Task 2. Fatal mistake?

1. Put the words below in order to make a newspaper headline: dead, pronounced, says, was, fine”, who, am, feeling, “I, woman.

2. The headline comes from a news story. Work with a partner and write five questions that you would expect to be answered in the article. Compare with another pair and add to your list.

3. Read the newspaper article below and look for the answers to your questions.

The woman who came back from the dead said yesterday that she felt fine as the doctor who declared her dead apologised. Dorothy Turner, who is still recovering in hospital, looked pale but was able to walk unaided as she appeared with her husband, Stan, at a news conference. She refused to comment on her experience and would only say, «I'm fine, thank you».

Her solicitor, William Evans, said that Mrs Turner, 61, had attempted suicide with an overdose of tablets at her home on New Year's Eve. Michael Lloyd, her doctor, wrongly declared her dead. Mr Evans said: «Dorothy and Stan Turner have had the opportunity of reflecting carefully over the recent traumatic events and the various options open to them. They have decided not to make any formal complaint to the Family Health Services Authority or the General Medical Council. They have also decided that they do not wish to institute legal proceedings. Obviously the doctor in question made an error of judgement, but luckily the error has not had fatal consequences».

He added: «The family are just extremely grateful and relieved that Dorothy is alive and making very good progress. Dorothy unfortunately suffers from epilepsy. As a result, she was not able to drive. Because of her increasing years, she was no longer able to walk into the village, some distance from her home. She felt very lonely and isolated and started to suffer from depression. On New Year's Eve it came to a head. She could not face going on She took a large quantity of her epilepsy tablets and also some sleeping tablets. She climbed into bed and just drifted off to sleep».

Mr Evans said Mr Turner had found his wife in the early hours of New Year's Day. He had called the ambulance service who arranged for a GP to attend the home. Dr Lloyd examined Mrs Turner and told Mr Turner she was dead. The doctor then called an undertaker.

John Thompson, the undertaker and a family friend, spotted a vein twitching, then heard her snore, soon after she was delivered to the hospital mortuary at about 4.30 am. An emergency resuscitation team was called and she was taken to an intensive care ward. After three days in intensive care Mrs Turner was transferred to a general ward. Mr Evans said that Mrs Turner and her husband wished to thank all hospital staff, wellwishers, and the undertakers for their «timely alertness».

(The Times)

1. Role-play. Present the described events in the courtroom as if you were Dorothy Turner or Stan Turner or Michael Lloyd or John Thompson or William Evans. Start your speech with the words «I swear to tell you the truth and nothing but the truth». One person in the role of the judge should pass a verdict.

2. Write either Michael Lloyd’s or John Thompson’s or Mr Turner’s witness statement about what happened.

A witness statement (a combination of facts, hypothesis and relevant details) is a report written to give necessary information about an incident to the police.

Outline for Witness Statements

0 Introduction set the scene (time – place – people involved)

=>

1 Development description of the main events and people involved, hypothesis and evidence

=>

2 Conclusion final result of the incident

Useful language for witness statements: I noticed, I could hear, I saw, it could have been, I think, it is possible, it is probable

3. Have you ever been a witness of any crime? Will you describe the events?

Texts for Reading and Rendering

Text 1.

1. You are going to read a magazine article about burglar – friendly houses.

Choose from the list A-I the sentence which best summarises each part (1-7) of the article. There is one extra sentence which you do not need to use. There is an example at the beginning (0).

A Houses which are very private are less safe.

B Make your possessions easy to identify.

C The first time you have your house broken into probably won’t be the last.

D Burglars look at our houses differently to the way we do.

E Draw attention to your home to make it burglar-proof.

F Burglars are attracted by signs of absence.

G Large homes suggest large bank accounts.

H Lock up and turn the lights on.

I Don’t let the outside show what’s inside.

DO YOU LIVE IN A BURGLAR-FRIENDLY HOUSE?

0 0

C

It's the last thing you want to hear when you've just been burgled, but the awful truth is that if you've been burgled once, you'll probably be burgled again. In fact, it's likely to happen another four or five times. Why? Because some of us have " burglar-friendly " houses.

Burglars think that the bigger the house, the richer the owners. "You can’t do much about the size of your house," says Professor Pease of Huddersfield University, "but if it's large, you need to be even more careful than if it's small."

You should take a good look at your house – not as you normally do, but as a burglar would. If you were a burglar, which home would you choose to rob, ­– a house with a shiny new car parked outside or one with a rusty vehicle? Anything which signals nice posses­sions and money will certainly catch the burglar's eye.

People may complain about their nosy neighbours, but there's no better way of stopping burglars than hav­ing watchful neighbours around. If a house is far away from others, or hidden from the road, it is more attract­ive to burglars, who think they can get in and out without being noticed. So a burglar alarm is a good idea. And remember, you may get privacy from a tall hedge or a high wall – but so does a burglar.

