Unit 7. Crime

1. BEFORE LISTENING

1. Practice the pronunciation of the following words taken from the text which you are going to listen.

Crime, “repeat victims”, sad, to burgle, fewer, entry, joke, nightmare, perfect, retirement, burglar, trouble, safer, to escape, neighbourhood, to prove, youths, to hang, frightened, woods, police, to bother, to have stolen, all sorts of things, different occasions, to seem, television, burglary, apart, video, valuable, annoying, damage, door, at least, without, situation, happier, single, chief crime prevention officer, South Yorkshire, though, alarm, straightaway, surprised, insurance, to insist, to afford, pension, box, thieves, neighbours, eye, to mean, obviously, easy, amongst, owner, to prefer, to steal, to wait, to consider.

2. Give Russian equivalents to the following English words and word combinations.

Crime, “repeat victims”, a sad story, to have smb’s house burgled, worth an entry in the Guinness Book of Records, joke, to be burgled so many times, nightmare, to buy this house, to look out onto the playing fields, to be the perfect house for smb’s retirement, to move in, burglar, to feel sorry, definitely, to have this sort of trouble, to choose safer, to sell the house, to escape from this neighbourhood, break-in, to prove, to watch the house, youths, to hang around, to smoke in the afternoons, to be frightened, to go to the shops, to break in, to be away, to call the police, to get away, to run into the woods, to bother, to go after, on different occasions, to take the television twice, to come back, apart from, valuable, to be annoying, to do a lot of damage, to leave a door open, chief crime prevention officer, to have a burglar alarm put in straightaway, insurance company, to insist on smth, to be surprised, to afford, to cost, to have a pension, to put a burglar alarm box on the wall, to put some thieves off, to keep an eye on your home, to be out, obviously, to watch the house from the playing fields, owners, to replace things, to steal, to prefer, to wait, to consider.

2. WHILE LISTENING

3. Listen to the text “Crime” twice. First time make notes about the numbers, geographical, proper or personal names which you might hear. When you are listening to the text for the second time, try to catch the events and the order in which they are spoken about.

4. Agree or disagree to the following statements.

1. The Saunders have been burgled eight times.

2. They bought the house for its views.

3. They thought they might have problems when they bought the house.

4. They think they know who the burglars are.

5. The burglars haven't stolen anything valuable from the Saunders.

6. They do not lock the door.

7. The Crime Prevention Officer doesn't think there is anything they can do to stop the burglars.

8. The Saunders do not have a burglar alarm.

9. The Crime Prevention Officer thinks it's always the same burglars who break into the Saunders' house.

10. Burglars like to steal things which have been bought recently.

5. Fill in the gaps using the following words.

Replaced, open, watch the house, "repeat victims", burglar alarm, nightmare, burglary, retirement, prove, burglars, break-in, hang around, insurance company, come back, break in, occasions, get away, bother, keep an eye, damage, thieves, burgled, burglar alarm box, break into.

Interviewer: Good afternoon. Today on Crime Check we are going to talk about _____ _____, people who are victims of crime more than once. First of all we bring you the sad story of Ruth and Harold Saunders from Hull, who have had their house _____ no fewer than eight times in the last 3 years. Worth an entry in the Guinness Book of Records you might think, but for Ruth and Harold, it's no joke. Ruth, why do you think you've been burgled so many times?

Ruth: I wish I knew. It's a _____. We bought this house because it looks out onto the playing fields and we thought it was the perfect house for our _____.

Interviewer: When were you first burgled?

Ruth: Oh, three years ago, just a week after we had moved in. It was as if the _____ were waiting for us.

Interviewer: Do you feel sorry that you moved there now?

Ruth: Oh definitely. If we had known we were going to have this sort of trouble, we wouldn't be living here we would chosen somewhere safer. But now we can't even sell the house because everyone knows the burglars like it! No one will buy it. We can't escape from this neighbourhood. We're just waiting for the next _____.

Interviewer: Do you know who the burglars are?

Ruth: We think so, but we can never _____ anything. You see, people can watch the house from the playing fields, and there are a number of youths who we see watching the house. They _____ _____ there smoking in the afternoons. I'm frightened to go to the shops in case they _____ _____ while I'm away.

Interviewer: Have you tried calling the police?

Ruth: Yeah, several times, but these youths always _____ _____ by running into the woods on the other side of the playing fields, and the police don't _____ to go after them.

Interviewer: And what have you had stolen?

