Inspire the Students to discuss the questions in groups. Work in groups. Discuss these questions. 1 What do you know about the prison system in your country? 2 When criminals leave prison, do they often re-offend? If so, why do you think this happens? 3 For which crimes do you think a prison sentence is an effective deterrent?

re-offending deterrent stike

Tell students that they are going to hear a discussion about the prison population in the UK. CD1 27 Play the recording. Students listen and do the exercise on their own, then compare answers in pairs. Check answers with the class. Listen to a discussion from a news programme about the prison population in the UK. Answer the questions. 1 What are Margaret Bolton's and David Gilbert's jobs? 2 What do they agree on? What don't they agree on? 3 What is the 'three strikes law' and where did it originate Answers: 1 Margaret Bolton is a Member of Parliament (an MP); David Gilbert is a Chief Superintendent (of Police) 2 They agree that there are too many people in prison, and that we have to stop criminals reoffending. They don’t agree on the three strikes law as a deterrent. 3 It’s a system where, if someone is found guilty on three different occasions, they are automatically sentenced to a minimum of 25 years to life in prison.

Put students in pairs, A and B. Tell students A to look at the numbers in A and students B to look at the numbers in B. Play the recording again. Students listen and identify what their numbers refer to. Work in pairs. Listen again. Student A, what do the numbers in A refer to? Student B, what do the numbers in B refer to? A £40,000 £3.8 billion £4,000 2.3 million B 95,000 60,000 60% $68 billion Students work in their pairs and take turns to tell each other what the numbers refer to. Answers: £40,000 = the cost of keeping a person in prison for one year;  £3.8 billion = the cost of keeping all the prisoners in the UK in prison for a year;  £4,000 = the cost of keeping a person in prison for 45days;  2.3 million = the prison population in the US  95,000 = the number of prisoners in the UK;  60,000 = the number of people sentenced in one year to less than a year in prison for minor crimes;  60% = the percentage of short-term offenders who commit another crime within a year;  $68 billion = the amount the US spends each year on prisons

7. Have learners respond to the content of the text They named the law after the three strikes rule in baseball where the person batting is allowed two strikes (he can miss two balls), but on the third strike he is out. The three strikes law is based on the same principle - three convictions and you're taken out of society Imagine you were a judge and were allowed to make brand new rules/laws to decrease the numbers in crimes. Which deterrent would you suggest. Discuss with your group and come up with 2- 3 new laws.