Ian Stephen, who works with the Scottish prison service, believes that you're more at risk if your house looks nice. "Window-boxes, nice curtains and beautiful­ly painted walls all tell the burglar that you're proud of your home and care about your possessions and are more likely to have nice things in your house," he says. He advises people to try to make their homes look as plain as possible and not to draw attention to any new things they have bought by leaving the empty boxes next to the dustbin.

People often leave a light on when they go out. "But be sensible," advises Ian Stephen. "Don't leave a light on in the hall as it never makes the burglars believe that you're in. Have you ever heard of a family enjoying an evening at home in the hall? Leave it on in the living room". An open window is also an open invitation to bur­glars. If you sometimes forget to shut and lock doors and windows, stick a note on the inside of the front door to remind you. And make sure any ladders are put away and not left outside where burglars can use them.

By leaving newspapers and letters sticking out of the letter-box, or full milk bottles on the doorstep, you are giving burglars the green light to break into your home. Similarly, if you're away from the house at regular times – out at work or doing the shopping – then your home is also in danger of being burgled. Ask a neighbour to keep an eye on your house at these times.

It's a good idea to take photos of your valuable pos­sessions. By doing that, if you're burgled, you’ll be able to identify stolen property, which could lead to the thief being put behind bars. It is also possible to label valu­able items such as TVs and videos with your postcode. If they are stolen, this will make them easier to find. One more good idea is to ask for a crime prevention officer to visit your home and identify weak points in its security.

Task 1. Make up a summary of the text (100-150 words)

Text 2.

SUICIDE

Suicide refers to intentional self-destruction* or self-killing. Although suicide is considered a major form of deviance* in contemporary American society, social reactions to this form of behaviour show wide variations from society to society and in different periods of human history. Various Oriental cultures have looked upon suicide with some ambivalence* and under certain circumstances it is not highly disapproved. Among the Chinese, suicide was permitted for reasons of revenge against an enemy. In Japan, it was expected that a soldier would commit a form of self-destruction known as hara-kiri rather than permit himself to be seized by the enemy. During World War II Japanese "suicide divers" received military decorations in rather elaborate ceremonies before their suicidal flights. Attitudes of Western Europe and American society are and have been strongly opposed to suicide. Disapproval of suicide has been generally the case for all peoples within the Jewish and Christian religions. In 11th-century England, suicide was defined as a crime as well as a sin. Throughout the medieval period and into relatively recent times suicide was punished as a felony. The suicide's body was denied burial* in a Christian cemetery and the suicide's possessions were confiscated by the Crown. Similar penalties were put into effect in the New England colonies and remained until the early 1800's in Massachusetts. Attempted suicide was a crime in England until 1961 and still remains a criminal offence in North Dakota, South Dakota and New Jersey.

Statistics indicate that the rate of suicide within the US was 11 per 100,000 population in 1970. This rate has remained stable over previous years. The US suicide rate in 1960 was 10.8; in 1961, 10.4; in 1962, 11.0; in 1963, 11.0 per 100,000 population. Suicide rates are comparatively high in various other countries. In the late 1960's and early 1970's suicide rates in Switzerland, West Germany, Czechoslovakia, Finland, Sweden, Austria, and Hungary exceeded 17 per 100,000 population. In other countries such as Italy, Spain, Greece, Ireland, suicide rates were less than 6 per 100,000 during the same period.

Glossary

self-destruction – самоуничтожение

deviance – отклонение

ambivalence – противоречие

burial - похороны

Task 1. Find the answers for the questions from the text.

a) What is suicide? Give the definition from the text and think about your own one.

b) What is the attitude towards suicide among the representatives of

- Oriental/Eastern cultures (in particular among the Chinese and the Japanese);

- Western Europe and the USA;

- The Jewish and Christian religions.

c) Attempted suicide was a felony in England until 1961, wasn’t it?

d) Does suicide still remain a criminal offense in some states in the USA?

Task 2. Compare suicide rates in different countries.

Task 3. While expressing your opinion about the problem raised in the text think about the following:

a) What extreme circumstances can push a person to commit a suicide?

b) Think about several ways of decreasing suicide rates among teens. What is the approach encouraged by the RF government towards crime prevention among teens? The Guide to the UN Convention proclaims that the government should protect children from harm, cruelty, abuse and dangerous drugs. Has Russian government succeeded in doing it?

c) Recollect the events happened in NY on September, 11. What do you think about people inside the aircrafts?

d) Terrorists are ready for self-destruction. What for?

e) Bible admits intentional self-killing, doesn’t it?

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