Can a leopard change
its spots?
READING
1 Read the article quickly. What is it about?
Can a leopard change its spots?
by Dominic Ward
In English, we often say that ‘a leopard doesn’t change its spots’, meaning that bad people never really improve. But as these two people prove, old expressions aren’t always true!
As a child, Jodie Miller admits she was trouble. She didn’t behave herself at school or at home. She was smoking at 10, stealing from shops at 12, and at 14 the police arrested her for breaking into someone’s house and taking money and jewellery.
That’s when she got a social worker, Marie. Marie saw at once that inside that loud, badly-behaved teenager, there was a frightened little girl whose parents were too busy with their own problems to notice her. ‘Marie made me realise I shouldn’t blame myself for my situation,’ Jodie says. ‘She encouraged me back into education and helped me put my life back together.’
These days, Jodie is a youth worker in a tough part of the city. ‘I love teenagers,’ she laughs. ‘Even the naughty ones. They know I understand them, so they do listen to my advice – mostly!’
When you meet Gavin Peters, it’s hard to imagine that this funny, gentle man was once a criminal who spent three years in prison for attacking a man on a train. ‘I was in a bad place,’ he explains. ‘I was angry all the time and I couldn’t control myself.’
While he was in prison, he developed an interest in music, and taught himself to play the guitar. ‘Gradually, I realised that when I was playing, I was calm,’ he says. ‘For the first time, I had hope of a better life.’
Since leaving prison, Gavin has made a career as a singer and songwriter. ‘I’m never going to be famous,’ he admits, ‘but I earn enough to live on and my songs give people happiness. That’s enough for me.’
2 Read the article again. Answer the questions.
WRITING
A letter to your future self
Write a letter to your 50-year-old self. How do you hope society will change? Talk about the following, or your own ideas.
- Is there a better way to deal with criminals?
- Should the education system change? How?
- Can we protect the environment?
- Should we change the way we look after old people or sick people?
GRAMMAR
Reflexive pronouns
1 Look at the sentences from the article above. Choose the correct words.
2 Complete the rule and the table.
3 Use the correct form of the verbs in the list and a reflexive pronoun to complete each sentence.
criticise | express | help | hurt | introduce | look after | teach | wash
VOCABULARY
Crime
1 Look at the pictures. Put the words in order to make captions.
2 Use the correct form of the words in the list to complete the newspaper reports.
thief | commit | punish | court | break the law | arrest | prison | criminals
3 SPEAKING Work in pairs. Do you think people should go to prison for dropping litter? Can you think of a better way to punish them?