Task 2. Capital punishment is carried out by different methods. Match the words and pictures

A B C

D E

Task 3. Read the text and answer the questions:

1. What are the methods of execution?

2. What arguments do opponents of capital punishment give?

3. Has Kazakhstan abolished death penalty?

Capital punishment, death penalty or execution is punishment by death. The sentence is referred to as a death sentence. Crimes that can result in death penalty are known as capital crimes or capital offences.

Capital punishment is carried out by hanging (Iran, Japan, South Korea, for example); electrocution, gassing or lethal injection (U.S.); beheading (Saudi Arabia); or shooting (China, Thailand). Although most countries still have a death penalty; 103 countries have completely abolished it, 6 retain it for exceptional сrimes only such as war crimes; and 50 have abolished it de facto, which means that they have not used it at least ten years or under moratorium. In other words, over 60% of the world’s population live in the countries where execution take place. The UN has declared itself in favor of abolition, Amnesty International actively campaign for abolition, and the issue is now the focus of great debate.

Supporters of capital punishment believe that death is a just punishment for certain serious crimes. Many also believe that it deters others from committing such crimes. Opponents argue that execution is cruel, inhuman and degrading punishmen t. Capital punishment involves not only the pain of dying but also the mental anguish of waiting, sometimes for years, to know if and when sentence will be carried out. Opponents also argue that there is no evidence that it deters people from committing murder any more than imprisonment does.

A further argument is that, should a mistake be done, it is too late to rectify it once the execution has taken place. A recent study by Columbia University Law School found that two thirds of all capital trials contained serious errors. When the cases were retried, over 80% of the defendants were not sentenced to death and 7% were completely acquitted. According to FBI data, at least 27 innocent people had been executed in the United States. Researches show that capital punishment system is unreliable.

In addition, while in some countries young people are not sent to prison but to special juvenile detention centers, since 2009 in Iran, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Pakistan children under 18 have been legally put to death.

As the debate about capital punishment continues the phenomenon of death row (people sentenced but still). Since 2004 no one was executed in Kazakhstan, but five people were sentenced to death. The Constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan retains the death penalty as an exceptional punishment for two types of crime: terroristic crimes which have resulted in death casualties and grave crimes committed during war time. The criminal code of Kazakhstan specifies 19 offences that fall into the two categories for which the Constitution allows the death penalty. [11]

Learn the new words

Task 4. Match the verbs given on the left with the nouns on the right to form word combinations. Make up sentences with the phrases you’ve got.