UNIT 8. LAW

 

8.1 Avoid Being Tricked

 

8.1.1

 

Episode 1

John is having lunch in a restaurant. Suddenly he sees a beautiful girl at the next table. She is very beautiful. He wonders whether to speak to her. She smiles at him.

JOHN: Shall I speak to her?

What happens if John speaks to the girl?

Episode 2

JOHN: Excuse me.

GIRL: Yes?

JOHN: May I join you?

GIRL: Of course.

JOHN: What’s your name?

GIRL: Olga. Let’s have some champagne. Lots of champagne.

What will happen if John drinks lots of champagne?

Episode 3

JOHN: Waiter! A bottle of champagne, please!

WAITER: Certainly, sir.

JOHN: Waiter! A bottle of champagne, please!

WAITER: Certainly, sir.

JOHN: Waiter! A bottle of champagne, please!

WAITER: Another bottle, sir?

OLGA: Darling.

JOHN: Yesh?

OLGA: Let’s go to the Zoo.

JOHN: The zoo? But I’ve got to go to work.

OLGA: Work? How boring. We’re going to the zoo. I want to see the snakes.

What will happen if John goes to the zoo?

Episode 4

OLGA: Look at those lovely snakes.

JOHN: Be careful. Don’t lean over!

OLGA: Oh! I’ve dropped my bag!

JOHN: Where is it?

OLGA: Down there. By that green snake. Get it for me, darling.

JOHN: What?

OLGA: Do you love me?

JOHN: Er, yes.

OLGA: Then get my bag.

What will happen if John tries to get Olga’s bag?

Episode 5

JOHN: All right. I’ll get it with my umbrella. Just a moment. Here you are, darling. I’ve got it. Darling! Where are you? Where’s she gone? That’s funny. She’s gone. And I don’t know where she lives, or anything … Perhaps her address is in her bag – I’ll have a look. My God! What’s this? A revolver? What shall I do? Perhaps I should go to the police.

What will happen if John goes to the police?

Episode 6

John doesn’t go to the police. He goes back to his office.

JOHN: Good afternoon, sir.

BOSS: Good evening, Mr Armitage. Do you know what time it is? It’s five o’clock.

JOHN: Yes, sir. Well, I met this girl and we went to the zoo and she dropped her bag in the snake-pit and I got it out with my umbrella and she wasn’t there any more and there was a revolver in her bag.

BOSS: Girl … zoo … bag … snakes … revolver … That’s it! You’ve gone too far! I’m sorry, Mr Armitage, but you’ll have to go.

JOHN: You can’t do this to me!

BOSS: Oh yes I can! Get out!

JOHN: Oh no you can’t. I’ve got a revolver!

BOSS: Hey! What are you doing! No! Don’t shoot!

What will happen if John shoots his boss?

Episode 7

John shoots his boss. He takes £20,000 out of the office safe, leaves the office and takes a taxi to the airport.

JOHN: First class to San Francisco, please.

CLERK: One way or round trip?

JOHN: One way. What time is the flight?

CLERK: Six-thirty, sir.

JOHN: Good. Time for a drink. … … … A large whisky, please.

John sits down with his whisky. Suddenly he sees a beautiful girl at the next table. She is very beautiful. He wonders whether to speak to her. She smiles at him.

What will happen if John speaks to the girl?

 

8.1.5

Listen to the sentences. Then say the sentences again, using the multi-word verb prompts. The first one has been done for you.

 

1. I was completely deceived by his charming manner. (take in)

2. I never base my judgements on first impressions. (go by)

3. She could see what kind of man he was immediately. (see through)

4. She pretended to be an American tourist. (pass off)

5. She gave the impression of being a very kind person. (come across as)

6. He persuaded me to lend him some money. (talk into)

7. You won’t escape being punished for this! (get away with)

8. The police told him to give them the gun. (hand over)

 

8.2 Crime

 

8.2.9          Gang Violence

 

Nina Totenberg: In 1983 in Chicago at least seventy-five murders were attributed to street-gang violence; that’s 10 per cent of all the murders reported in the city. There are more than 100 gangs in the city. Membership varies from 10 to 4,000. Almost all the gang members are under the age of twenty. Nathaniel Shepard and William Recktenwald are reporting on gang violence in Chicago and its suburbs for The Chicago Tribune this week. I asked Recktenwald, Who joins these exclusively male gangs?