Ruth: Oh all sorts of things on different _____. They never take much, but they always seem to _____ _____. They've taken the television twice. If we'd known they were going to come back, we wouldn't have bought a new television after the first _____, but a week after we bought it, the burglars broke in again.

Interviewer: What else have they taken?

Ruth: Oh, apart from the television and the video, nothing very valuable, but then we don't have anything else which is very valuable. It's annoying really, and they do a lot of _____ when they break in. I sometimes think we should leave a door _____. If we left the door open, at least they could come in without doing any damage!

Interviewer: So what are you going to do about this situation?

Ruth: What can we do about it? We'd be happier if we'd stayed in our old house. If we still lived there, I'm sure we wouldn't have been burgled once. We were there for forty years without a single problem.

Interviewer: Marylyn Brookes, you are Chief Crime Prevention Officer for South Yorkshire police. Is there really nothing they can do?

CPO: No, there are things they can do though I must say first that I do feel sorry for them.

Interviewer: Well, what can they do?

CPO: If I were them, I'd have had a _____ _____ put in straightaway. In fact, I'm surprised the _____ _____ hasn't insisted on that already.

Ruth: Well, they have said that but we can't afford one of those! We only have our pension, and burglar alarms cost thousands of pounds.

CPO: Well, have you thought of putting a _____ _____ _____ on the wall? That puts some _____ off. Also, you should talk to the neighbours and ask them to _____ _____ on your home when you're out.

Interviewer: But why do the burglars keep coming back to the Saunders' house? I mean eight times is a lot, isn't it?

CPO: Well, there are several things here. Obviously it is easy to watch the house from the playing fields, and also burglars tend to talk amongst themselves. They tell each other which houses are easy to _____ _____, and what things the houses still have in them. Also they wait a few months until they think the owners have _____ the things that were stolen. After all, burglars prefer to steal something that's brand new. And another thing you have to consider is...

3. AFTER LISTENING

6. Answer the following questions.

1) What is burglary?

2) What is the difference between burglary and robbery?

3) Why were the Saunders invited to Crime Check?

4) How do you understand the term “repeat victims”?

5) When were the Saunders first burgled?

6) How many times were the Saunders burgled?

7) Can the Saunders’ matter be settled?

8) What things were stolen?

9) What things are often stolen in our country? Is there any difference between stolen things in our country and abroad?

10) Who was invited to Crime Check to give a piece of advice?

11) What are the solutions of the Saunders’ problem?

12) Could they afford to have a burglary alarm? Why?

13) Is a burglary alarm a usual thing in our country?

14) What is burglary statistics in our country?

15) What prevention measures can you suggest to avoid burglary? Are they effective? Why?

7. Match the following synonyms from the text.

crime victim to burgle burglar safe to watch damage alarm thief to steal

sufferer to observe felony to take harm housebreaker danger signal robber to rob secure

8. Match the following phrases from the text (sometimes more than one combination is possible).

we are going why do you think we can’t escape from this we’re just waiting but we can never a number of youths who we see in case they break in have you tried the police don’t bother I’d have had

a burglar alarm put in straightaway prove anything calling the police you’ve been burgled so many times neighbourhood to go after them watching the house for the next break-in while I’m away to talk about “repeat victims”

9. Write down different words you associate with the term ‘crime’. Share your words with your partner(s) and talk about them. Together, put the words into different categories.

10. Read the end of the text and finish it. Try to guess what else could be done to prevent a burglary.

Well, there are several things here. Obviously it is easy to watch the house from the playing fields, and also burglars tend to talk amongst themselves. They tell each other which houses are easy to break in, and what things the houses still have in them. Also they wait a few months until they think the owners have replaced the things that were stolen. After all, burglars prefer to steal something that's brand new. And another thing you have to consider is...

11. Roleplay the dialogue between a police officer and a burglary victim who is not sure that there are some measures which can prevent a crime.

12. Search the Internet and find more information about burglaries in Russia. Talk about what you discover with your groupmates. If possible, try to make a presentation, because it will help you to present information in a way which contributes to better understanding and figures or different graphics which help to understand your report better. After presentations choose the best report.

13. Write a magazine article about burglaries. Include imaginary interviews with victims and police officers. Read what you wrote to your groupmates. Which article was best and why?

14. Write a letter to the crime prevention officer. Ask him/her three questions about burglary prevention measures. Give him/her three suggestions about how to prevent a burglary. Read your letter to your groupmates. Your groupmates will answer your questions.