Bahasa Inggeris notes, unit 6
Crime
Textbook English Download B1+ Student's Book Form 5 (KSSM, Hamilton House / KPM 2020), pages 69-80
What this chapter covers
- I can name criminals and the crimes they commit, such as burglar and burglary, arsonist and arson, vandal and vandalism (6.1)
- I can use the words of crime and punishment correctly - commit a crime, be arrested, be found guilty, serve a sentence, pay a fine, do community service (6.1, 6.3)
- I can choose the right modal verb for ability, permission, requests, offers and suggestions (6.2)
- I can use must, have to, needn't, mustn't, may, might and can't for obligation, prohibition, possibility and deduction, and use modal + have + past participle for the past (6.4)
- I can use phrasal verbs such as break into, get away with, break out, tie up and give up in crime contexts (6.3)
- I can tell apart easily confused words such as stole and robbed, accuse and excuse, avoid and prevent (6.3)
- I can use a gapped text strategy to choose the sentence that fits both before and after a gap (6.5)
- I can express uncertainty when I describe a picture, with phrases such as "I'm not certain, but ..." and "It's possible that ..." (6.6)
- I can write a conclusion to an essay that sums up my opinion and adds a comment, and make my ideas sound realistic with modals and adverbs (6.7)
This unit is about crime and punishment. You will learn the words for crimes, criminals and sentences, two groups of modal verbs, a few phrasal verbs, and how to write a good conclusion for an essay. These are skills for Paper 1 (Reading and Use of English) and Paper 2 (Writing).
6.1Crimes and criminals
Most crime words come in pairs: the person and the crime. Learn both forms together.
| Criminal | Crime | What the person does |
|---|---|---|
| shoplifter | shoplifting | Takes goods from a shop without paying |
| burglar | burglary | Breaks into a house to steal things |
| robber | robbery | Steals from a place such as a bank, often with force |
| kidnapper | kidnapping | Takes a person away and asks for money to return them |
| murderer | murder | Kills another person on purpose and illegally |
| arsonist | arson | Starts a fire on purpose and illegally |
| vandal | vandalism | Damages or destroys property |
| trespasser | trespassing | Goes onto someone's land without permission |
Offence: any crime. A minor offence is small (dropping litter); a serious offence is big (murder). Crimes can be against people (kidnapping, mugging, murder) or against property (arson, graffiti, vandalism).
Common mistake. A robber robs a place or a person; a thief steals a thing. So "The man robbed the bank" but "The man stole a tablet". Do not write "He robbed my bag".
From crime to punishment
| Step | Useful words |
|---|---|
| The crime | commit a crime, break the law, turn to a life of crime |
| Catching | arrest someone for a crime, catch someone red-handed (while doing it), be on the run (escaped, being searched for) |
| The court | find someone guilty of a crime, prove (show it is true), accuse someone of a crime |
| The punishment | pay a fine, do community service, be on probation, send someone to prison, serve a sentence, do time (be in prison), receive the death penalty |
Punishments have fixed verbs. You pay a fine, do community service, serve a sentence, go to prison, be on probation and receive a penalty. Learn them as chunks.
Fill each gap with a crime word. (a) A man set fire to the school on purpose. This is ______. (b) The teenagers painted on the bus-stop wall without permission. This is ______.
Show answerHide answer
(a) arson (he is an arsonist). (b) vandalism (graffiti is a kind of vandalism; the teenagers are vandals).
6.2Modal verbs 1: ability, permission, requests, offers, suggestions
| Meaning | Modal | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Ability now | can, be able to | She can drive a car. |
| General ability in the past | could, was/were able to | He could read when he was four. |
| One completed action in the past | was/were able to (not could) | The police were able to catch the kidnapper. |
| Asking for permission | can, could, may | Could I go to the park? |
| Giving or refusing permission | can, may (may not) | You may not go into the prison. |
| Permission in the past | could, was/were allowed to | She was allowed to stay out late last night. (one occasion) |
| Requests | can, will (casual); could, would (polite) | Could you tell the detective I am ready, please? |
| Offers | can, could, shall I ...?, would you like me to ...? | Shall I call the police? |
| Suggestions | can, could | You could ask for his advice. |
Common mistakes.
