Task 1.1. Write down the words and expressions relating to PUNISHMENT. (Note: you’ve got 5 minutes!) When you’ve finished, compare your list with other members of the class

Task 1.2. Study the synonyms of the wordPUNIHMENT and clear up the meanings of the following terms using a dictionary:

1) penalty;

2) sanction;

3) correction;

4) retribution;

5) just deserts;

6) penance.

Task 1.3. Skim through the information obtained from some legal sources, which summarizes the main idea of punishment and comment on any points of your particular interest:

Punishment is imposing something unpleasant or opposed on a person or an animal in response to an unwanted, disobedient [disəu´bidiənt] or morally wrong behaviour.

The word “ punishment” is the abstract noun of the verb to “ punish” which has been recorded in English language since 1340, deriving from Old French “ puniss”,i.e. “to punish”. Earlier, it arose from the Latin “ punire” (meaning “ inflict a penalty on, cause pain for some offence”); and the very originofthe Latin was “poenire” from “ poena” (meaning “penalty”, “punishment”).

In common usage, the word “punishment” may be described as “an authorized imposition of deprivations of liberty or privacy or other goods to which the person otherwise has a right, or the imposition of special burdens because the person has been found guilty of some criminal violation, typically involving harm to the innocent.”

In modern criminal law, punishment is a penalty inflicted by the state on a person for committing a crime.

Task 1.4. Discuss the issues of punishment in groups of three or four and share your ideas with the others:

A. In your opinion, what does “punishment” mean?

B. Should all people who break the law receive punishment?

C. Should all people who commit the same crime receive the same sentence?

D. What are the pros and cons of capital punishment?