Surveillance technology

Click here to watch an old post about the same topic.



Click here to watch another video about other completely different things that security cameras record around the world.

Crime and punishment

Watch the video and answer the questions. Check your answers in "comments".




1. What are the five high school students accused of?
2. What have they been charged with?
3. Who's being held in jail?
4. How are they being tried?
5. What did their lawyers enter?
6. How old was the victim?
7. What did the victim do?
8. Did the victim have children?
9. When did it happen?
10. What happened?
11. What did the suspects do after the incident?
12. How do the teenagers (the defendants*) feel according to their lawyers?
13. What do the defendants face?
14. Is this the only crime they have committed?
15. How does the news reader describe the story?

*Defendant: the person in a trial who is accused of committing a crime, or who is being sued by another person

Squatting

This is the video about squatting in Spain. The answers to the exercise in the photocopy are in "comments".

 

Copyright infringement

Stephen Fry denounces the overly aggressive strategies of the copyright industries as stupid in his speech at the London iTunes festival Summer 2009.

The answers to the exercises in the photocopy are in "comments".

Vocabulary and ideas for your opinion essay (Squatting)

Squatters who live in an unoccupied property should not be forced to leave it 

Vocabulary

Well-organised movement

Alternative lifestyle

Anti-political movement

A new class of squatters

Act out of necessity

Rise in unemployment

Cuts in social welfare programmes

To undergo a repossession

High rents

Lack of affordable houses

Empty / vacant / unoccupied houses

Derelict / Run-down buildings

Deprived areas

Property speculators

Homeowners

Evictions / to evict

To report / to file a report / a police report

Housing is a right and a need / an issue of human rights

Click here to read an article about Spain's housing crisis.

Another article about the Corrala movement in Spain. 

Here the latest news about the new laws in Spain.

Ideas and vocabulary for your opinion article (DOWNLOADING)

Downloading music or films without paying is as much of a crime as stealing from a shop

Some vocabulary:

File-sharing networks

A victimless crime

Get free access to

Copyright infringement

Intellectual property

Protect creators’ rights to profits

Audio streaming platforms (eg. Spotify)

A monthly fee / Pay a fair price / a subscription

Legitimate sources of entertainment online

Loss of jobs

The music industry

Some ideas

-          There is a drop in music sales.

-          A loss of jobs in the music industry.

-          It denies musicians the right to profits.

-          There is no incentive to produce new things

-          Illegal downloading places your computer at high risk. Infected files can result in loss of data, slow Internet connection and even identity theft.

-          CDs are obsolete and too expensive- not everyone can afford them

-          You cannot restrict access to ideas, expression, culture

-          Musicians become more popular and more demanded (concerts, shows, merchandising).

-          It is for personal use, you are not redistributing it.

-          It is very convenient.

London and the rise of violent crime

Watch the news report and fill in the gaps. Check your answers in "comments".

1. 17-year-old Tanesha Melbourne became last night the fifth person _______________   _______________   in the 

capital this year. 42 others have died of knife _______________. 

2. One woman told the reporter privately her son had told her about the postcode wars going on between 

_______________   in the neighbourhood.

3. A local man showed her where his car had been _______________   by a _______________   last year.

4. He says even the police can`t _______________   it.

5. 22-year-old Kobi Nelson was _______________   yards from his home.

6. Also a 16-year-old boy became the sixth _______________    _______________   this year.

7. The local MP has talked to Newsnight about how _______________   have impacted local policing.

8. She says she has stood up in parliament and _______________ and pleaded ministers to give them the police officers 

they have lost to get community intelligence.

9. The number of murders in London have led to _______________   comparisons with New York, a city which has 

dramatically cut its _______________   numbers since the 90s.

10. New York City and London have very similar numbers of officers and _______________.

11. As part of a new serious violence strategy the government recently launched a series of adverts aimed at 

_______________   _______________   crime.

12. It’s also looking into new laws against defensive _______________.

13. The person in charge of a community boxing club says that none of the latest victims were _______________   

_______________ gang members or criminals.

14. He also says it’s easy to blame the government or the parents but it takes a village to _______________   a child.

TELLING LIES

Click here to do a listening activity.  




Listen to Dan and Kate discuss how to tell if someone is lying, how you can cheat a lie detector test and when it might be OK not to tell the truth.

Crime and Punishment

I. Click here to see vocabulary about this topic.

II. Vocabulary and examples here

Exercise 1

Exercise 2

Exercise 3



Listen to an exchange between a police officer and a criminal and answer the multiple choice questions. 

Listen to another audio passage and answer the multiple choice question.

Mixed Conditionals

Click here to read the grammar and do some exercises.

Click here to see an old entry with a video explaining the use.

Third Conditionals

Click here to watch a video explaining the use of the third conditional.

Another video.



Click here to see a grammar explanation and do some exercises.

Click here to see old posts about the same topic (including pronunciation practice).

Friends: second conditional

Watch the video and do the activities. Check your answers in "comments".

1. Watch the video once. What is it about?

a) She has found some money in the street.

b) They're talking about fashion and shoes.

c) Someone has stolen some money from a bank.

d) She's seen some money in her account and doesn't want to use it.

2. WHILE YOU WATCH - Fill in the blanks.

The blonde girl: It’s alright… Alright… So… Ok, right…

Man in black shirt: Are you OK baby?

The blonde girl: No, I’m just… It’s not even worth… It’s my back.

The girl in black t-shirt: What did they do to you?

The blonde girl: No, it’s just… OK, I’m going for my mail and I open up their monthly statement.

The boy next to blonde girl: Easy, easy.

The blonde girl: And there is 500 hundred dollars extra in my account.

The man with blue shirt: Oh, satan’s minions at work again!

The blonde girl: Yes, because now I’ve got to go there and deal with them.

Man in black shirt: What are you talking about? Keep it!

The blonde girl: It’s not _________ (1)! I didn’t _________ (2) it! If I ____________ (3) it, it 

would be like _________ (4).

The girl in blue blouse: Yeah but if you __________ (5) it, it would be like _________(6).

The blonde girl: Okay, okay… Let’s say, I bought a great pair of __________(7), do you know what

 I’d _________ (8) with every step I took??? “Not mine, not mine, not mine”.

Even if I was ___________(9) and skipping, I’d hear: “Not not mine, not not mine”.

The girl in black t-shirt: I’m with you. We got it!

The blonde girl: It’s just like I would never be able to __________(10) it. It would be like giant

 karmic death.

A perfect day: second conditional

Click here to listen to a woman talking about her perfect day.