1. Barker, Arizona Clare "Ma", d. 1935

"Ma" Barker's gang was mostly composed of her own four sons, and she led them to criminal fame She was never arrested, but her sons often were. Ma would appear in court and protest their innocence or raise bail. By the time the gang was cleared up by the FBI it had been responsible for the deaths of four policemen, a civilian and one of their own number who talked too much. The Barkers hit the big time when they started kidnapping rich men for ransom, but this increased the pressure by police and the FBI on the gang

len Arthur in Florida

and its members, had to split u Barker was caprurM Ma's hiebu was геШ/aOhe FBI's G-men the house and called on Ma Barker and her son Fred to sW^ye^'To hell with all of you", she replied and opened fire. The FBI used tear gas, but the gunfight continued until both Ma Barker and her son were dead.

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Find which of the words in the text mean:

- to affirm strongly being not guilty;

- to pay a sum of money demanded by a law court, paid by or for a person accused of an offence, as security that he will appear for his trial, until which time he is allowed to go free;

- to steal a person in order to demand payment for his return;

- money paid for the freeing of a person who has been kidnapped;

- to come clean.

Listen to the song "Ma Barker" ("Boney M") Does the text of the song correspond to the story you have just read⁷

2. Bean, Roy, d. 1903

In the days when the western part of the USA was known as Wild West

(a)____by very rough and ready men. "Judge" Bean, as he called himself,

was one of the most colourful of the lawmen. As a young man he had been a

slaver, driven an ammunition truck in the war against Mexico, (b)____cotton

and been (c)____. He became famous as (d)____ in a town called

Vinegarroon. Here, in a saloon called the Jersey Lilly - so named after the

actress Lily Langtree of whom he was a fan - he (e)____. His (f)____was

as rough as the people he had (g)____ and he built up an enormous

reputation, so that many tales were told about him. One is that he decided on

one occasion that a man (h)____a Chinaman might call on his tough friends

to make trouble for the judge. Looking through his law books he announced that he could not find anywhere that it said that you must not kill a Chinaman!

Complete the text with the words and expressions from the box, using them in the appropriate form.

petty crook; to smuggle sth.; to uphold a law; to hold the court;

to accuse sb. of murdering; Justice of the Peace; to try a person; justice

3. Billy the Kid (William Bonny), 1860-1881

Billy the Kid was a legend in the Wild West as a cattle rustler and murderer. Slim and fair, Billy was born in New York but soon moved to New

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Mexico. He was apprenticed to a blacksmith but found this boring, so he shot the smith and became a cowboy. At first he worked for John Chisholm, who was fighting a range war in the Pecos Valley. He quarrelled with Chisholm and joined a band of cattle rustlers, killing as many of Chisholm's men as he could in the process. Pat Garrett was elected sheriff to capture Billy the Kid. He did this, but Billy shot two deputies and escaped from his cell just before he was due to be hanged. He was caught by Garrett two months and five murders later and shot dead in a gunfight. He was said to have shot twenty-one men, but in fact he probably only killed three.

Find in the text the English equivalents for the words and expressions below.

-скотокрад;

- стать подмастерьем у кузнеца;

- быть выбранным шерифом;

- тюремная камера;

- застрелить кого-либо в перестрелке.