The Murder That Changed A Nation

Task 1

Read the text “Stephen Lawrence: Mother says Met should be ‘honest’ about investigation” (Part 1)

(1) Doreen Lawrence told the Daily Mail she believed detectives had run out of lines of inquiry but were worried about her reaction if they close the case. Two people have been convicted over Mr Lawrence’s killing in Eltham, south-east London, on 22 April 1993. A Met spokesman said “the investigation remains live”. In 2012, Gary Dobson and David Norris were found guilty of murder and jailed for life.

(2) However, police believe Mr Lawrence was stabbed to death by a group of up to six white men in an unprovoked racist attack as the 18-year-old waited at a bus stop with a friend. Baroness Lawrence said: “They should be honest – say they’ve come to an end and stop.” “I think they’re carrying on pretending everything’s fine because they don’t want to hear what I’ll say if it is stopped,” she said. Six years on from the Dobson and Norris’ convictions, Baroness Lawrence said she was aware of the cost to the taxpayer of continuing the investigation. “I’ve been on the go for 25 years. I haven’t stopped. I don’t think I’ve even completely grieved for Stephen”, she told the newspaper.

(3) Mayor of London Sadiq Khan described Baroness Lawrence as a “crusader” whose work had led to laws being changed and two men responsible for her son’s death being put behind bars. Speaking about her comments he said it was an “operational matter for the police” but expected detectives to “speak to Doreen and the family before taking any steps going forward.” A Scotland Yard spokesman said the investigation into the murder “remains in an active phase” and the force “continues to hold regular meetings to update the family.”

Http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-london-43680829

Part 2

Stephen Lawrence murder investigation ‘unlikely to progress’

 (4) Mr Lawrence, 18, was killed in a racially-motivated attack in Eltham, south-east London on 22 April 1993. The Met said despite rigorous efforts, its inquiry was “unlikely to progress.” Two men were jailed for his murder in 2012 and Mr Lawrence’s mother previously called for the police to “be honest” about any further convictions. Doreen Lawrence told the Daily Mail she believed detectives had run out of lines of inquiry but were worried about her reaction if they closed the case. “Despite previous public appeals, rigorous pursuit of all remaining lines of enquiry, numerous reviews and every possible advance in forensic techniques, the Met investigation team is now at a stage where without new information the investigation is unlikely to progress further”, the Met said. “This was explained to the family earlier this year.”

(5) In 2012, Gary Dobson and David Norris were found guilty of Mr Lawrence’s murder and jailed for life. Stephen’s father Neville Lawrence told BBC News he would accept the inquiry being scaled back but believed it should not be completely closed. “Something should be left in case of something coming in so they can reopen it if that’s the case,” he said. Dr Lawrence added that he remained hopeful that, with the publicity around the 25^th anniversary of his son’s death and a BBC documentary to be shown over three nights next week, someone would come forward. “The threat of anything happening to them now isn’t as great as it was in the early days… It would be nice if we could have absolutely full justice.” Senior investigator Chris Le Pere said: “With the approaching anniversary and airing of the documentary… there is still the opportunity for someone who knows what happened that night, to have a conscience and come forward. “I would say to you, it is never too late to do the right thing.”

Http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-london-43730949

Vocabulary notes

(1)	line of inquiry	следственная версия, направление расследования
	for life	пожизненно
(2)	unprovoked	ничем не спровоцированный, без причины
	conviction	осуждение, признание виновным
	taxpayer	налогоплательщик
(3)	put behind bars	заключать в тюрьму, сажать за решетку
	spokesman	представитель, пресс-секретарь
(4)	rigorous	энергичный, тщательный
	pursuit	осуществление, исполнение
	forensic	криминалистический, судебный
(5)	scale back	уменьшать, урезать
	reopen	возобновлять, вновь открывать

 

Task 2

Read the text again and find equivalents of the following Russian word combinations and sentences; note the use of the grammatical forms in brackets:

