The death penalty 1



1. MY COUNTRY: In pairs / groups, talk about the system of justice in your country. Is it effective? Does it prevent crime? Does it make society safer? What measures or changes would you like to see introduced.

2. DEATH PENALTY METHODS: In pairs / groups, talk about the following methods of capital punishment that are used around the world. What is the worst thing about each method?
  • Hanging
  • Lethal injection
  • Guillotine
  • Beheading
  • Firing squad
  • Electrocution (electric chair)
  • Stoning
  • Gas chamber

3. CHAT: In pairs / groups, decide which of these topics or words are most interesting and which are most boring.
China / reform / capital punishment / courts / innocent people / miscarriages of justice / Amnesty International / firing squads / criminals / atrocious crimes
Have a chat about the topics you liked. For more conversation, change topics and partners frequently.

4. DEATH PENALTY: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the death penalty. Share your words with your partner(s) and talk about them. Together, put the words into different categories.

5. AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL: Discuss the following statement from Amnesty International about the death penalty:
“The death penalty is the ultimate, irreversible denial of human rights. By working towards the abolition of the death penalty worldwide, Amnesty International…looks to end the cycle of violence created by a system riddled with economic and racial bias and tainted by human error.”

6. TWO-MINUTE DEBATES: Debate each of the arguments about the death penalty below with a partner for just two minutes, before moving on to the next partner and debate. Student A agrees with the first argument, Student B, the second.
  1. All killing is wrong. vs. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.
  2. It saves taxpayers’ money – no prison bills. vs. No price can be put on human life.
  3. The death penalty is a deterrent. vs. Murder is common with or without it.
  4. The death penalty violates human rights. vs. So does multiple murder.
  5. Mistakes are made. Innocent people die. vs. Hey, no system is perfect.
  6. The death penalty gives society the message that killing is OK. vs. No way.
  7. Executed ‘terrorists’ may become ‘martyrs’. vs. So be it.
  8. It provides closure for victims’ families. vs. That’s a poor reason to kill someone.
  9. Life in prison is better. vs. Life in prison means life watching TV, reading and chatting.
  10. Most of the public supports the death penalty. vs. Not true.

China’s death penalty reform

China’s government has _________ it will reform its system of capital punishment by _________ the Supreme Court reviews all death sentences. This transfers _________ decision making for capital punishment out of the hands of provincial courts, which have _________ too often been responsible for wrongly executing innocent people. The new judicial process should reduce the _________ of miscarriages of justice from taking place. Several mistaken executions exposed recently _________ the latest review, which could reduce the total number of death sentences by a third. The president of the Supreme People’s Court, Chief Justice Xiao Yang, said: “As few executions as possible should be _________ out and as _________ as possible, to avoid wrongful executions.”


all
carried
ultimate
instances
announced
cautiously
prompted
ensuring


China executes more people each year than all other countries _________. Chinese authorities _________ to reveal actual numbers, but Amnesty International estimates more than 3,400 people were executed last year and a _________ 6,000 sentenced to death. Amnesty claims many of these were wrongly executed. One such case recently came to _________, sixteen years after the execution took place. The supposed victim of a man executed by _________ squad was found alive and in prison. Mr. Yang insisted that capital punishment must be imposed fairly to avoid _________. He said: “The death sentence is the most serious level of penalty for criminals. It is _________ for felons guilty of the most _________ crimes.”


light
reserved
refuse
error
further
combined
firing
atrocious 
 1. TRUE / FALSE: Look at the article’s headline and guess whether these sentences are true (T) or false (F):
a.China is going to change its system of capital punishment.T / F
b.Local courts will be able to use capital punishment for more crimes.T / F
c.The reform may reduce the number of death sentences by a third.T / F
d.A leading judge said there was a need for more executions.T / F
e.China executes more people than all other countries combined.T / F
f.Amnesty International says China executes 340,000 people a year.T / F
g.The 16 victims of a man executed by firing squad were found alive.T / F
h.The death penalty is reserved for felons guilty of atrocious crimes.T / F

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