Listening Activity

Task 1. Listen to the story. It is a mother’s story. Have you ever wished that another person were dead? This mother did. Listen to the story and find out: Why did she want a man to die?

Task 2. Read the following statements. Which opinions do you agree with? Check as many as you want.

a) If you kill someone, you have to die, too. That is your punishment. The only exception to capital punishment is self-defense.

b) People who kill are crazy, insane. No one in his right mind would kill another person. That’s why I think murders should be put in mental hospitals.

c) Capital punishment is wrong. We should never kill anyone, no matter how terrible the crime.

d) Capital punishment is necessary. It helps prevent murder.

e) Life in prison is the right sentence for a murder.

Now exchange your ideas with a classmate.

Task 3. In which situations do you think it is OK to use the death penalty?

a) Criminal A kidnapped and killed a young child.

b) Criminal B set fire to a house, and the fire killed three people and injured many others.

c) Criminal C broke into a house, killed he two residents, and stole their money.

d) Criminal D went into a school yard and fired a machine gun, killing many schoolchildren.

e) Criminal E set a bomb to explode in an office building, killing many people.

f) Criminal F raped and killed several woman.

g) Criminal G had her husband killed so that she would receive a large sum of insurance money.

h) The death penalty should never be used in any situation.

Speech practice

Task 1. Develop the following statements.

1. The stricter the punishment, the lesser the crime rate.

2. Law is developing: it has no impunity in the court of time.

3. There is a connection between violence on TV and the crime rate in real life.

Task 2. Comment on the following quotations.

1. “Society prepares the crime; the criminal commits it.” H.Buckle

2. “Stolen sweets are best.” Ch. North

3. “Laws were made to be broken.” Ch. North

4. “All crime is a kind of disease and should be treated as such.” M.Gandhi

5. “Organized crime constitutes nothing less than a guerilla war against society.” L. Johnson

Task 3. A university student from the UK came to Belarus to collect data for his course project. He wants to know what would happen in your country to the people if they were caught: a) speeding in a car; b) in possession of soft drugs; c) with a gun in the pocket; d) breaking into a house; e) telling state secrets; f) having pornography.

Before starting here is a list of possible sentences.

Life imprisonment, imprisonment, fines, put on probation, suspended sentence, let off, driving ban/endorsement

These four students should be ready to present their findings and give their own comment.

Task 4. Kids’ main objection to the curfew is that it violates their rights. Express your own attitude to this point.

Task 5. Work in groups. Make a list of your proposals of the 10 most urgent measures for social reform in our country. Have a brain-storming session in which all ideas are noted down by the group leader. Then discuss your lists with another group.

Task 6. Role-Playing: “Speaker’s Corner”

Situation: As you walk past Hyde Park in London you may see people speaking out on any subjects they like. Freedom of speech is sacred. Make your own Speaker’s Corner. In turns speak on the following subjects. A time limit may be set.