Youth Crime and Punishment: A Troubling Trend

1. Unit 2 Crime and Punishment

2. New words and expressions for Reading One • cinder block: [countable] American English a large grey brick used to build houses and other buildings, made from cement and cinders [= breeze-block British English] 煤渣砖

3. in the direction of: at; towards • profusely: abundantly; a lot • The wound was bleeding profusely. • come over: come over somebody If a strong feeling comes over you, you suddenly experience it. • A wave of sleepiness came over me. • I’m sorry about that – I don’t know what came over me (=I do not know why I behaved in that way).

4. disrupt: [transitive] to prevent something from continuing in its usual way by causing problems; to bring or throw into disorder • A crowd of protesters disrupted the meeting. • 一群抗议者扰乱了会议。 • Climate change could disrupt the agricultural economy. • 气候变化可能会把农业经济搞垮。

5. suspend: to make someone leave their school or job for a short time, especially because they have broken the rules • The two police officers have been suspended until an enquiry is carried out. • suspend somebody from something • Dave was suspended from school for a week.

6. column:an article on a particular subject or by a particular writer that appears regularly in a newspaper or magazine • He writes a weekly column for ‘The Times’.

7. humility: [uncountable] the feeling that we are very unimportant or unworthy compared to someone or something else. • peddle: to try to sell things to people, especially by going from place to place • Farmers come to Seoul to peddle rice. • a door-to-door salesman peddling his wares (=selling his goods)

8. mouth off: phrasal verb to complain angrily and noisily about something, or talk as if you know more than anyone else • mouth off at/to • You should have heard Pete mouthing off at Joe. • mouth off about • Morris was mouthing off about his former team.

9. stock: a supply of a particular type of thing that a shop has available to sell • We have a huge stock of quality carpets on sale. • Buy now while stocks last!

10. Gary Adrian Condit: (born April 21, 1948) is a former politician and member of the Democratic Party who served in the House of Representatives from 1989 to 2003.

11. minor: someone who is below the age at which they become legally responsible for their actions • This film contains material unsuitable for minors. • oodles of: informal a large quantity of something • They’ve got oodles of money.

12. in the course of: If something happens in the course of a particular period, it happens during that period of time. • screwed-up: informal someone who is screwed up has a lot of emotional problems because of bad or unhappy experiences in the past

13. mandatory minimum:the shortest or smallest period of time, height, cost, etc. that something is allowed to be • button man: hired killer • life without parole: This punishment for a crime means you will spend your life in prison without a chance for release.

14. maintain:to strongly express your belief that something is true [= claim] • maintain (that) • Critics maintain that these reforms will lead to a decline in educational standards.

15. juvenile: adj. Something or someone that is juvenile is childlike or not yet an adult. • Amnesty International: an independent international organization in support of human rights, especially for prisoners of conscience. The organization was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1977. • 大赦国际（一支持人权，特别是政治犯人权的独立的国际组织，1977年获诺贝尔和平奖）

16. fiscal year: American English the 12 month period over which a company calculates its profits or losses [= financial year British English] • deterrence: If someone is deterred from doing something, they are restricted from acting or proceeding, especially by the threat of something unpleasant. “Deterrence” is the noun form.

17. jerk: a sudden quick movement • He gave a sudden jerk of his head. • with a jerk • She started the car with a jerk and hit the bumper of the car in front. • someone, especially a man, who is stupid or who does things that annoy or hurt other people • I swore at him for being such a jerk.

18. Check Your Vocabulary B • 1. I don’t know how long to jail children who commit crimes or where to jail them, but I think that the trend of punishing them seriously as adults is terrible. • 2. It appears that a child is more likely to be punished like an adult after he or she commits a very serious and hard-to-understand crime.

19. Check Your Vocabulary B • 3. When I write about these things, I think it’s important to also write about the victim and how he lost his life. • 4. I am deeply respectful to and am impressed by people who choose to use their lives to teach children, when they could be doing other things such as selling technology stocks or discussing fad topics on TV.

20. Check Your Vocabulary B • 5. Despite all these things, he was tried in the courtroom as an adult, and even given a sentence that was three years longer than the minimum for an adult. • 6. Even though these children were considered adults when they were judged in the courtroom, if they tried to defend themselves in the court, their arguments would be considered as given by children, not adults.

21. Check Your Vocabulary B • 7. These adults will have little in common with the foolish boys they were, just as I have little in common with the foolish boy I was when I threw that cinder block.

22. New words and expressions for Reading Two: • reap: If you reap the benefits or the rewards of something, you enjoy the good things that happen as a result of it. • You’ll soon begin to reap the benefits of being fitter...

23. count up: If you count up all the things in a group, you add them up in order to find how many there are. • Count up how many ticks are in each box. • Couldn’t we just count up our ballots and bring them to the courthouse（县政府大楼）? • cell: a small room in a prison or police station where prisoners are kept • He spent a night in the cells at the local police station.

24. capillary: Capillaries are tiny blood vessels in your body. • cyanide: Cyanide is a highly poisonous substance. • foam: If a person or animal foams at the mouth or if their mouth foams, a mass of small bubbles comes from their mouth. Metaphorically, if someone “foams at the mouth,” they get very excited about something.

25. high-profile: A high-profile person or a high-profile event attracts a lot of attention or publicity. • deterrent: A deterrent is something that prevents people from doing something by making them afraid of what will happen to them if they do it. • They seriously believe that capital punishment is a deterrent...

26. inmate: The inmates of a prison or mental hospital are the prisoners or patients who are living there. • barbaric: If you describe someone’s behaviour as barbaric, you strongly disapprove of it because you think that it is extremely cruel or uncivilized. • This barbaric treatment of animals has no place in any decent society.