- "The police could catch the thief last night" is wrong for one single success. Write were able to.
- Offers use Shall I ...? (not "Will I ...?"). Requests use Can/Could you ...? or Will/Would you ...?
- After a modal use the base verb: "He can drive", not "He can drives".
Choose. (a) "______ I carry your bag, madam?" (Shall / Could you) (b) After the chase, the officer ______ arrest the mugger. (could / was able to)
Show answerHide answer
(a) Shall - it is an offer, with I. (b) was able to - one completed action in the past.
6.3Vocabulary: phrasal verbs and confused words
| Phrasal verb | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| break into | enter a building by force to steal | Someone broke into our house. |
| get away | escape | The mugger got away. |
| get away with | do something bad and not be punished | He will not get away with it. |
| break out | escape from prison | Two prisoners broke out last night. |
| lock up | put valuables away safely, or put a person in a place they cannot leave | Lock up your valuables before you leave. |
| tie up | put rope around someone so they cannot move | The robbers tied up the guard. |
| tie in with | fit with, agree with (facts) | The shirt ties in with the murder. |
| give up | stop trying, surrender | Give up now before you get hurt. |
| give back | return something | Give back the money. |
| put away | send someone to prison | The judge put him away for ten years. |
| put up with | tolerate, bear | I cannot put up with his lies. |
Easily confused words
| Pair | Difference |
|---|---|
| stole / robbed | steal a thing; rob a place or person |
| kill / die | kill needs an object (kill someone); die does not |
| accuse / excuse | accuse someone of a crime; "Excuse me" is a polite phrase |
| avoid / prevent | avoid = keep away from it yourself; prevent = stop it from happening to others |
| quite / quiet | quite = fairly; quiet = not noisy |
| lose / loose | lose = not win, not keep; loose = not tight |
Which word fits? (a) The police want to ______ young people from breaking the law. (avoid / prevent) (b) Do not ______ him of stealing without proof. (excuse / accuse)
Show answerHide answer
(a) prevent. (b) accuse.
6.4Modal verbs 2: obligation, deduction, advice, criticism
| Meaning | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Obligation | must (present or future), have to, need to (any time) | We must find the murderer. |
| Not necessary | don't have to, don't need to, needn't | You needn't call the sheriff. |
| Not necessary, past | didn't have/need to | I didn't need to pay a fine. (we do not know if I paid) |
| Done, but unnecessary | needn't have + past participle | I needn't have given back the money. (I did give it back) |
| Prohibition | mustn't | You mustn't be late for meetings with your probation officer. |
| Possibility, present/future | may, might, could | This footprint may be important. |
| Possibility, past | may/might/could + have + past participle | There might have been a power cut. |
| Deduction (almost sure) | must / can't (+ have + past participle for the past; couldn't have is also possible) | He must have broken the law. She can't be the robber. |
| Advice | should, ought to | You should report him to the police. |
| Criticism of the past | should/ought to + have + past participle; shouldn't have | He shouldn't have robbed that bank. |
Common mistakes.
- mustn't means "not allowed". don't have to means "not necessary". "You mustn't pay" is not the same as "You don't have to pay".
- Do not use could or could have in a negative possibility sentence. Use might not or may not (might not have, may not have).
- needn't have done (it was done) is different from didn't need to do (not known).
Worked example: deduction
The window is broken and the safe is empty. A burglar ______ got in through the window.
The evidence is strong, so we are almost certain: must have. For the opposite certainty (almost sure it is not true) use can't have: "She can't have been there; she was with me."
Explain the difference. (a) "He didn't need to do time in prison." (b) "He needn't have done time in prison."
Show answerHide answer
(a) It was not necessary, and we do not know if he went. (b) He did go to prison, but it was unnecessary.
