Question Time Capital Punishment Debate - Are you for or against?

You are going to

• watch a short debate about capital punishment from the BBC's Question Time programme
• practise vocabulary connected with crime
• look at some expressions connected with debating and stating opinions
• debate a topical question
• write an argument essay

1) Discuss

Capital punishment

• What is it?
• Is it fair?
• Is it necessary?
• Is it wrong? 
• is it revenge?
• Do two wrongs make a right?
• What is your opinion?

2) Before you watch
Vocabulary check
The words on the right are used in the clip you are going to watch. Do you understand them all? Match them with the definitions in the drop-down menu to check you know them.

3) Watch

Question Time is BBC TV debate show where a panel of guests discuss issues of the day. This program is from 22/11/2011

The participants in this clip are;
Priti Patel - Conservative MP http://www.priti4witham.com/
Ian Hislop - Editor of Private Eye (a British satirical and current affairs magazine)
Justine Roberts - co-founder of Mumsnet.

 
Watch the clip

• What opinions about Capital punishment are stated by the participants in the debate?
• Who is "for"?
• Who is "against"?

You can see the full debate here






4) Practise
Look at this summarized transcript of the debate.
Fill in the gaps with a word from the list.

5) Write
Choose 1 of the questions and write an answer. 
Look at the website below if you need some more ideas or views on capital punishment.

• In many countries where capital punishment has been abolished there has been a corresponding rise in violent crime rates. For this reason, many governments are considering its re-introduction as a form of deterrent. Should capital punishment be re-introduced? (IELTS)

• "Without capital punishment our lives are less secure and crimes or violence increase". To what extent do you agree or disagree with this opinion? (IELTS)

• "By punishing murderers with the death penalty, society is also guilty of committing murder. Therefore, life in prison is a better punishment for murderers." (IELTS)

Read here for a summary of views on capital punishment.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/ethics/capitalpunishment/









6) Debate
Debating Language
1) Look at the text again
What language do the debaters use to state their opinions?




2) Look at the phrases below. Fill in the gaps

3) Debate for IELTS
Many IELTS students have problems thinking of ideas to put in their essays. Why not make your own version of Question Time? Choose some IELTS questions / topics and debate them in class.
Make a note of the points people make and include them in the essays which you can write after you've finished debating them.

Look at the questions for debate below. Choose one. 
A) In pairs or groups one person / group thinks of ideas to support an idea. The other person / group thinks of ideas to oppose it.
B) Debate the topic. Try and convince your "opponent" that you are right and give examples which support your points.
C) Have a "chairman" who can moderate the debate and make sure everyone gets an equal turn.
D) Let others in the class decide who has argued their ideas the best and "won" the debate.
E) Don't forget to use some of the debating language.
F) Use reason and logic. Don't get too emotional!

Some ideas for debating;

• Downloading free films and music from the internet is stealing. Do you agree or disagree?
• "Free Speech does not only cover saying what your opinion is without reprisals; it also gives you the right to be as foul, unpleasant and vile as you feel the need to be".   What do you think?
• Should rich countries forgive all debts for poor countries?
• Should money be spent on space exploration?
• Is animal testing necessary?
• Will the Internet bring people of the world closer together?
• Should retirement be compulsory at 65 years of age?
• Education is not a luxury, but a basic human right and as such should be free for everyone irrespective of personal wealth. Do you agree or disagree?
• Children should never be educated at home by their parents. Do you agree or disagree?
• Many people believe that women make better parents than men and that this is why they have the greater role in raising children in most societies. Others claim that men are just as good as women at parenting. What do you think?
• Most high level jobs are done by men. Should the government encourage a certain percentage of these jobs to be reserved for women?
• Should criminals be punished with lengthy jail terms or re-educated and rehabilitated using community service programs for instance, before being reintroduced to society?
• All blood sports should be banned. Do you agree or disagree?
• Should governments ever intervene in the rights of the individual?
• Global warming is the most serious issue that the world is facing today. Do you agree or disagree?