27. not have the stomach for: If you say you do not have the stomach for something, you mean you do not have enough courage or determination to do it or face it. • tangible: If something is tangible, it is clear enough or definite enough to be easily seen, felt, or noticed. • There should be some tangible evidence that the economy is starting to recover...

28. Check Your Comprehension A Answer each of the following questions with the information from the text. • What is the author’s attitude towards the death penalty? What is his tone throughout the text? The author argues against the death penalty. He uses a sarcastic tone throughout the text.

29. In Para. 2, the author writes “He was killed at our expense. In our name. By us.” What effect does the sentence have on you by emphasizing “our” and “us”? The emphatic expression makes us feel as if were were the murderers. 3. The author lists the “benefits” to execute Harding. What are they? In what ways do such “benefits” do good? Does the author really mean they are “benefits”? Why does he choose to write in this way? The benefits mentioned are: a) safety — We are safer when a hardened murderer is dead. b) cost-saving — It costs money to keep him alive.

30. c) deterrence — Others will think twice if they want to murder people. d) Families of the victims will get their revenge. e) Freeing prison space. The author is sarcastic when he lists all these “benefits” and he also argues against these “benefits” one by one. It is his ironic way of arguing against the death penalty. 4. In Para. 12, the writer goes into some detail about Harding’s execution by using the following description “as the tiny capillaries

31. in Harding’s lungs were exploded by the cyanide gas, filling his chest with blood. Drowning him from the inside.” What’s his point in presenting this detail? Does it reveal his attitude towards the execution? He describes Harding’s execution in detail so that the reader is able to see the cruelty of killing (even when it’s executing a murderer). This also helps to reveal his negative attitude towards the death penalty.

32. What is the author’s position about the claim that the death penalty helps the victim’s families? He is not convinced about this claim and puts forward the argument that not all murderers are killed although the victims’ families suffer the same loss. Therefore, getting revenge for the victims’ families cannot be regarded as a reason for the death penalty.

33. Check Your Vocabulary A 1. Now we can enjoy the benefits and list ways in which we benefit from his death. • There must be some other benefit by fastening Harding into a chair in a small room and poisoning him to death with gas. • Not even people who are eloquently in support of executing people, such as Arizona Attorney Grant Woods, who attracts a lot of public attention, believe

34. Check Your Vocabulary A that the death penalty will keep people from committing crimes. 4. But even killing a small number of murderers will have great impact on people. 5. Perhaps the benefit we got from killing Harding is not easy to see.

35. New words and expressions for Reading Three: • oscillate: If an object oscillates, it moves repeatedly from one position to another and back again, or keeps getting bigger and smaller. (FORMAL) • I checked to see if the needle indicating volume was oscillating.

36. tremulous: If someone’s voice, smile, or actions are tremulous, they are unsteady because the person is uncertain, afraid, or upset. (LITERARY) • She fidgeted in her chair as she took a deep, tremulous breath.

37. manslaughter: Manslaughter is the illegal killing of a person by someone who did not intend to kill them. (LEGAL) • A judge accepted her plea that she was guilty of manslaughter, not murder. • She was cleared of murder but found guilty of manslaughter.

38. slain: Slain is the past participle of slay. If someone has been slain, they have been murdered. • reconcile: If you reconcile yourself to an unpleasant situation, you accept it, although it does not make you happy to do so. • She had reconciled herself to never seeing him again.

39. scum: If you refer to people as scum, you are expressing your feelings of dislike and disgust for them. (INFORMAL) • adhere: If you adhere to an opinion or belief, you support or hold it. • We adhere to the principles of equal rights and freedom of expression for all. • I have adhered strictly to the rules.

40. abstraction: An abstraction is a general idea rather than one relating to a particular object, person, or situation. (FORMAL) • Is it worth fighting a big war, in the name of an abstraction like sovereignty?

41. sorely: Sorely is used to emphasize that a feeling such as disappointment or need is very strong. • I for one was sorely disappointed. • ...the potential to earn sorely needed money for Britain from overseas orders...

42. scale: scales [plural] British English scale American English a machine for weighing people or objects • a set of kitchen scales • some new bathroom scales (=scales that you use to weigh yourself)

43. redress: Redress is money that someone pays you because they have caused you harm or loss. (FORMAL) • They are continuing their legal battle to seek some redress from the government. • = compensation

44. suffice: If you say that something will suffice, you mean it will be enough to achieve a purpose or to fulfill a need. (FORMAL) • A cover letter（说明信）should never exceed one page; often a far shorter letter will suffice. • = do

45. retribution:Retribution is punishment for a crime, especially punishment which is carried out by someone other than the official authorities. (FORMAL) • He didn’t want any further involvement for fear of retribution.

46. dispense: If someone dispenses something that they own or control, they give or provide it to a number of people. (FORMAL) • The Union had already dispensed £40,000 in grants... • I thought of myself as a patriarch, dispensing words of wisdom to all my children.

47. spectrum: A spectrum is a range of a particular type of thing. • resurgence: If there is a resurgence of an attitude or activity, it reappears and grows. (FORMAL) • Police say drugs traffickers are behind the resurgence of violence.

48. retributive: of, involving, or characterized by retribution; retributory • expend: To expend something, especially energy, time, or money, means to use it or spend it. (FORMAL) • Children expend a lot of energy and may need more high-energy food than adults.

49. perpetrator: n. someone who commits a crime or any other immoral or harmful act • The perpetrator of this crime must be traced. • rupture: If there is a rupture between people, relations between them get much worse or end completely. • The incidents have not yet caused a major rupture in the political ties between countries.

50. instigator: The instigator of an event is the person who causes it to happen. • He was accused of being the main instigator of the coup.