(1)	1. по ее мнению, у детективов закончились следственные версии (the Past Perfect)
	2. Два человека были осуждены за убийство (the Present Perfect Passive)
(2)	3. ничем не спровоцированном расистском нападении
	4. они продолжают делать вид, что все в порядке (the Gerund)
	5. сказала, что ей известно о том, что стоит налогоплательщикам продолжение расследования (“to be aware of”)
(3)	6. чья деятельность привела к изменению законов (the Attributive Clause; the conjunction “whose”)
	7. но ожидал, что детективы «поговорят с Дорин …»
(4)	8. Несмотря на энергичные усилия (the preposition “despite”)
	9. когда без новой информации расследование вряд ли продвинется дальше (the preposition “without”; the Nominative with the Infinitive)
(5)	10. уменьшение объема следственных действий
	11. Было бы хорошо, если бы справедливость непременно восторжествовала (“would”; conditional sentence)
	12. все еще есть возможность для того, кто знает … (“there is”)

Task 3

Discuss the following questions:

(1)	1. Who have been convicted over Mr Lawrence’s killing?
(2)	2. Why are police carrying on pretending everything’s fine?
	3. How long has Doreen Lawrence been on the go?
(3)	4. How did Mayor of London describe Baroness Lawrence?
	5. What did a Scotland Yard spokesman say about the investigation?
(4)	6. Where and when was Mr Lawrence killed?
	7. Can the investigation progress further?
(5)	8. Why did Dr Lawrence remain hopeful that someone would come forward?

Task 4

Fill in the gaps with prepositions:

(1)	1. had run out … lines … inquiry
	2. Two people have been convicted … Mr Lawrence’s killing
	3. were found guilty … murder and jailed … life
(2)	4. … an unprovoked racist attack
	5. Six years … … the Dobson and Norris’ convictions
(3)	6. Doreen and the family … taking any steps
	7. said the investigation … the murder “remains … active phase”
(4)	8. to “be honest” … any further convictions
	9. every possible advance … forensic techniques
	10. is now … a stage where … new information
(5)	11. the publicity … the 25th anniversary
	12. there is still the opportunity … someone

UNIT 11

Racism

Task 1

Read the text “Urgent Care Staff Made Racist Comments, Demoted Worker Who Complained: Suit”

 (1) DONGAN HILLS — Staff at an urgent care center made racist            comments — saying that “black people should be happy white people freed them” — and passed over a more qualified worker for a promotion because of her race, a lawsuit claims. The suit filed by Lyanne Reed last week in Brooklyn federal court claims staff at GoHealth Urgent Care, at 1700 Hylan Blvd., openly made racist comments, said they were more afraid of black patients than white ones, and called Reed “aggressive and negative” when she asked for raises or promotions. Reed, who is Hispanic and black, complained to supervisors about the comments of her co-workers, and was eventually demoted and placed on probation for nearly two months, her lawyer said.

(2) “A lot of time, with explicit racial biases, it’s easy to call it what it is,” said the attorney, Keith White. “But when it’s implicit bias, when it’s a series of actions that can’t necessarily be caught, then it’s important for us to identify in lawsuits to create precedent.” Reed, 26, started working at GoHealth in 2015 and got promoted to clinic lead in January of this year. However, her former boss moved to a different office soon after and was replaced by another staffer. The suit claims that employee, Angelica Shapiro, “emboldened biased attitudes towards minorities” while working as a supervisor and that workers regularly made racist comments in the office without punishment.

(3) In one instance, coworker Erica Orientale, who also works as a clinic lead, commented that she wanted “to adopt a black baby to show people [that] if they are raised right they can be different,” according to White and the lawsuit. In another incident, while questioning a protest that wasn’t specified in the complaint, Orientale said that “[b]lack people should be happy that white people freed them,” the suit says. Orientale also questioned why her Jamaican neighbors were upset over another matter not specified in the suit, stating, “Caribbean people weren’t even slaves,” the complaint charges. Furthermore, a different employee said she were afraid of two black patients who were retired law enforcement members because “that guy has a gun,” but she never said the same about white officers or even white drug addicts, the suit claims. When Reed told Shapiro about the comments and said staff should stop being biased against some patients, Shapiro and her coworkers started a “false narrative” stating that Reed was “aggressive, negative, territorial and made her co-workers uncomfortable,” the lawsuit says. When Reed requested a raise during her annual review in April with Susan Finnelly — who is listed on her LinkedIn profile as the center’s director of operations — Finnelly became contentious and called Reed “negative, angry and hostile,” according to the suit.

