英語趣味課堂：犯罪率下降-Crime Reduction

Gareth: What do you think?

Rebecca: I don't know. A lot of times, I think people who commit crime might commit crime because they want attention, or they don't get the amount of attention that they feel that they need. They want to be loved, or they want people to pay attention to them to know that they existed. You know, - I'm here, hear me roar type thing.

And maybe I've heard things that sometimes, abortion might actually potentially be related to a decrease in crime rate, because instead of having this child that maybe you don't want, you won't care for, who will grow up feeling unloved and potentially commit crime, you don't have the child. So then, it becomes not an option.

Gareth: Oh, yeah, definitely. Psychologically, when you're not cared for, and you're not loved, and no one's ever said that they love you, that can have a huge impact - yeah, definitely. So to go from one foster home to another foster home to another foster home, and to have foster parents that don't really care for you; they just put food on the table, and they clothe you, and they send you off to school, and they never hug you, they never kiss you, that I'm sure will have an effect on people, and kind of maybe lead to more crime.

Rebecca: But I think another thing that could also be helping is we keep ourselves busy a lot more in the home now because of all the new technology. And you know, you can be online chatting for hours on end, or you could be playing video games. Again, a lot of the media tries to say that, you know, the video games is the cause, but sometimes I wonder if maybe because we're all at home playing video games, well, if you're at home doing something else, you can't be out there causing crimes, right?

Gareth: Yeah.

Rebecca: So sometimes I wonder if maybe that's related.

Gareth: Sometimes we don't even know our own neighbors.

Rebecca: Yeah.

Gareth: I once heard this story, I don't know if this one is true, but if a woman's - and this might be inappropriate - but if a woman is being raped, or someone is going to try and rape her, she should say - Fire!

Rebecca: Fire - yeah. I've heard it.

Gareth: Instead of saying 'Rape!'

Rebecca: Or - Help!

Gareth: Because with fire, it will spread, and it will affect others around that place where the fire started. So if someone owns a shop nearby, and they hear someone say - Fire! then they'd be more worried about helping.

Rebecca: Yeah, I've heard a similar thing. If you actually get in a situation where you need help, scream - Fire! because people come running because that might be immediately a danger to themselves.

Gareth: Hm.

學(xué)習(xí)內(nèi)容：

Learn Vocabulary from the lesson

pay attention

They just want people to pay attention.

People who want us to pay attention, want us to notice, listen to, or think about them. Notice the following:

The teacher repeatedly asked him to pay attention.

Stop talking and pay attention!

potentially be related

Abortion might potentially be related to a decrease in crime rate.

Things that are potentially related are possibly connected in some way. Notice the following:

Some think the unusual weather lately is potentially related to global warming.

Doctors believe stress and heart disease are potentially related.

huge impact

That can have a huge impact.

When something has a huge impact, that means it affects someone or something in a serious way. It can be positive or negative. Notice the following:

The tsunami had a huge impact on the economy.

The large salary increase had a huge impact on his standard of living..

foster home

Children who go from one foster home to another.

A foster home is a temporary place where children are cared for by people who are not their parents. Notice the following:

He spent much of his childhood in foster homes.

Life in foster homes is generally not great for kids.

inappropriate

I don't know if this is appropriate.

Something that is appropriate is suitable or correct for a situation. Notice the following:

We couldn't decide on an appropriate gift.

I think the gray suit is more appropriate, don't you?