Unit 3

Breaking the Law

Warm-up
• Have you recently read or
heard in the news about
anyone committing
crimes?
• Have you ever been
victims of the crimes?
• Look at the following
pictures, and discuss what
has happened or is
happening?
What is happening in the photos?
• burglary: a crime of
breaking into shops or
houses to steal things. (a
burglar: a person who
gets into shops or houses
to steal things.)
What is happening in the photos?
• arson : ['ɑ:sn] a crime of
deliberately making
something burn, usually a
building. (an arsonist: a
person commits arson, a
person deliberately lights a
fire or makes a building burn.)
What has happened in the photos?
• forgery: [ 'fɔ:dʒəri ]  criminal
falsification by making or altering
the instrument with intent to
defraud . (a forger: someone who
commits forgery or makes copies
illegally )
What has happened in the photos?
• vandalism: [ 'vændəliz(ə)m ]  a
crime of willfully destroying or
damaging works of art, public and
private property, the beauties of
nature, etc. (a vandal: /`vAndl/ a
person who willfully destroys or
damages public property )
What is happening in the photos?
• pickpocketing: stealing
something from someone’s pocket.
(a pickpocket: a person who
steal something from someone’s
pocket)
What is happening in the photos?
• purse snatching: a crime of
grabbing one’s purse and running
away with it. (a purse snatcher:
a person who grabs one’s purse
and runs away with it.)
What is happening in the photos?
• Shoplifting: a crime of taking
something from a shop or store
without paying for it. (A
shoplifter: a person who steal
things from a shop or store.)
What is happening in the photos?
• murder: a crime of killing
someone deliberately and
illegally (a murderer: a
person who commits murder)
Different Types of Crimes
• burglary
• arson
• forgery
• littering
• pickpocketing
• vandalism
• purse snatching
• shoplifting
• murder
Are these serious “Crimes”? (P11)
--- very serious/somewhat serious/not serious
• Driving over the speed limit
• Jaywalking (walking across a street at a
place where you aren’t allowed to cross)
• Finding something on the street and
keeping it
• Lying about your age
• Giving a false name
• Not fastening you seat belt when riding in
a car
• Cheating on an exam
• Taking something from a restaurant or
hotel
• Recording a CD onto a cassette (pirated
cassette/ Problem of Piracy )
What punishment would you give the
“offenders” in above “Crimes”?
• Pick out two cases of the
crimes we have just
mentioned, and decide
how the offenders should
be punished.

• Then share your opinion

with your classmates.
What punishment would you give ?
------ Useful expressions
• a warning
• a fine
(to pay a fine of $20 /The man was fined $20. )
• probation
( to put sb on two years’ probation /to be on
probation)
• community service
( Community service punishment is the ideal
sentence for an idle criminal. )
• a prison term/get a five-year prison
sentence
• life in prison
(serve a life sentence in prison /give sb. a life
sentence in prison)
• lock those hooligans up and throw away
the key
（关进监 狱，判无期 徒刑）
• capital punishment
Which statements Do you agree with?