(4) However, when a coworker Reed accused of making racist remarks asked for a raise, she was approved for one. In July, Reed was up for a promotion that required college-level course work she had completed, but she was passed up for a white worker who only had a high school diploma, the suit says. The next month, Reed was instead demoted from her post and placed on probation, a status that remains in effect as an act of retaliation for her speaking up, the suit claims. White filed the suit against Shapiro, Finnelly, Orientale and GoHealth for racial discrimination, a hostile and abusive work environment, retaliation and violation of civil rights laws. Northwell Health, which runs GoHealth, declined to comment. Shapiro did not respond to a request for comment, while Finnelly and Orientale could not be reached.

https://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20171031/dongan-hills/gohealth-urgent-care-racist-comments-lawsuit/

Vocabulary notes

(1)	urgent	срочный, неотложный
	pass over	обходить, оставлять без внимания
	promotion	повышение в должности, продвижение по службе
	file	возбуждать, подавать
	raise	прибавка, повышение зарплаты
	co-worker	коллега, сотрудник
	demote	понижать в должности
(2)	bias	предубеждение, предвзятость
	implicit	неявный, скрытый
	precedent	судебный прецедент (решение суда, служащее образцом при решении аналогичных дел в системе англосаксонского права)
	embolden	поощрять
(3)	instance	случай, пример
	drug addict	наркозависимый, наркоман
	narrative	высказывание, изложение фактов
	contentious	вздорный, придирчивый
	hostile	недружелюбный, враждебный
(4)	remark	замечание, комментарий
	retaliation	возмездие, расплата
	abusive	неправомерный, негуманный
	decline	отказываться, уклоняться

 

Task 2

Read the text again and find equivalents of the following Russian word combinations and sentences; note the use of the grammatical forms in brackets:

(1)	1. и оставили без повышения более квалифицированного работника из-за ее расовой принадлежности (the phrasal verb; the preposition “because of”)
	2. В иске, поданном … (Participle II)
	3. была в конечном счете понижена в должности (the adverb “eventually”)
(2)	4. для нас важно указать на это в исках (the For-to-Infinitive construction)
	5. предвзятый подход по отношению к меньшинствам (the preposition “towards”)
	6. без наказания
(3)	7. Кроме того, другая сотрудница сказала, что … (the adverb “furthermore”)
	8. сотрудниками правоохранительных органов (the attributive word chain)
	9. сотрудники должны перестать быть предвзятыми (“should”; the Passive Gerund)
	10. попросила о повышении зарплаты
(4)	11. акт возмездия за ее высказывания (the preposition “for”)
	12. нарушения законов о гражданских правах

Task 3

Discuss the following questions:

(1)	1. Where did Lyanne Reed file her suit?
	2. What happened to Lyanne Reed after her complaint to supervisors?
(2)	3. Why is it important for Keith White to create precedent?
	4. When did Lyanne Reed start working at GoHealth Urgent Care?
(3)	5. Why did Erica Orientale want to adopt a black baby?
	6. Did the staff make any abusive comments about white patients?
(4)	7. Who was promoted instead of Lyanne Reed?
	8. What were the causes of action in the suit filed by Lyanne Reed and her attorney?

Task 4

Fill in the gaps with prepositions:

(1)	1. passed over a more qualified worker … a promotion
	2. The suit filed … Lyanne Reed
	3. placed … probation … nearly two months
(2)	4. … explicit racial biases
	5. biased attitudes … minorities
	6. made racist comments … the office … punishment
(3)	7. a protest that wasn’t specified … the complaint
	8. being biased … some patients
	9. When Reed requested a raise … her annual review
	10. is listed … her LinkedIn profile
(4)	11. was instead demoted … her post
	12. a status that remains … effect as an act … retaliation

UNIT 12

Discrimination

Task 1

Read the text “48,000 Students With Disabilities Not Getting Help They Need, DOE Admits”

(1) MANHATTAN — The Department of Education admitted Wednesday that more than 48,000 of its special needs students did not get the legally required help they were entitled during the past school year. But at least it was not as bad as it was the year before. A new DOE report detailing demographic data of students with disabilities showed that approximately 27 percent of the roughly 193,000 students with disabilities were in schools that were not fully meeting their needs — like counseling for behavior disorders, speech therapy for language delays, occupational therapy for motor delays or visual services for vision impairments — mandated by their Individualized Education Program (IEPs.) That was down from a year ago when 41 percent of students who were only getting partial or none of their services, according to the report.

