White-collar Crimes

(Part 1)

White-collar crime involves the use of legal business facilities and employees to commit illegal acts. White-collar crime costs corporate America about $600 billion annually. The country appeared to be suffering from an epidemic of this type of crime.

An important aspect of understanding crime is understanding the conditions that contribute to criminal behavior white-collar criminals, for example, are generally older and better educated than those who commit «street» crimes. Thus, as society ages and its educational level rises – two factors that presently exist in the United States – corporate crimes should increase. Furthermore, the Internet offers opportunities for perpetrating financial crimes that were not possible even a decade ago. When compared with the risks that one runs in committing a petty crime such as purse snatching, stealing a credit-card number online seems a safer alternative. Not to mention that light penalties are given to wealthy white-collar criminals in contrast to harsher penalties for poorer street criminals. And following a series of high-profile corporate fraud cases in 2002 the President of the USA signed the bill that greatly increased the criminal penalties for a variety of types of business-related wrongdoing.

8. Определите тематику текста «B», выбрав из предложенных вариантов 3 правильных, расположите их в последовательном порядке и переведите их.

This text …

· outlines the three levels of law enforcement.

· lists the essential elements of the corrections system.

· explores the causes of the boom in white-collar crime.

· says about the increased criminal penalties for white-collar crime.

· names the figure of annual losses for America in the result of this type of illicit activity.

· contrasts the formal and informal criminal justice process.

9. Перепишите вопросы к тексту «B» и письменно ответьте на них.

1. How much money does white-collar crime involve annually in the USA?

2. What conditions contribute to the rise of white-collar crime in the USA?

10. Письменно переведите текст «B».

ЗАДАНИЯ К ТЕКСТУ «С».