15. Supply the correct form of the verbs given in brackets and perform the role play given below. School Shootings Using Students as Metal Detectors

Andy Williams, it seems, was the kind of kid no one took too seriously. Neil O’Grady (1) ________________ (to laugh) when he (2) _________________ (to hear) about it. “Andy (3) ______________ (to talk) for a while about getting a gun and bringing it to school to shoot people. He even told me to stay home Monday, but I sort of (4) _______________ (to laugh) because I thought it (5) _________________ (to be) a joke,” said Neil of his close friend, Charles Andrew Williams.

Josh Stevens, another good friend, also (6) _______________ (to dismiss) the threats, which he believes Williams (7) ______________ (to share) with “20 or 30 people”. That in itself was reason not to worry. Stevens reasoned: “If he (8) ________________ (to be) serious, you (9) _______________ (not to think) he (10) _______________ (to tell) people.”

Andy Williams (11) _______________ (to tease) by older teens. “People (12) _________________ (to steal) his shoes and skateboard and other stuff, and he just let them.” To his friends back in Brunswick, Md., where he (13) _______________ (to live) before, he would complain about the casual brutality of a teenage culture in which any display of vulnerability marked you as “faggot”. But Williams apparently didn’t impress most adults as the kind of alienated loner who needed (14) _______________ (to watch). Which is why even the people he (15) _______________ (to tell) about it (16) ________________ (to shock) on Monday when, according to police, Williams pulled out an eight-shot, .22 caliber handgun and began firing in a boys’ bathroom, (17) _______________ (to kill) two students and (18) _______________ (to wound) thirteen, including two adults.

In retrospect, of course, those in whom Williams (19) _______________ (to confide) now wish they (20) _______________ (to be) less sure he (21) _______________ (to joke). “I kind of feel I’m to blame for some of this because I could (22) _______________ (to do) something,” says Chris Reynolds, who (23) _______________ (to hear) about the plan two days before the shooting.

Now students (24) _______________ (to ask) to bear the brunt of responsibility for their own safety, on the theory that “students are the best metal detectors”, in the words of school-board president Daniel McGeorge. Each September, vice principals meet individually with each of the 1,900 students to urge them (25) _______________ (to come) forward – anonymously, if they wish – with information about potential threats from classmates.

Obviously, teenage culture has a strong bias against informing. “No one wants the stigma of (26) _______________ (to be) a squealer,” says Charles Ewing, the author of “When Children Kill”. Ewing estimates that 60 to 70 percent of school shooters talked about their killing in advance, and so in theory they could (27) _______________ (to stop).

To break through the stigma, school authorities (28) _______________ (to rethink) incentives. One way to encourage informing is to pay for it. In the three years this program of rewards (29) _______________ (to be) underway in Tampa, Fla., 48 weapons (30) _______________ (to recover), including eight firearms.

“Snitching (31) _______________ (to become) cool,” says James Allan Fox, a nationally recognized criminologist. “Ten years ago if you (32) _______________ (to say) ‘I (33) _______________ (to bring) a gun to school,’ the reaction (34) _________________ (to be) ‘Yeah, right’. Now it (35) _______________ (to take) seriously.” But Santana, still (36) _______________ (to cope) with the grief and havoc wreaked by one child’s rage, could only wish someone (37) _______________ (to take) Andy Williams seriously.

(From ‘Newsweek’, abridged)

Role play. You are in Santana discussing the school shooting and the circumstances that led to it. You must find how it might have been prevented and make suggestions how similar tragedies could be prevented in future.

Role 1. You are Santana school-board president Daniel McGeorge. You think the students themselves are to blame for what happened. “If they …, Andy Williams would never … . I suggest …. . I find it essential that … .”

Role 2. You are Rosalinda King, Williams’ teacher. You are sure Andy was emotionally disturbed because his parents had got divorced, so it was all their fault. “If they …, Andy wouldn’t … . I wish Andy … .”

Role 3. You are Chris Reynolds, Andy’s friend. You are sure nothing would have happened if the students at school hadn’t bullied Andy. Give examples. “If they hadn’t … Andy wouldn’t … .

But for …, he … . I wish I … .”

Role 4. You are James Allan Fox, a criminologist. You are mostly concerned about the future since more tragedies of this kind can occur. “I propose (suggest) that … . I find it essential (necessary, important) that … .”