(2) “The fact remains that over 25 percent of students with disabilities — nearly 50,000 students — are still going without all of the special education services they are entitled to receive under law,” Kim Sweet, executive director of Advocates for Children of New York, said in a statement. “NYC has a lot of work to do.” Watchdogs are concerned that without getting their mandated support services, many children with disabilities are unable to meet their academic and developmental goals. Only 10 percent of students with disabilities passed the state English exam given to the city’s third through eighth graders last year, Sweet pointed out.

(3) Under federal law, the city must ensure that students with disabilities are in the “least restrictive” environment possible, which means that neighborhood schools must accommodate these children rather than shunting them off elsewhere. But these schools don’t always have the staff and other resources to provide kids what they need. Roughly 19 percent of the city’s 1.1 million students have IEPs. A middle schooler with an IEP mandating a seat in a mixed math class of disabled and non-disabled students co-taught by a special education teacher and general education teacher, for instance, might instead be placed in a general ed class for the subject. Staten Island’s District 31 had the most students with IEPs, at more than 15,400, followed Manhattan’s District 2 (which includes TriBeCa, Greenwich Village, Gramercy and the Upper East Side) and the Bronx’s District 10 (which includes Riverdale, Fordham, Belmont and Kingsbridge). Lori Podvesker, of the advocacy group INCLUDEnyc, was not surprised to see Staten Island’s high number of students with special needs. “It’s incredibly insular. It’s not necessarily what you know, but who you know,” she said, adding that families in the borough have strong political clout. “They have some fantastic parent advocates out there,” she said. Certain districts have a tougher time meeting the needs of students, she added, because of such problems as a shortage of bilingual therapists. “The poorer the district is, the more likely the need for bilingual therapists. And that’s not happening.”

(4) The DOE’s report conceded the dearth of special needs educators. “One core challenge is a shortage of qualified teachers for certain license areas, notably bilingual special education teachers and secondary special education teachers,” the report said. “The DOE is actively seeking to address this challenge through large scale and targeted efforts to expand our special education pipeline, engagement with union partners, and work with the New York State Education Department to revisit policies and identify new strategies to increase the availability of appropriately trained and certified teachers.” The DOE also has long had problems tracking IEPs through its custom-made program Special Education Student Education System (SESIS), which led to a lawsuit from the Public Advocate’s office. The city is now investing $16.2 million to improve the system over the next several years.

https://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20170918/new-springville/dameen-mohammed-homicide-nypd/

 

Vocabulary notes

(1)	special needs	особые потребности, специальные потребности в образовании
	be entitled	иметь право
	disability	ограниченные возможности, нарушения здоровья
	counseling	консультирование
	delay	задержка
	impairment	расстройство, ухудшение
	mandate	разрешать, санкционировать
(2)	executive director	исполнительный директор
	watchdog	контролер, надзорный орган
	goal	цель, задача
	point out	отмечать, подчеркивать
(3)	ensure	гарантировать, обеспечивать
	accommodate	устраивать, размещать
	advocacy group	правозащитная организация, общественное движение
	insular	изолированный, обособленный
	borough	городской район, городок
	clout	влияние
	shortage	нехватка, дефицит
(4)	concede	признавать
	core	основной, центральный
	large scale	широкомасштабный
	engagement	взаимодействие, сотрудничество
	revisit	заново пересматривать
	custom-made	сделанный на заказ
	lawsuit	иск, судебное разбирательство

 

Task 2

Read the text again and find equivalents of the following Russian word combinations and sentences; note the use of the grammatical forms in brackets:

(1)	1. на которую они имели право
	2. Но, по крайней мере, это не так плохо … (“at least”)
	3. не в полной мере отвечали их потребностям (the Past Continious)
(2)	4. получать по закону
	5. как отметила Свит (the phrasal verb)
(3)	6. переводить их куда-либо (the adverb “elsewhere”)
	7. имеют сильное политическое влияние
	8. тем больше вероятность того, что … (the adverb “likely”)
(4)	9. нехватка педагогов для детей с ограниченными возможностями
	10. путем осуществления широкомасштабных и целенаправленных мер (the preposition “through”)
	11. что привело к судебному разбирательству с … (the conjunction “which”; the preposition “from”)

Task 3

Discuss the following questions:

(1)	1. Is the situation with getting the legally required help better than it was the year before?
	2. What did the new report of the Department of Education show?
	3. What kind of medical support is mandated by the Individualized Education Program?
(2)	4. What are watchdogs concerned about?
(3)	5. Which district were the most students with IEPs from?
	6. Why was Lori Podvesker not surprised to see high number of students with special needs in this district?
(4)	7. What teachers do the students with IEPs need most of all?
	8. What was the result of the DOE problems with tracking IEPs through SESIS?

