Expressing views about crime and punishment 1. The crime rate: a measure of the number of crimes in a particular area during a period of time. the main goal for lawmakers. “The reduction of the c r i m e r a t e is
2. To commit a crime: does something wrong or illegal. c r i m e by stealing a car will “In the US, a young person who c o m m i t s a cr almost certainly go to prison.”
3. Prison sentence: the period of time served in prison under such as a sentence. “It is the heated debate that government have to pass lenient laws that would en t e n c e while others think it would increase the crime avoid the p r i s o n s en rate in our society.” 4. Deterrent: a punishment makes somebody less likely to do illegal activities. “The death penalty acts as a d e t e r r e n t to people who wish to bring drugs illegally into another country.” 5. Loss of freedom: Be not free “Loss of freedom is a punishment that offenders have to face when they go to jail.” 6. White-collar crime: Crimes committed by “office works”, for example, fraud. “More and more employees who work in a bank turn into crime as whitecollar crime.” 7. Be put on probation: To be under supervision to ensure their good behaviour “Sometimes first-time offenders are not imprisoned but a r e p u t for a set period of time to ensure their good behaviour.” for probation
on
8 . Social isolation: the state of separating somebody from our society. “The offenders have to serve the prison sentence as the social isolation to remain safety of society.” 9. A violent criminal: Includes assault, mugging and robbery. “A student who is bullied at school may turn into a v i o l en t cr i m i n a l when they grow up. 10. Motive for crime: The reason why people commit crimes ” A desire for revenge on his wife is a motive for his crime as murder. “ 11. Allay the fears: to make someone feel less afraid, worried. “I believe that some solutions could help to allay people’s fears.” 12. Turn to a career of crime: become a criminal “Nowadays, in the harshly competitive labour market, the unemployment rate is rising rapidly, more and more people cannot meet the basic human’s need that is maybe a reason for them to t u r n t o a ca r eer o f cr i m e. “ 13. To be imprisoned: Go to a jail. ” B ei n g i m p r i so n ed is the best way to punish offenders for their guilty. “ 14. To breed future offenders: influence people, especially young people, in such a way that they later commit a crime. “Parents should give more attention to their offspring in order to avoid b r eed i n g f u t u r e o f f en d er s .” 15. Easy money: Money that you get without working hard for it, especially when you do illegal activities to get this money “To make ea sy m o n e y , the bank robbery have stolen two billion dollars from five international banks in this year.”
16. To break the law: do something illegal “If a person b r ea k s t h e l a w , he is certainly imprisoned . ” 17. To resort to crime: to use crime because there is no other solution. “After losing all money from the game, the men r eso r t ed t o c r i m e to get ea sy m o n ey .”
18. Illegal activities: the illegal acts. “It is alarming that more and more youngsters turn into i l l e g a l a c t i v i t i e s.“ 19. Fall foul of the law: to get into trouble with the police because you are doing something illegal “In Vietnam, if the company discharges the huge amount of untreated waste into rivers, they certainly f a l l foul o f t h e l a w . “ 20. Juvenile delinquency: Antisocial behaviour committed by people under eighteen years old. “It is true that j u v en i l e d el i n q u en cy rate is increasing alarmingly, which could jeopardise the social stability.” 21. Soaring crime rates: crime rates rising very fast Example: We are facing off soaring crime rates and it’s high time the criminals were b r o u g h t t o j u s t i c e . 22. Miscarriages of justice: Situation where innocent people are found guilty Example: There have been a multitude of miscarriages of justice recently. 23. Trumped-up charges: invented and false accusations 24. Face trial
Example: No one in the world should face trial on the basis of unreliable evidence or trumped-up charges. 25. Escape punishment 26. Custodial sentences: a sentence to be served in a prison or similar institution 27. Commit minor offences Example: While the rich always seem to escape punishment, poor people seem to receive custodial sentences even for committing minor offences 28. Extenuating circumstances: circumstances that lessen the blame 29. Serve out one’s sentence: serve the full amount of time
