Grammar and practice

1. Learn the following words:

property	собственность
felonious	преступный
consent	согласие
to deprive smb of smth	лишать кого-либо чего-либо
fraudulent	обманный, мошеннический
essential	важный, существенный
possession	владение
to remove	вынести (увести)
title	право собственности
technical ownership	простое (ис)пользование
to abandon	бросать, оставлять
assumption	предположение, предпосылка
to recover	вновь обрести
to discard	отказаться
expensive	дорогой
failure to return	невозврат
grand larceny	кража в крупном размере
petit/petty larceny	мелкая кража
to mislay	положить не на место, затерять

2. Guess the meaning of the following international words:

personal, permanent – permanently, to define – definition – defining, garage, dispute, technical, direct – director – direction, to start, company, to realize, period, result – to result, fact – factually, obligation, practical – practice.

3. Look through the text and match the underlined English words and expressions with the following Russian equivalents:

личная собственность; без его согласия; стоимость собственно­сти; намерение украсть; по-настоящему спорить по поводу…; за­конное право собственности; срубить дерево; быть виновным в краже; брошенная собственность; вновь обрести; бюро находок; произойти из-за ошибки; присланный по ошибке; на практике это значит, что…

4. Read the text and answer the following questions:

1. What is larceny?

2. Is larceny a felony or a misdemeanor?

3. What does the word “felonious” mean?

4. What two parts to larceny are essential to define it?

5. Is larceny directed against personal or public property?

6. Is someone’s chopping down a tree on someone else’s property larceny?

7. Is abandoned property the subject of larceny?

8. What is the difference between grand larceny and petty larceny?

Crime against Property: Larceny

Larceny is a felonious taking and carrying away of someone else's personal property, without his consent, with the intention of permanently depriving him of its use or possession. There are several necessary parts to this offense, which is a felony or a misdemeanor depending on the value of the property stolen.

In defining larceny, the word felonious means fraudulent; felonious larceny is a taking with intent to steal.

Both a taking and a carrying away are essential. By going into your neighbor's garage without his knowledge or consent and laying your hands on the lawn mower, you have taken it, that is, you have established your (unlawful) possession of it. But there's no larceny until you remove the mower to your property intending never to return it.

The property taken need only have been in the possession of someone else. If you and your neighbor are having a genuine dispute over who owns the lawn mower, and in entering his garage at night and removing the mower to your property you think you are merely getting back what is yours, you are nevertheless guilty of the offense of larceny. The crime is directed against possession, not legal title or technical ownership.

Larceny is directed only against personal property. If you chop down a tree on someone else's property you have not committed larceny. But if you're walking along the road and see a pile of logs in a field and you take a few home for your fireplace, you would be guilty of larceny.

Abandoned property is not the subject of larceny, but lost property is.

Making the distinction between something that has been abandoned and something that has been lost is not always easy. The law in this area starts from the assumption that a person who abandons something does not really intend to recover it, whereas the person who loses or misplaces something does hope to recover it. The owner of abandoned property has discarded his ownership; the owner of lost property has not.

You may not legally take the package as yours. It is regarded not as abandoned but only as lost or mislaid. Railroad companies operate lost-and-found departments to which their employees refer such packages so that careless passengers know where to go when they realize they have mislaid them.

Larceny may also result from a mistake, depending on the facts. Intent is the controlling factor. Let's say you order a raincoat from a store and pay cash for it but ask to have it sent to you. When the package arrives, you find that what has been delivered is a much more expensive coat. You have an obligation to return what was obviously sent you by mistake. Failure to return it would be larceny, because when you discovered the mistake you intended to take and to keep something that was not yours.

The difference between grand larceny and petty larceny depends only on the value of what has been stolen. The practical significance is that grand larceny is a felony and petty larceny is only a misdemeanor.

5. Match the following English and Russian equivalents:

1) felonious	a) собственность
2) property	b) виновный
3) consent	c) бросать
4) possession	d) воровать
5) fraudulent	e) предположение
6) to steal	f) обманный
7) essential	g) согласие
8) guilty	h) терять
9) to abandon	i) существенный
10) to lose	j) преступный, умышленный
11) assumption	k) владение

6. Supply the missing prepositions:

1) to deprive smb. ____ his possession

2) to depend ____ the value of property stolen

3) to lay one’s hands ____ the lawn mower

4) to have a dispute ____ who owns the lawn mower

5) to be guilty ____ the offence of larceny

6) larceny may result ____ a mistake

7. Translate the following words paying attention to the word-building elements:

felonious, intention, possession, misdemeanor, raincoat, failure, fraudulent, essential, knowledge, lawn mower, guilty, difference, obviously.

8. Supply the missing words in the following sentences:

1. Larceny is the (преступное) taking and carrying away of someone else’s personal (собственность) without his (согласие).

2. In defining larceny the word “felonious” means (обманный).

3. Both a taking and a carrying away are (важные).

4. (Брошенная) property is not the subject of larceny but (потерян­ная) property is.

5. Railroad companies operate (бюро находок).

6. The difference between (крупная кража) and (мелкая кража) depends on the value of what has been (украденное).

9. Arrange the following sentences logically:

1. Both a taking and a carrying away are essential.

2. Larceny is the felonious taking and a carrying away of someone else’s personal property.

3. In defining larceny the word felonious means fraudulent.

10. What part of speech do the following words with “-ing” belong to? Translate the sentences and phrases:

1. The felonious taking and carrying away.

2. Felonious larceny is a taking with intent to steal.

3. Both a taking and a carrying away are essential terms.

4. Larceny is done with the intention of permanently depriving another person of his things.

5. In defining larceny the word felonious means fraudulent.

6. By going into your neighbour‘s garage without his knowledge....

7. In entering his garage at night and removing the mower....

SPEAKING

Discussion:

16 What larceny could a pickpocket (карманный вор) commit: grand or petty?

Helpful expressions how to give an opinion:

In my opinion
From my point of view…
My view is that…
It would seem to me that…
I would say/I’d say…
To my mind…
What I think is that…
	think			думаю,
	believe			почти уверен,
I	suppose	that…	Я	полагаю,	что…
	guess			мне кажется,
	expect			считаю возможным,

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