Advanced English Vocabulary– Crime and Punishment Flashcards
Word 1: Lock someone up and throw away the key (phrasal verb)
Meaning: Put a criminal in prison for a long time, possibly forever.
Synonyms: A life sentence; Life in prison; A harsh sentence (all nouns)
Antonyms: A lenient sentence; A slap on the wrist (both nouns) تنبیه نرم
Example Sentence: I think we should lock drug dealers up and throw away
the key.
Word 2: Rehabilitate (verb)
Meaning: Educate people to allow them to re-enter society successfully or become useful members of society.
بازپروری
Word Family: Rehabilitation (noun); Rehabilitated (adjective, passive verb)
Synonyms: Re-educate; Reintegrate (both verbs); Re-education;
Reintegration (both nouns)
Collocations: To try/attempt to rehabilitate someone; Programmes to rehabilitate someone; To rehabilitate prisoners.
Example Sentence: Many people believe that we should rehabilitate
prisoners to help them escape a life of crime in the future
Word 3: Premeditated (adjective)
Meaning: Planned in advance, usually related to a crime or negative action.
Word Family: Premeditation (noun)
Synonyms: Planned; Deliberate; Intentional; Calculated; Cold-blooded (all adjectives)
Antonyms: Unintentional; Accidental (both adjectives)
Collocations: Premeditated murder; A premeditated crime; A premeditated assault
Example Sentence: We should have extremely strong sentences for
premeditated crimes.
Word 4: A crime of passion (noun)
Meaning: A crime committed because of sudden strong emotions, and without planning.
Synonyms: Hot-blooded (adjective)
Antonyms: Premeditated; Deliberate; Intentional; Calculated; Cold-blooded
(all adjectives)
Collocations: A deadly crime of passion; A violent crime of passion
Example Sentence: It is understandable to look differently on crimes of passion compared to deliberate and cold-blooded criminal acts.
Word 5: Commit + name of
crime/negative action (phrasal verb)
Meaning: The official word for ‘doing’ a crime.
Synonyms: To carry out; To perpetrate (both verbs)
Collocations: Commit murder; Commit theft; Commit suicide; Commit assault; Commit fraud; Commit a white-collar crime; Commit arson; Commit bribery; Commit cyberbullying; Commit rape; Commit embezzlement; Commit blackmail
Example Sentence: He committed fraud and several white collar crimes, but escaped a harsh sentence (Only received a slap on wrist)
Word 6: Convicted (adjective/passive verb)
Meaning: To be found guilty of a crime by a court
Word Family: A convict (noun, person); To convict (verb)
Synonyms: To be found guilty; To be guilty of something (both passive
verbs)
Antonyms: To be cleared; To be acquitted; To be found not guilty (all
passive verbs)
Collocations: To be convicted of + name of crime;
Example Sentence: People who are convicted of non-violent crimes often
avoid serving time in prison.
Word 7: Organised crime (noun)
Meaning: Organisations formed/operated with the goal of breaking the law, usually in order to make money.
Synonyms: Mafia; Gangs; The underworld; The mob (noun)
Collocations: A part of organised crime; To fight/combat organised crime; To get involved in organised crime; To clamp down (try to control) on organised crime; To be linked to organised crime
Example Sentence: In some countries, local politicians have been linked to organised crime.
Word 8: Community service (noun)
Meaning: An official punishment for crimes, where the convict helps in the community rather than going to prison.
Antonyms: Jail-time; Incarceration (both nouns)زندانی شدن
Collocations: To be sentenced to (+ numbers of hours of) community
service; To be ordered to perform (+ numbers of hours of) community
service; To be given community service
Example Sentence: People guilty of minor crimes are often given
community service instead of jail-time.
Word 9: Deterrent (noun)
Meaning: A way of discouraging or scaring people to stop them committing crimes.
Antonyms: An incentive; An encouragement; A reward (all nouns)
Collocations: Useful as a deterrent; An effective deterrent; A deterrent to
others; To act as a deterrent to someone; To work as a deterrent
Example Sentence: The death penalty is rarely used, but acts as a useful deterrent to potential criminals
Word 10: Juvenile detention center (noun)
Meaning: A place that underage criminals are sent instead of going to an adult prison.
Synonyms: Youth detention center; Juvenile detention; Juvenile hall (all
nouns)
Collocations: Shipped off to a juvenile detention center; To be sent to a
juvenile detention center
Example Sentence: I don’t think it’s right to send underage criminals to prison alongside hardened adult prisoners. Instead, they should be sent to a juvenile detention center, where they can be rehabilitated
Listen
In my opinion, the punishments for committing crimes in my country are much too lenient. I’m firm believer that prisons are for punishment, not rehabilitation. That’s why I always say that if, someone commits a serious offence, or even a small offence twice, we sould lock them up and throw away the key. None of this community serivce nonesnse!
What is the purpose of prisons, in your opinion?
It depends on the criminal, really. For someone who is involved in something serious, like organized crime, prison could be a detrrent, or a punishment. For someone who grew up on the wrong side of the tracks and drifted into a life of crime, prison could be a chance at rehabilitation.
Do you belive that underage offenders should be treated differently?
I definitley do, yes. Anyone under age of 18 isn’t yet a fully dveloped adult, anf to treat the same as a fully-grown adult is rididulous. We have separate juvenile detention centers for a reason -they are there to rehabilitate kids who have had a bad start in life, so that they can avoid committing crimes in the future.
