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Frank Turner, the accusein a trial that has attracted nationalattention, was today convicted of murder.The police investigate lasted for a year and during the trial over 100 hours of evident were heard. Turner’s law had all argued that he was not in the area at the time, but could not provide the necessary prove.

Police described Turner as a well-known theft who was responsible for many rob in the local region. This is not Turner’s first convict. Seven years ago, he was found guilty offorge and served three years in prison. The judge is expected to sentence Turner to a period of prison later this week.

16. a) Read the article about death penalty in the USA. Match headings (a-e) to paragraphs (1-5). Discuss your choice in the group.

Methods of Death

Executions are usually performed at midnight – when everything else is quiet at the prison. The prisoner is led into the room where he is to die, secured to a chair or table, and fitted with heart-rate monitor. He is then left alone. Select witnesses watch the execution through a special viewing window. After the prisoner has died, a doctor signs a death warrant and the body is taken to a morgue where it is prepared for burial.

The following are legal methods of execution in the USA:

1.

The convict is strapped down to a table, arms stretched out in a cross. An attendant inserts an intravenous (IV) tube, similar to those used for anaesthesia during surgery, into the convict's arm. From behind the window, a corrections officer presses a button that releases a deadly dose of barbiturates through the IV. The convict falls into a deep sleep, his heart rate and breathing slow and, within minutes, stop.

2.

The convict is strapped into a chair in an airtight room. From outside the room, an attendant causes sodium cyanide pellets to be dropped into a bucket of acid located located beneath the convict'schair.The fumes cause death withinten minutes.

3.

The convict has a hood placed overhis head and has his hands bound behind the back. He is led to a platform and a noose is placed over his head. The attendant causes the platform beneaththe convict’s feet to fall away quickly. Theforce of the drop snaps the spinal cord.Death occurs within seconds. A common form of execution in the nineteenthand early twentieth century, hanging islegal in only three states today.

4.

The convict is strapped into a wooden chair, a helmet is placed on his head and the helmet is strapped to a brace behind the chair.Electrodes are attached tothe head and one leg. The warden flips a switch causing five amperes of currentat 2,000 volts to flow into the body.The electricity interferes with brain andnerve function and causes death withinthree minutes.

5.

The convict has a hood placed overthe head and is made to stand againsta concrete wall. On command, a dozen shooters take aim and fire severalrounds into the convict.Depending onthe number ofbullets and their placement, death may be instant or take several minutes. Once a common form ofmilitary execution, the firing squad is legal only in one state today.

a. Firing Squad

b. Electrocution

c.Gas chamber

d. Lethal injection

e. Hanging

b) Read the article again and say what method of death is the most humane. Give proof of your viewpoint.

c) Make a list of 5-10 crimes that you think deserve capital punishment. Compare your list with your partner’s and discuss it in the group.

d) Express your attitude to death penalty as a way of punishment in the group. The following ideas will help you.

• One very simple reason for the death penalty is this: Dead men don’t do it again. How many times have “lifers” been released from jail after only 15 or 20 years, only to commit their next crime within a couple of weeks? Keeping a man in a jail costs society more than you’d pay for a room in a luxury hotel.

• The death penalty is a good way of deterring criminals. If you are planning a crime you’ll think twice if it means losing your own life.

• “An eye for an eye, a life for a life” – the Bible is right. The worst crime deserves the worst punishment. If you take a life you must pay with your own. Execution is a moral necessity.

• You cannot have capital punishment without the danger of judicial killing – the execution of an innocent man or woman.

• Nothing in experience shows that capital punishment works as a deterrent.

• Criminals must be punished by the state after a fair trial, if we don’t want citizens to take the law into their own hands. Therefore retribution has its place in punishment. But retribution need not mean capital punishment. Civilised societies do not need the death penalty.

• We say that taking somebody’s life is the ultimate crime and then we prove it by again taking somebody’s life. Do you call this justice?

17. a) Match the beginnings of the stories (1-4) with their endings (a-d).

1. A gang of fourteen robbers broke into a bank in Naples and entered the basement. They were hoping to steal millions of dollars from the 8,000 safety deposit boxes there. But the men had an unpleasant surprise.

2. Ezedrick Jones, 18, tried to rob a fast-food restaurant in Tennessee. Although he was wearing a mask, Ezedrick was quickly recognised and arrested soon afterwards.

3. A Detroit burglar arrived home after a ‘successful’ night. He was shocked when a few seconds later he opened the front door and saw his veryhappy dog ... and the police.

4. Neighbours in the city of Baku could hear music coming from an empty flat and decided to call the police. When the police arrived the thief didn’t eventry to escape.

a. The man had left his dog outside the house he had burgled. When the police arrived, they shouted ‘Home boy!’ and the dog happily led the police officer straight to the burglar’s house.

b. The guard with the key to the boxes had gone for a coffee and they couldn’t find him. They hadn’t prepared an alternative plan so they left with almost nothing.

c. After he had broken into the flat, the thief decided to make himself at home. First, he had a bath, and then he had something to eat and drink. After he hadfinished his dinner, he saw a piano in the corner and started playing it. He was still singing songs when the police arrived.

d. Had Ezedrickappeared on TVand that’s why staffrecognised him? No, hehadn’t. He had actuallyjust lost his job at therestaurant. During thecrime the manager kepton saying to him, ‘Why areyou doing this, Ezedrick?’

b) Discuss in the group what mistakes were made by the criminals.

c) Say what punishment every criminal deserves. Give proof of your choice.

4. Write a story of 150-200 words describing some unsuccessful crime. Present it in the group.