• Read out loud the following

VIEWS on crime and
punishment.
• Which of them do you agree
with?
• Compare your opinions. Do
you share each other’s
views? Support your opinions
with reasons.
• Some of you would be invited
to report your opinions.
Which statements Do you agree with?
• Anyone could become a criminal under the
right circumstances.
• Crime doesn’t pay. 多行不义必自毙 / 犯罪是得不偿失的 / 犯
罪不会有好下场
• There is too much crime on TV and in the
movies.
• Criminals are born, not made.
• If wealth were distributed fairly, there would
be no crime.
• Education-not punishment – is the answer.
• People don’t commit crimes if they know
they’ll be caught.
• Society is to blame for crime.
• The punishment should fit the crime.
Solving crimes
• Do you like detective
stories? Listen to the
radio show about four
classic detectives. Look at
the chart and try to match
the information. (P12)
vocabulary
• creator: the person who makes something
• hound: a hunting dog
• ferocious: fierce and violent
• to investigate: to examine, esp. to
discover the truth
• to be strangled: to be killed by having the
throat pressed to stop breathing
• suspect: a person employed to have
committed a crime
• motive: a reason for doing something
• incorruptible: incapable of becoming
dishonest, bad, or immoral 廉正不阿
• fictional: imagined or invented; not real,
often from a book or story
Which case sounds the most
interesting?
Questions:
• What is your favorite detective
story or movie?
• Are any fictional or real-life
detectives popular in your
country ? Which ones?
Possible Answers
• 《 Detective Conan 》 ---
Edogawa Conan 江户川柯南
Possible Answers
• Chinese Magistrate Bao Ching
Tien, who's original name is Bao
Zheng, an incorruptible officer in
Northern Song Dynasty .
Possible Answers
• Dr. Henry Chang-Yu Lee ： one of
the world‘s foremost forensic
scientists ( 美国第一位华裔首席刑侦鉴识专家“华
裔神探” 李昌钰 ). His TV show titled
Trace Evidence : The Case Files of
Dr. Henry Lee highlights his work on
many famous cases)
Detective Game:
You can also be a detective
• In this game, you can also
be a detective!
• The results are given here
to you and you are asked
to reconstruct the causes.
Think up a logical( 合乎逻辑 )
explanation that fits all
the facts.
• Now let’s start to
investigate mysteries.
• A ship was found floating on the ocean without crew( 全
体船员 ) or passengers or sign of violence, and everything
in good working order; but obviously hastily abandoned(
抛弃 ), with meals half-eaten and jobs half-done.
• One of the school classrooms was found to be locked.
The sound of a man groaning was heard from within it.
When it was broken into, it was discovered that
furniture had been smashed( 打碎 ). There were two dead
mice ( 老鼠 )near the strong smell of burnt rubber in the
air.
• A small boy, naked and with his head shaved, ran down
a big city. He was laughing happily though it was a cold
day, and he had a photograph in his hand.
• Footprints were discovered in the snow leading to a
deserted Alpine( 阿尔卑斯地区 ) hut( 茅屋 ). There were no
footprints leaving, but the hut was empty except St.
Bernard’s dog and some books.
Option--- Detective Game: Who is
guilty?
• Here’s another detective
game as an option.
• Before you do the group
work, please read the
following newspaper
article:
Read the following newspaper
Article:
• POLICE were called in this morning to
investigate a break-in at the research
laboratories of Wainwright Ltd., Mancheser.
• Thieves made off with top secret plans for a
revolutionary new textile process.
• Jeremy Wainwright, who was working on this
new stain-proof process for children’s fabrics on
Saturday afternoon believes the theft took place
between 6.30 p.m. When he left the laboratory
and 10.15 p.m. when the night-watchman( 更夫 )
discovered the broken window.
• Police are conducting ( 进行 )enquiries ( 询问 )
among staff( 全体职员） of the firm( 公司 ) and
among members of the public who have
recently visited the laboratories.
• “This almost certainly is yet another case of
industrial espionage( 间谍 ),” Manchester Police
Chief( 警长 )Watkins declared.
• The police decided to call Bob and
Johnson for questioning. Johnson
claims he stayed in Leeds on
Saturday night and that his wife
came up. Bob, the young textile
designer and lecturer, also stayed
in Leeds. They say they met in a
pub on Saturday evening to
discuss designs. Can they prove
that they spent from 6.30 p.m. to
10.15 p.m. together?
• Two students should play the roles of Bob
and Johnson. They should leave the
classroom and work out the detail everything
they did together between 6.30 p.m. and
10.15 p.m. on the Saturday.
• The rest of the class are divided into two
interrogation( 讯问 ) teams. While Bob and
Johnson are out of the classroom, the teams
should prepare questions to ask them.
• Bob is called in and questioned by team 1
while Johnson by team 2. Any question is fair
(e.g. How many people were in the pub? Was
there a barman or a barmaid? Where were
you sitting?).
• If the teams manage to find three
discrepancies between Bob’s and Johnson’s
stories, they are guilty!
Free Discussion
• If you could change one
law to make something
legal, what would it be?
Writing Activity

Choices for a Writing task:

• Write your own story

about John’s
disappearance in Lesson
3B, Activity 2.

• Write about a place you

would like to disappear to
and what you would do
there.
ation: All the pictures in this document are from different websites

Thank you!