I.

INTRODUCTION
1. Work in small groups. What negative aspects of society does each photograph illustrate?
2. Choose two or more of the photographs and discuss these questions.
a What similarities or differences are there between the issues in the photographs and the
situation in your country?
b What is being done to solve these problems in your country? What would you do?
II. READING AND USE OF ENGLISH
1. Discuss these questions in pairs.
a Are people born bad?
b Is it possible for people to change their character? How?
2. You are going to read a text about five people who got into trouble with the authorities
when they were young but went on to become respectable members of society. Read the text
quickly and answer these questions.
a What crimes did each person commit?
b What event or person caused each of them to change?
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 c What jobs did they go on to do?
Multiple matching
3. Read the text again. For questions 1-10, choose from the people (A-E). The people may be
chosen more than once.
Which person
1. feels he disappointed his family?
2. believes he was a danger to society?
3. says he was negatively influenced by others?
4. describes in detail the event which made him change?
5. says a family member set a bad example?
6. understands a family member's reaction?
7. states that his job helped change his life?
8. thinks one person's decision changed his life?
9. believes that young people can usually change?
10. regrets the pain he caused?
They turned their lives around
A The Film Star
As a juvenile, Mark Hudson was arrested for various things including car theft, drink­driving and
burglary. 'I was a bad boy,' Hudson recalls. 'The turning point came when I was arrested for
robbing a store at the age of twenty­one. I remember a police officer pointing a gun at my head
ready to shoot. I realized at that moment that it could have been over for me. Anyway, I served
my time and when I got out I was lucky to get into acting and I was able to move into a different
world .' Ironically, these days Hudson often plays a criminal on screen
B The Former US Senator
At 17, Edward Jackson served two years' probation for vandalizing property. 'It's difficult to
understand how I ended up in prison when my father had been a US senator and I grew up in a
loving, stable home. I remember the look my parents gave each other when the judge passed
sentence. They must have thought: "Where have we failed?"' Jackson followed in his father's
footsteps and became a US senator. He thanked his probation officer publicly during his first
election campaign. 'He helped me make it to where I got to ­ he was a great influence in my life.
It's so important to give kids a second chance as most children will and do turn out all right in the
end – I am proof of that.’
C The Criminal Defence Lawyer
'I was always getting into fights when I was young,' recalls Ray Terry. 'I ended up in a juvenile
detention centre for six months when I was ten because of it. Even my mother gave up on me.
She said she'd had enough and kicked me out when I was sixteen. I can't blame her. I must have
been a nightmare in those days.' Reflecting on this period of his life, Terry remarked, 'I had so
much anger, so little respect for authority that I could easily have killed someone.' Today Terry
is a successful criminal defence lawyer. He says he owes this to several individuals ­ teachers
and counsellors – who helped him.
D The Coporate Tax Lawyer
Son of Chinese immigrants, Lawrence Hu, was an extremely bright child who was never in
trouble with the law. Things went wrong after my dad left home when Iwas fourteen and we
ended up having to move house,' Hu recalls. 'There was a big gang culture in the new
neighbourhood and I ended up in one of them. I dropped out of school as that wasn't considered
"cool" and my life revolved around the gang. Things might never have changed if I hadn't been
arrested for attempted murder. That was my wake­up call. I left the gang, went back to school
and turned my life around.' Hu now works as a corporate tax lawyer, but says, 'I still feel awful
about what I must have put my mother through at that time'.

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E The Olympic Athlete
Former long­jump Olympic athlete, Sam Smith, was already getting into trouble by the time he
was nine. 'My mother died when I was three and my father wasn't the best role model. He was
constantly in and out of prison. So a criminal life just seemed normal to me.' Smith vividly
recalls the day when he stood in front of a judge accused of assault. 'The judge must have seen
something in me. He said he was going to take a chance. Instead of sending me to jail, he sent
me to an alternative school along with other juvenile delinquents. While I was there I had plenty
of time to reflect. And that's when I also took up sport.'
Crime vocabulary
4. Complete these sentences with the correct word from this list.
burglary drink­driving hooliganism mugging shoplifting vandalism
a The youth admitted smashing the windows on purpose. Such acts of _______are
commonplace nowadays.
b The man lost his licence for _______ . He was well over the legal limit.
c The _______ took place in the early hours when the woman was walking home. She was
assaulted and her mobile phone and wallet stolen.
d The store detective stopped the man at the exit and accused him of _______
e _______in football is rife with so­called 'fans ' more interested in fighting rival fans than
actually watching the game.
f The _______took place in the five minutes I was out. They took my laptop.
5. Complete these sentences with the correct form of rob or steal.
a That bank twice this year. Each time over £500 ,000 _______.
b More and more people are fitting their cars with anti­theft alarms in an attempt to stop them
from _______.
c 'Oh, no! I _______! They've taken everything. My credit cards, cash, the lot!'
d The thieves were accused of _______ jewellery worth over £250,000.
e The shoplifter _______ £500 worth of goods from the store.
6 Discuss these questions.
a At what age do you think children should be held legally responsible for their actions?
b Should parents be held responsible for their children 's actions?
c Should society punish criminals or try to re­educate them?
III. VOCABULARY
1. Do you give money to charity? Which charities do you support?
2. What fund-raising events are there in your country? How do charities raise money?
3. Read the text below about a charity event which takes place in the UK. Answer these
questions.
a How often does it ta ke place?
b How much money has been raised so far?
c Who takes part in it?
4. Read the text again. For questions 1-8, decide which answer (A, B, C or D) best fits each
gap. There is an example at the beginning (0).
Comic Relief
Comic Relief is a charitable organisation (0) __based__ in London. It was set (1) _______ by
comedians in 1985 in response to the famine in Ethiopia, and uses comedy to (2) _______
serious messages across. Over the years thousands of celebrities have helped to raise over £600
million to date.

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Every two years, usually on a Friday in March, Comic Relief organizes a nationwide fund
raising event (3) _______ 'Red Nose Day'. On Red Nose Day everyone in the country is
encouraged to put on a red nose and do something silly to raise money (4) _______ charity.
Every contribution is important, whether it is standing in the street (5) _______ money from
passers­by, or taking (6) _______ in a sponsored event like not talking for a(n) (7) _______ day.
The event is televised in the evening, when the combination of comedy and hard­hitting
documentaries persuades (8) _______ to make donations on their credit cards over the phone or
via the internet ­ to those less fortunate than themselves.
0 A established B based C constructed D stationed
1 A on B off C out D up
2 A have B do C get D make
3 A known B named C called D described
4 A to B for C towards D on
5 A collecting B earning C asking D gathering
6 A involvement B place C participation D part
7 A whole B all C total D complete
8 A soectators B viewers C audience D observers

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