Recktenwald: These are individuals that are afraid to stand alone. They’re generally cowards. They go out at night, and they do things at night. They don’t fight one on one; it’s always six or seven people that sneak up and ambush people or shoot at people. And we saw a very shocking example yesterday afternoon on the city’s south side, where six members of one gang were chasing two members of another gang – right there the odds aren’t very even – and suddenly, one of the two being chased turns around with a handgun and starts firing at the six people chasing him. Well, they ducked, but unfortunately there was a twelve-year-old boy standing in the street that was struck three times in the back and killed.

Totenberg: What’s the reason for these gangs, and how do they operate, and why do they operate?

Recktenwald: I’ve talked to a lot of people including a lot of gang members. Perhaps they’re looking for some identity: perhaps it makes them feel big and tough. But they take a look at the local pimp or the local drug dealer and see that he seems to be doing well – driving his big car, wearing his fur coat, whatever – and they think, Well, gee, you know, this is what I want to be; I want to make lots of money. And because of that, they’ll end up getting involved in a gang. Gangs. Their prime livelihood is through drug and narcotic sales.

Totenberg: You described some of the rituals of the gangs that have led to innocent people being victimized. Would you tell us some of those things?

Recktenwald: Well, there’s a whole system of what’s called signaling your group affiliation, or what they call representing, that you’re representing your affiliation with a particular group. And that goes from hand signals which, when the hand signal is given upwards, it means you’re a member of the gang, when it’s, when the hand signal is reversed and given downwards, it means death to the gang. And some of these kids lack the maturity of anyone that has good sense, and they turn around and they see a person put the hand signals down for their gang, and they won’t go over and punch the person in the nose. They’ll pull out a gun and shoot and kill the person. And the lack of remorse is what I think characterizes those members that are in gangs.

Totenberg: How many people are we talking about? How big an area of Chicago? Is there any way to control this situation?

Recktenwald: This is, surprisingly enough, an area that I think we can control much easier than many of our problems in society. We’re talking about generally here a lack of control of young people by their parents. So, you control … you know, you get parents to control their kids.

Totenberg: But, Bill, you’re talking about probably in most cases, families that are very fragile or nonexistent. That’s why these kids are in this situation. I mean, you can’t just press a button and say, ‘Well, families, be responsible’.

Recktenwald: Well, it’s a team effort. You take the community also; if the community stands up they can push the gangs out, because there’s more good people in this city than there are gang members.

Totenberg:    What specifically … what does the community do?

Recktenwald: Well, you start out perhaps with a block club. You start out with a graffiti watch. You have telephone chains, where if you look out your front window and you see a group of kids involved in something they shouldn’t be, that you pick up your telephone and you call the police. And in addition to calling the police, you call your next-door neighbour and have him or her look out the front window, see what’s happening and have them pick up the phone and call the police. And then they should call the next next-door neighbour and they look out the window and see what happened and then they call the police. And when the police come, the neighbours volunteer to be witnesses and appear in court, and when the charges are pressed, they go down to court and let that judge know that neighbourhood’s interested in what’s going on.

 

8.3 Crime Doesn’t Pay

 

8.3.

C

Listen to the sentences. Then say the sentences again, using the multi-word verb prompts. The first one has been done for you.

 

1. The police prevented anyone entering or leaving the area. (seal off)

2. She established an organization to help young offenders. (set up)

3. He confessed to stealing the money. (own up to)

4. His boss only gave him a warning. (let off)

5. He let the police arrest him. (gave oneself up)

6. They want to conduct a medical examination. (carry out)

7. The bomb exploded at four in the afternoon. (go off)

8. After two years of peace, war suddenly began. (break out)

9. Negotiations between management and unions have collapsed. (break down)

10. I was surprised by her change in attitude. (take aback)