Legal+English++7A.doc

Legal English 7A Criminal Law I. Terms and Explanations in the text: 1.felony and misdemeanor: felony: (i) a serious crime usu. punishable by imprisonment for more than one year or by death. Examples include burglary, arson, rape, and murder. Also termed major crime; serious crime. misdemeanor: (i) a crime that is less serious than a felony and is usu. punishable by fine, penalty, forfeiture, or confinement (usu. for a brief term) in a place other than prison (such as a county jail)—also termed minor crime; summary offense; (ii) Archaic. Any crime, including a felony.（英国1967年刑法条例已废除二者之间的一切区别） 2. capital punishment: The sentence of death for a serious crime—Also termed death penalty. 3. homicide, theft, larceny, burglary, rape, assault and sexual assault see 4A material’s explanations. 4.probation and parole: Probation: 1) A court-imposed criminal sentence that, subject to stated conditions, releases a convicted person into the community instead of sending the criminal to jail or prison.2) the act of judicially proving a will; 3) a time of training and testing when you start a new job to see if you are suitable for the work a period of probation. Parole: The release of a prisoner from imprisonment before the full sentence has been served. The essence of parole is release from prison, before completion of the sentence, on condition that the prisoner abide by certain rules during the balance(余期) of the sentence. Parole is not freedom. 5. murder and manslaughter: Murder: The killing of a human being with malice aforethought. At common law, the crime of murder was not subdivided, but many state statutes have adopted the degree structure outlined below, though the Model Penal Code has not. Felony murder: murder that occurs during the commission of a dangerous felony (often limited to rape, kidnapping, robbery, burglary, and arson). First-degree murder: murder that is willful, deliberate, or premeditated, that is committed during the course of another dangerous felony. A