. 9. He was put on probation until the case could be heard. 10. They executed him when they found the police had been lying. 4. There are four prisoners on 4 floors (ground, first, second and third). Work in groups of 6. Each student in a group will get one clue about the prisoners. Don't show your clue to the other students in the group. 4. There are four prisoners on 4 floors (ground, first, second, third). Work in pairs or groups. From the clues, can you work out the name (Billy Villain, Kevin Crook, Mickey Felon, Tommy Culprit), crime and sentence (5, 10, 15, 25) of the person on each floor. 1. The thief has a first-floor cell. 2. The blackmailer is in the cell directly above Tommy Culprit. 3. The second-floor prisoner is Billy Villain. 4. Mickey Felon is imprisoned higher up than the kidnapper. 5. The kidnapper got 15 years and the blackmailer got 10 years. 6. The murderer got a longer sentence than the thief. 5. Discuss what, if any, punishment you think would be appropriate for the following people. 1. Three children aged ten, eleven and twelve who deliberately damaged a railway line. As a result, a train came off the line and several people were injured. 2. A single unemployed parent with four children who stole 20$ worth of food from a supermarket. 3. A successful businessman who was found to have deliberately not paid 20,000$ a year in taxes for the last five years. 4. An animal rights activist who put a bomb in a university laboratory which experiments on animals. The laboratory was destroyed, but no animals or people were hurt. 5. A doctor who had been working for thirty hours without a break and gave the wrong drugs to a patient. As a result a patient died. 6. Match idioms 1-15 with the correct definitions a-o. 1. a con trick; 2. a fence; 3. an inside job; 4. blow the whistle on someone/something; 5. case a joint; 6. catch someone red-handed; 7. cook the books; 8. do a bunk; 9. do time; 10. fall off the back of a lorry; 11. go straight; 12. get off scot-free; 13. grease someone's palm; 14. joy-riding; 15. launder money. a) (of goods to be stolen); b) bribe someone; с) discover someone in the act of committing a crime; d) a dishonest trick played on someone in order to get money from them; e) legitimize money obtained illegally; f) publicly reveal something illegal or dishonest; g) stealing a car and driving it, often dangerously, just for fun; h) examine or inspect the place you intend to rob; i) someone who buys and sells stolen goods; j) avoid punishment completely; к) falsify a company's accounts; cheat at bookkeeping; 1) a crime committed by someone connected with the place or organisation where the crime took place; m) serve a prison sentence; n) give up a criminal way of life; not break the law again; о) disappear without telling anyone where you are. 7. Complete the following sentences with a suitable idiom. Choose from the ones listed above and make changes to the verbs where necessary. 1. The police … the thieves … as they were leaving the shop through a back window. 2. The mysterious disappearance of one of the cashiers shortly after the robbery confirmed the police's suspicions that it had been an …. 3. He only got the contract because he … a government … official's. 4. He had been … for years, trying to cover up the £10,000 he had taken from the company. 5. When Tom came out of prison after serving two years, he promised his girlfriend that he would … and never steal again. 6. A few years ago, my cousin … for fraud. He was in prison for three years altogether. 7. Don't buy those cassette recorders. If they're that cheap they must have …. 8. Although the police knew they had committed the crime, they couldn't prove it, so the men …. 9. Most bank robbers … thoroughly before attempting to rob it. 10. He … in the middle of the night to avoid paying his hotel bill. 8. There are two unusual crime stories below. Unfortunately they are all mixed up. Try to sort them out by putting the sections in the correct order. Number the first story 1-7 and the second one 8-13. 1. … worked out that the best way of entry was through the roof. There was, however, the slight problem… 2. … gang were forced to flee before they even had a chance to enter the building. 3. THE QUICKEST BANK ROBBERY DETECTION When Eddie Blake slid a note to the… 4. … that it lay directly beneath an overhead railway near London Bridge Station. Undeterred, the gang dug out… 5. demand note had been written on the back ofan envelope with his name and address on it. 6. … a bag and hand it over". The girl did as she was asked and within minutes Blake was… 7. …the amount needed, and the resulting explosion closed three mainline stations for four hours, stranded … 8. THE MOST CONSPICUOUS BREAK-IN ATTEMPT A gang, determined to rob a Bermondsey tobacco warehouse… 9. … when he arrived breathlessly home, the police were waiting for him. His… 10. thousands of commuters and brought rush-hour traffic to a complete standstill. The noise attracted police from a wide area, and the… 11. … running through the crowded streets with his haul. An hour later… 12. the gravel between the railway sleepers and filled it full of gelignite. They slightly overestimated… 13. … cashier of a Nevada bank the message was clear. "This is a hold-up." it announced. "Put all the money in… Why are these crime stories unusual? Do you know any other stories about unsuccessful crimes? Law and order, crime and punishment
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