BBC Learning English - Words in the News / Prison bank

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Transcript

Some might say this is the safest bank in the world.

It operates inside Peru's largest prison and is run entirely by inmates.

This prisoner - convicted of drug trafficking - is the bank manager.

It opened its doors about a year ago and has almost 120 customers - all of them are doing time.

The idea's to help the men save money, which will come in handy when they're released.

Vocabulary

inmates - prisoners

convicted - found guilty of a crime and sentenced by a court

doing time - (here) being in prison for the duration of a prisoner's sentence

come in handy - be useful

released - freed

To do

Use one of the words or phrases below to complete each of these sentences from news reports.

Note that you may have to change the form of a word to complete the sentence correctly.

inmates / convicted / doing time / come in handy / released

1. Only one in six of prisoners in England and Wales have both somewhere to live and a job or training arranged when they are ________, inspectors suggest.

2. The law states those ________ of murder or manslaughter cannot inherit from their victims or profit in any way from their crimes.

3. Mr Fields oversaw the company's international operations, having worked in Japan, Europe and Argentina. He also ran the company's North American operations during a difficult time - experience that will ________ running a global carmaker.

4. Norway has a current jail capacity shortage despite relatively low incarceration rates.

The nation is known for treating its ________ relatively humanely. Its non-violent offenders, for instance, are often held in open prisons with the freedom to move, work, enjoy recreational facilities and focus on rehabilitation.

5. Ms Ashton had told police that during an earlier assault Cope told her: "I'm going to kill you. I'll gladly ________ for you. I like prison."

Answers

1. Only one in six of prisoners in England and Wales have both somewhere to live and a job or training arranged when they are released, inspectors suggest.

See story

2. The law states those convicted of murder or manslaughter cannot inherit from their victims or profit in any way from their crimes.

See story

4. Norway has a current jail capacity shortage despite relatively low incarceration rates.

The nation is known for treating its inmates relatively humanely. Its non-violent offenders, for instance, are often held in open prisons with the freedom to move, work, enjoy recreational facilities and focus on rehabilitation.

See story

5. Ms Ashton had told police that during an earlier assault Cope told her: "I'm going to kill you. I'll gladly do time for you. I like prison."

See story

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All Words in the News programmes pre-September 2014 can be found here.

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