43. Crime CHECK YOUR ENGLISH VOCABULARY FOR FCE

CHECK YOUR ENGLISH VOCABULARY FOR FCE

43. Crime

Task 1. Look at this student's essay, and complete it with a word or expression from the box. In some cases, more than one answer may be possible.

attacked	protect	property	defend	locks	lights
victims	self-defence	burgled	security	possessions	violence
criminals	problem	drugs	break in	be aware	police
prevent

There is a lot of crime in our towns and cities. What do you think we could all do to reduce the risk to ourselves and our homes? Crime is a big 1. __________ in some cities. There is a lot of 2. __________ on the streets at night, people buy and sell 3. __________ illegally, and a lot of houses are 4. __________ on a regular basis. The 5. __________ do their best to 6. __________ these things happening, but they are not always successful. However, there are some things that people can do to make their lives safer, to 7. __________ themselves and their 8. __________ from crime. For example, they can improve 9. __________ by fixing good, strong 10. __________ so that thieves cannot 11. __________ and steal their 12. __________. When they go out at night, they should leave 13. __________ on so that thieves think there are people at home. When they are on the streets, they should 14. __________ of what is happening around them. They could even consider doing a 15__________ course such as judo or jujitsu so that they can 16. __________ themselves if they are 17. __________ by muggers. There will always be 18. __________ on our streets, but that doesn't mean we all need to be 19. __________ of crime, especially if we take the right preventative measures.

Task 2. Complete the sentences below with a word or expression from the box.

guilty	falsified	smuggled	sentenced	tried	innocent
arrested	mugged	break	vandalized	stole	robbed
trafficking	charged

Richard Mann has been committing crimes since he was a boy.

1. When he was only 15 he _____________ telephone boxes and public toilets. 2. As he grew older, he _____________ old ladies in the street and stole their money. 3. He also _____________ banks, post offices and jewellery shops. 4. On one occasion, he _____________ almost £20,000 from a post office. 5. In his late twenties, he _____________ cigarettes and alcohol from one country to another. 6. During his only proper job in an office, he _____________ the accounts and pocketed thousands of pounds. 7. He then started _____________ drugs. 8. The police finally _____________ him last year. 9. They _____________ him with almost thirty crimes. 10. He was _____________ at a Crown Court. 11. He said he was _____________, but the jury decided he was _____________. 12. The judge _____________ him to 15 years in prison. 13. He won't _____________ the law again for a long time.

Task 3. IDIOMS, COLLOQUIALISMS AND OTHER EXPRESSIONS Complete the following story using one of the idiomatic words or expression from the box.

behind bars	nick	boys in blue	doing time	got away with	nicking
spill the beans	hardened	cops	as thick as thieves	leg it	red handed

Brian and Bert had always been 1._____________, sharing each other's secrets and doing everything together. They turned to a life of crime in their teens, and by the time they were in their early twenties, they were already 2._____________ criminals. They burgled houses and stole cars and always 3._____________ it, discovering that they actually enjoyed the excitement of avoiding the 4._____________. However, their luck didn't last and one day the 5._____________ caught them 6._____________ while they were 7.______________ a car. They tried to 8._____________, but didn't get too far. The police interviewed them and told them to 9._____________. I'm glad to say that Brian and Bert are now 10._____________ in Wandsworth 11._____________, and expect to be 12._____________ for at least two years.

ANSWER KEY