Crime is international

One reason for crime going inter­national is drug trafficking. Reformers think the law should be changed and certain drugs should be decriminal­ized; they say this would put some of the drug traffickers out of business, but wouldn't cause an increase in the use of drugs.

Another problem nowadays is crime through the Internet. It can have differ­ent forms: stealing money from bank accounts and secret information, send­ing viruses, various forms of propagan­da etc. Certainly, the Internet provides the opportunity of freedom of speech and choice, but in some cases the infor­mation put there can break the law and human rights. So there should be some law about this problem.

From “Britain Now”

 

Task 2. Answer the questions on the text.

a) What sort of crime is more common in the UK nowadays?

b) What are the theories about why crime rate is increasing?

c) What is the worst criminal problem nowadays?

d) Do you think there can be some criminal problems concerning the Internet?

e) What can we do to beat the crime?

 

Task 3. Complete these word combinations according to the text.

· armed _______________

· economic _______________

· to make _______________ as a criminal

· social _______________

· material _______________

· to commit _______________

· _______________ members of society

· to _______________ loans

· to burn smth _______________

· _______________ companies

· in return for _______________

· drug _______________

· to put drug traffickers _______________

· to _______________some drugs

 

Task 4. Complete the sentences with a suitable form of a phrase from the list.

accuse smb (of smth)

appear in court

arrest smb (for smth)

commit (a crime)

face charges

find smb innocent

pay a fine

plead guilty

put smb on trial

return a verdict

suspect smb of smth

take up a case

a) The accused was ____________ and sentenced to five years in prison.

b) I'm ____________ tomorrow and the prosecution will be opposing bail.

c) The owners were ____________ of setting fire to their own premises.

d) He was made to ____________ of $30 for parking in the wrong place.

e) She was arrested and ____________ for murdering her husband.

f) The best lawyer ____________ her case and won it for her.

g) I'm ____________ you for the murder of your husband.

h) He was ____________ stealing money from the safe but they had no real evidence.

i) You'll be ____________ a number of serious charges when you go before the judge.

j) The jury ____________ of him not guilty.

k) You have ____________ a minor offence and I won't be too harsh with my sentence.

l) If you ____________, the judge will probably reduce the sentence.

 

Task 5. Put in the right preposition.

a) What is your attitude ____________ the problem of drug-trafficking?

b) All the sympathies of the jury were ____________ the defendant.

c) Finally the criminal was convicted ____________ an assault.

d) The detective took pains to extract information ____________ him.

e) After a long questioning the suspect confessed ____________ committing robbery.

 

Task 6. Fill in the correct word derived from the word in brackets.

Last night, Joe Bloggs was arrested on____________ (suspect) of robbery. The police had no____________ (prove) that he'd committed the crime and Joe denied the____________ (charge) saying he had a good alibi. When he was put on ____________ (try) the police called some witnesses but Joe's____________ (law) ____________ (defense) his client well and tried to prove that Joe hadn't done anything ____________ (legal). However, the jury found Joe____________ (guilt) and he was sentenced to six months in prison. As he'd never committed a____________ (crimi­nal) before this was a very heavy____________ (punish). Most people were con­vinced of Joe's____________ (innocent) and his lawyer appealed against the verdict.

From: Luke Prodromou. Grammar and Vocabulary for FCE

 

Task 7. Translate the following text into English.

Однажды ночью мистер Джонс, убив свою жену, хоронил ее в саду. Его сосед, услышав шум, вышел и спросил мистера Джонса, что он де­лает.

— Просто хороню кошку, — ска­зал мистер Джонс.

— Забавное время для похорон кошки, — заметил сосед.

— Забавная кошка, — ответил мистер Джонс.

Всем понятно, что в таком об­ществе, как наше, необходим некий закон, который бы удерживал лю­дей, подобных мистеру Джонсу, от убийства своих жен. Когда челове­ческое сообщество находилось на примитивной стадии развития, та­кого закона не было, и если муж решал убить жену, а жена — мужа, это было их личным делом, и ник­то им не мешал.

Однако вот уже на протяжении долгого времени в целях самозащи­ты человечество использует закон.

Иначе сильнейший мог бы делать что угодно с тем, кто слабее его, а нехорошие люди объединились бы и не давали жизни окружающим. Если бы не закон, мы бы не могли выйти на улицу среди бела дня из-за страха быть похищенными, ог­рабленными или убитыми.

Нетрудно понять, что закон су­ществует не только потому, что на свете много нехороших людей. Даже если бы мы все были исключитель­но хорошими, закон все равно был бы нужен. Как бы, к примеру, мы бы ездили по дорогам, если бы не было правил дорожного движения? Без них много хороших людей мог­ло бы погибнуть.

Поэтому каждая страна пытает­ся принять законы, которые помог­ли бы гражданам жить как можно безопаснее и спокойнее. К сожале­нию, закон не может удовлетворить всех. Тем не менее, несовершенные законы все же лучше беззакония.

 

 

? VOCABULARY PRACTICE

1.8. authorities: customs and police

Task 1. Study the given material and learn the vocabulary units you have been unfamiliar with.

A. Entering and leaving: customs

On arrival in most countries as a foreigner you have to show your passport, a landing card1 and often a customs declaration form2. You may need a visa and a vaccination certificate3, depending on the entry restrictions4. Customs carry out spot checks / random checks5 on people's luggage. They use sniffer dogs6 to search for drugs and explosives. In most cases, you have to clear customs7 at the port of entry8. Genuine refugees may try to seek political asylum9. Customs officers also look out for illegal immigrants, some of whom may be economic migrants10.

1 form with your personal details and date of arrival 2 form showing how much money and what goods you are carrying 3 paper proving you have had the necessary health injections 4 rules about who can enter a country and for how long 5 checks done without warning 6 specially trained dogs who can smell drugs and bombs 7 take your bags through customs 8 the port or airport where you first enter a country 9 permission to stay in another country to avoid political persecution back home 10 people who try to enter from poorer countries just to get work