Task 4

Fill in the gaps with prepositions:

(1)	1. students … disabilities
	2. counseling … behavior disorders
	3. mandated … their Individualized Education Program
(2)	4. they are entitled to receive … law
	5. Watchdogs are concerned that … getting their mandated support services
(3)	6. mandating a seat … a mixed math class
	7. families … the borough
(4)	8. shortage … qualified teachers … certain license areas
	9. to address this challenge … large scale and targeted efforts
	10. engagement … union partners
	11. lawsuit … the Public Advocate’s office

UNIT 13

Phone-Hacking

Task 1

Read the text “Andy Coulson admits No 10 job doubts over David Blunkett voicemails”

(1) Former News of the World editor tells trial he may not have been hired if David Cameron (former British Prime minister – M.M.) knew he had heard hacked voicemails. Andy Coulson has admitted David Cameron would probably not have hired him as his spin doctor had the prime minister been told he had listened to David Blunkett's voicemails. The former News of the World editor told his trial at the Old Bailey that "it may be right, if I explained [to the prime minister] what I explained to the jury now, the job wouldn't have been offered to me". Coulson admitted he knew of one instance of hacking at the News of the World, telling jurors he had listened to the then-home secretary's intimate voicemails to a married woman in 2004. Coulson was hired by the prime minister in May 2007, months after he quit as editor of the News of the World and took "ultimate responsibility" for the jailing of the paper's former royal editor Clive Goodman and the phone-hacker Glenn Mulcaire, even though he said he had no knowledge of their activities. The jury heard he went on to become the head of communications at Downing Street after the Tories came to power as part of a coalition in May 2010 but resigned in January 2011 after the phone hacking scandal blew up again.

(2)Under cross-examination, Coulson was asked: "If what you had done in relation to Blunkett became public you would never have kept that job would you?" Coulson replied: "I can't say for sure. I think it may well have meant I didn't get the job. I can't say that with certainty. "The media temperature around this issue is considerably higher now than it was then, but it may be right, if I explained what I explained to the jury now, the job wouldn't have been offered to me." He denied being part of a continuing cover-up when the Guardian and the New York Times reported on more widespread hacking at the News of the World in 2009 and 2010.

(3)Andrew Edis QC, asked if Coulson "offered any information" following the Guardian's exposé in the summer of 2009. He said he did not. Asked he was covering the hacking up. "I did not cover anything up," Coulson replied. Did he offer any information up in September 2010 after the New York Times article about phone hacking? "Yes, with a large number of false allegations, yes. That caused a huge wave of publicity," replied Coulson. He was asked about a private breakfast meeting he had with Rebekah Brooks, then the chief executive of News International, on 14 January 2011 at the Halkin hotel, days before he resigned from No 10. Edis asked if Brooks told him that the News International position had changed and it was now co-operating with the police and "the three emails implicated [a journalist who cannot be named for legal reasons] in phone hacking in your time were going to be released to the police." Coulson replied: "I can't remember her giving me that sort of specific information". Coulson repeated an earlier assertion made in front of the jury that he had made up his mind to quit Downing Street over the Christmas period and he had not told Brooks, his former lover, of his decision. Edis asked if Brooks told him that "evidence was about to released" that meant "the single rogue reporter" position of News International "was about to be blown out of the water". "I don't know. I don't think she did," said Coulson.

(4)Earlier Coulson admitted that a News International lawyer, who cannot be named for legal reasons and who he had consulted over the Blunkett voicemails, "made a mistake" by not raising "alarm bells" about criminality involved back in 2004. The jury heard that the lawyer did raise concerns about privacy but not about a criminal dimension. Edis asked Coulson if he had a "big row" with the lawyer after his royal editor Clive Goodman and Glenn Mulcaire were arrested two years later on similar offences. "I just wonder if you think [the lawyer] had underperformed." Coulson said he thought the lawyer had "yes, made a mistake". Coulson denied he was involved in a "cover-up" following the arrest of Clive Goodman and Glenn Mulcaire in August 2006. He agreed with Edis that the arrest had led to a "disastrous" sequence of events. "I agree these things did cause in the end the dismantling of my professional life," he said. Coulson denies one charge of conspiracy to hack phones and two other charges.