6.5Reading: a gapped text
The reading text "Whodunnit?" (pages 70-71) is about a young man, Adam, who is arrested at his boss's mansion, holding a bloody knife. Six sentences have been taken out and you choose them from a list of seven (one extra).
| Step | What to do |
|---|---|
| 1 | Read the whole text once, ignoring the gaps. What happens, in order? |
| 2 | For each gap, read the sentence before and the sentence after. |
| 3 | Look for links: pronouns (he, it, that), time words, repeated nouns, a contrast (But, Despite this). |
| 4 | Choose a sentence, then read before + sentence + after as one text. Does it flow? |
| 5 | Cross off used sentences. The extra one does not fit any gap. |
Two sentences may fit what comes before a gap. Only one fits what comes after it as well. In the Adam story, a sentence about "a fine room with bookcases and a huge desk" fits after he steps through a door and before "seated behind it ...".
Gap: "He saw a wide-open door and stepped inside. ______ And seated behind it ... a man with a bloodstained shirt." Which kind of sentence goes in the gap? Why is "behind it" a clue?
Show answerHide answer
A sentence that describes the room, especially a desk, because "it" after the gap refers to a thing that was mentioned in the gap sentence (the desk).
6.6Speaking: saying you are not sure
In the speaking test you describe photographs. You often have to guess, so you must sound careful, not wrong. It is fine to be unsure if you give sensible ideas and a reason.
| Strength | Phrases |
|---|---|
| Fairly sure | This is probably a ... / I would guess that it is ... |
| Not sure | I'm not certain, but ... / I'm not 100% sure, but I think ... |
| Possibility | It's possible/likely that ... / This might be a ... / The man is possibly ... |
Worked example
Photo of a small camera on a pole. "I'm not certain, but I would guess that it is a security camera, so it is probably there to prevent burglary."
The listening test (page 76) asks you to work out how a speaker feels. The speakers use words linked to every option, so do not choose at once. Listen for: "too harsh", "not harsh enough", "definitely", "possibly", "I'm sure", "I'm not sure whether".
6.7Writing an essay: conclusions and realistic ideas
Conclusion: the last paragraph. It summarises your opinions and adds a comment, often about the future.
Start with a signpost such as To sum up, or In conclusion,. Then answer the task question and add what should or might happen.
Worked example
Opinion in the essay: many burglaries happen because people forget to lock doors. Conclusion: "To sum up, many burglaries happen because of carelessness. If people checked their doors and windows, the number of burglaries might fall."
Make your ideas sound believable
| Exaggerated | More realistic |
|---|---|
| Prison teaches people to become better criminals. | Prison life can sometimes teach people to become better criminals. |
| Young people achieve great things with help. | Many young people may achieve great things with help. |
- Use modals: could, can, may, might.
- Use adverbs: sometimes, often, not always.
- Use determiners: some, many, most (not "all").
Common mistake. Using will for the future in a comment ("the number of crimes will fall"). Nobody can be sure, so write might or could.
An essay task gives you notes: write about notes 1 and 2, then add your own idea as the third point. For the task on page 79 (young offenders in an army camp instead of prison) the essay is 140-190 words and the plan has five paragraphs: introduction with your opinion, punishment, life skills, your own idea, then the conclusion. Useful ideas: discipline, teamwork, a sense of responsibility, self-confidence.
Make this sound more realistic: "All shoplifters steal because they are poor."
Show answerHide answer
For example: "Some shoplifters steal because they are poor." (a determiner), or "Many shoplifters may steal because they are poor."
Summary
- Crime words come in pairs: burglar/burglary, arsonist/arson, vandal/vandalism, trespasser/trespassing.
- A person steals things and robs places; you pay a fine, do community service and serve a sentence.
- Single past success: was/were able to. Offer: Shall I ...?
- mustn't = not allowed; don't have to = not necessary; needn't have = done but unnecessary.
- Deduction: must (have) = almost sure it is true; can't (have) = almost sure it is not true.
- Gapped text: check the sentence before and after the gap; one sentence is extra.
- Speaking: "I'm not certain, but ...", "It's possible that ...".
- Conclusion: sum up the opinion and add a comment; use modals, adverbs and determiners to avoid exaggeration.