Crime and Punishment
Lesson 10.1 opens Unit 10 with crime and society vocabulary, complex sentence structures, and Speaking Part 1 on local community.
- Use 10 phrases about crime and society
- Build complex sentences with subordination
- Answer Part 1 questions about your community
Get Ready · Your community
- Is your neighbourhood generally a safe place?
- Have crime rates in your country gone up or down?
- What one change would make your community better?
Vocabulary · Crime & society
Pathway focus · Academic crime lexis
Grammar · Complex sentences with subordination
✓ Although harsher sentencing may reduce serious crime, it rarely addresses the socioeconomic factors that produce it in the first place.
Listening Skills — A Criminology Seminar on Sentencing
You will hear a criminology tutor and two students discussing approaches to sentencing and reoffending. Read the questions first and think about what type of answer is needed — a number, a name, or a short phrase.
- Predict whether gaps need a noun, a number, or a percentage.
- Listen for signposting language such as 'the key point is' or 'in contrast'.
- Watch out for the speaker correcting a figure or date.
- Note that synonyms will replace exact words from the questions.
Listen first — the transcript stays hidden so this works like the real exam.
Listening audio
Tap play to generate and listen.
Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER for each answer.
- Reoffending rate for offenders given a custodial sentence: ____%
- Reoffending rate for offenders on community orders: ____%
- Name of the researcher: ____
- Approach where offender and victim meet: ____ justice
- Pilot scheme city corrected by the tutor: ____
- Total funding for the scheme: £____ million
- Publication date of the final report: ____
- Minimum number of extra academic sources required for the essay: ____
Answer key
Speaking · Part 1 — Your community
- Do you feel safe walking around your area at night?
- Do neighbours know each other well where you live?
- What could local government do to improve things?
- 'Yes, it is safe. There are lights and people.'
- 'Broadly, yes — the main streets are well-lit and there's usually enough foot traffic that you rarely feel isolated. That said, I'd probably still avoid the quieter back roads after midnight, just as a sensible precaution.'
Exam Strategy
- Exam Tip
Subordinators change the meaning — 'although' vs 'because' aren't interchangeable.
Independent Practice
Combine these into ONE complex sentence: 'Crime rates fell. Youth unemployment stayed high. Analysts were surprised.'
Key Takeaways
- Complex sentences show meaning, not showing off.
- Community answers score with concrete street-level detail.
- Common errors clinicError pairs: choose the sentence an examiner would accept.
- True / False / Not Given decisionsTen statements — the question type students lose most marks on.
- Trend language workoutDescribe movement precisely — verbs, adverbs and noun phrases.
Optional — this doesn't affect your lesson or course progress.