Courts and Trials The trial was adjourned: the trial was suspended till a later time or date To be remanded in custody: send to prison until the trial begins or continues Dismiss the case: Decide that the case is not worth considering Unanimous verdict: verdict which all the decision makers agree to Beyond reasonable doubt Contest the verdict: Disagree with the verdict and tried to change it
Other useful expressions and phrases for Crime Topic:
Capital punishments | Death penalty To sentence criminals to death
A form of revenge A criminal record To engage in unlawful activities To re-offend Criminals = Wrongdoers = Lawbreakers = Convicts = Offenders Rehabilitated prisoners Community service Prison sentences Unlawful actions To deter/discourage people from doing something Inmates To send somebody to prison EXERCISES:
Exercise 1: Rewrite the underlined part of each of these extracts from conversations using the collocation below to make them sound more like extracts from newspaper reports. Soaring Dismiss E sca p e w a s a d j o u r n ed
crime
rates p u n i s h m en t
1. Why should young criminals get away without being punished for crimes just because of their age? 2. An increasing number of crimes per head of the population have been recorded in the last twelve months. 3 The judge threw out the case because he felt the evidence was not strong enough. 4 The judge said that the trial would now take place next month. Exercise 2. Choose the correct collocation. 1. If you are remanded in custody, you are kept in prison/ obliged to pay some money/ allowed to go home. 2. Someone might get out of prison early for good/soaring / extenuating behaviour. 3. If you serve out a sentence, you are kept in prison for the full amount of time / released from prison early /kept in prison for life. 4. If you get a custodial sentence, you only serve the sentence if you commit another crime / go to prison / have to do some community service.
Exercise 3. Correct the mistakes with prepositions in the collocations. 1 The witness appeared on court for the first time today. 2 He was put in trial for murder. 3 The murderer was soon brought into justice. 4 He was later remanded on custody. 5 The ease against Mr Sharp was proved over reasonable doubt. Exercise 4. Come up with Answers for the following topics related to Crime in IELTS Writing Task 2 and post it in the comment section below or on Writingielts.net to be checked and scored by IELTS experts. Writing
IELTS
Task
2
Topic
1:
St u d i e s sh o w t h a t c r i m i n a l s g et l o w l ev el o f e d u c a t i o n . So m e p eo p l e b el i ev e t h a t t h e b est w a y t o r ed u ce t h e cr i m e i s ed u ca t i n g p eo p l e i n p r i so n s o t h e y c a n g et a j o b a f t er l ea v i n g p r i so n . T o w h a t ex t en t d o you agree or disagree?
You can read Band 9.0 Sample Answer here. Writing
IELTS
Task
2
Topic
2:
In some countries, a high proportion of criminal acts are co m m i t t ed b y t een a g er s. W h y h a s t h i s h a p p en e d ? W h a t c a n b e don e to d ea l w ith t h i s?
You can read Band 9.0 Sample Answer here. Writing IELTS Task 2 Topic 3: So m e p e o p l e w h o h a v e b een i n p r i s o n b e co m e g o o d c i t i zen s l a t er . So m e p eo p l e t h i n k t h a t h a v i n g t h e se p eo p l e t o g i v e a t a l k t o s ch o o l st u d en t s i s t h e b est w a y t o t el l t h em a b o u t d a n g er s o f co m m i t t i n g a c r i m e. D o y o u a g r ee o r d i s a g r ee?
You can read Band 9.0 Sample Answer here. Exercise 5. Complete each sentence 1 He has been in court on several previous occasions but only for committing offences. 2 Unfortunately, there have been a number of……………………of justice recently. 3 The jury was quick to reach a……………………verdict, finding the accused guilty. 4 This is the sixth time the accused has………………….in court. 5 The lawyer claimed that there were some………………………circumstances. 6 The accused…………………. all knowledge of the crime, but no one believed her. 7 The newspaper said…………………. had been served by the conviction of Joe Lee.
8 Charles Weiss was…………………..damages for the injury he had suffered. 9 The trial has been………………….until next week. SOURCE: http://ieltsmaterial.com