More
Printable worksheets here


More language for expressing an opinion  
http://www.myenglishpages.com/site_php_files/communication-lesson-opinion.php

More on debates
http://esl.about.com/od/conversationlessonplans/a/debate6.htm

More on "For and Against" essays
http://academicwriting.wikidot.com/for-and-against-essays

More on crime
http://efllecturer.blogspot.com.es/2012/05/what-happened-to-db-cooper.html

What happened to D.B. Cooper?

You are going to

• watch a short film about a famous criminal and do some listening comprehension exercises
• practise some crime vocabulary
• practise modal verbs for past deduction (may / might/ could / can't / must have + participle)
• write a report / a biography

1) Intro - Crime vocabulary

How many different kinds of criminals are there?
Match some criminals with the definitions in the exercise below.

2) Discuss

• What famous criminals or crimes have you heard of?
• How many criminals get away with their crimes?
• Do you know of any criminals who have become "heroes"?

3) Video - Before you watch
Have you ever heard of DB Cooper?
He was a criminal who committed a famous crime and got away with it.
Look at the film poster below carefully

• What crime do you think he could he have committed?
• How coud he have got away?

Read the gap-fill exercise below quickly and find out if your guesses were right (don't worry about the gaps yet)

• What was DB Cooper's crime?
• How much money did he get away with? 
• How did he get away? 

4) Video - Watch the first 2 minutes and pause
Watch the first 2 minutes of the film (0:00 - 01:53)
After you have watched fill in the gaps in the exercise above. 

5) Video - Watch the rest of the film

(01:53 - End)
Why has DB Cooper become a hero to so many people?



6) After you watch
How much did you understand?
Do the quiz below.

7) Deductions

What do you think happened to DB Cooper?
Detectives make deductions to help solve crimes.
What language do we use to make deductions?
See the presentation below. Then make sentences about what you think happened to DB Cooper.

Present and Past Modals of Deduction with Sherlock Holmes from David Mainwood

Can you make sentences / deductions about what happened to DB Cooper?

• What happened after he parachuted from the plane?
• Is he alive?
• Where is he?
• What's he doing now?
• What happened to the money?

Use May / Might / Could / Must / Can't + Be (+ing) to make sentences / deductions about the present
Use May / Might / Could / Must / Can't (have + Past Participle) to make sentences / deductions about the past

Further infomation

• In the autumn of 1978 a placard containing instructions for lowering the aft stairs of a 727, later verified to be from the hijacked airliner, was found by a deer hunter about 13 miles east of Castle Rock, Washington.
• In February 1980 an eight-year-old boy named Brian Ingram, vacationing with his family on the Columbia River, uncovered three packets of the ransom cash, significantly disintegrated but still bundled in rubber bands. FBI technicians confirmed that the money was  part of the ransom, two packets of 100 bills each and a third packet of 90, all arranged in the same order as when given to Cooper.
• To date, none of the approximately 9,700 remaining bills has turned up anywhere in the world. Their serial numbers remain available online for public search.
• In 1981 a human skull was unearthed along the same riverbank during excavations in search of additional evidence. Forensic pathologists eventually decided that it belonged to a woman, possibly of Native American ancestry. 
• In 1988 a portion of a parachute was raised from the bottom of the Columbia River, but FBI experts determined that it could not have been Cooper's.In 2008, children found another parachute near Amboy, Washington, which proved to be of World War II-era military origin.

8) Write

A) Write a report about the DB Cooper case (100 words)
You are a detective. Write a report about the case.

• Give a summary of the main points of the case
• Give your opinion of what might have happened to DB Cooper. Give reasons. Use your powers of deduction!

B) Write an article about a famous criminal in your country.

• Introduce the criminal - what crime did they commit? When? Where? How?
• Give some biography information about the criminal - Where were they born? What kind of family did they come from? What kind of area did they come from?
• Describe the crime they committed
• Say why the crime became famous
• Disuss the motives. Why did they commit the crime? (Can you use any past modals of deduction here?)
• Conclusion - What happened to the criminal? Where is he or she now? Were they caught by the police? Was the sentence they received fair?

9) More

Read about DB Cooper
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2070038/DB-Cooper-case-solved-FBI-tells-niece-skyjacking-suspect-matching-fingerprint.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D._B._Cooper


Listen again to the poem from the clip (03:40 - 04:28)
Do the gap fill

Printable versions here