15 Getaway scenarios. Match the two parts of these extracts.

1. Although the notes may not be marked, 2. The eight men walked out of the bank carrying the money in 25 flour sacks 3. Police believe the gang must have used a lorry to cart off their ripe haul. 4. They forced a rear window then searched through the rooms 5. As one popular joke had it, bank robberies were almost unknown in East Germany

a. 'Two tons is a hell of a lot of cheese', said a detective. 'Not your average burglar's loot.' b. and made their getaway in two cars. c. because would-be criminals had to join a ten-year waiting list to buy a getaway car. d. before making off with the engagement ring she was given by the marquis. e. there is still the problem of what to do with such a large haul.

16 Successful or unsuccessful? 'Flee empty-handed' is used in contrast "with 'make a getaway' where the thieves are usually successful. Use an appropriate version of one of the expressions to complete these extracts logically.

1 The woman was left unharmed in Epping Forest in Essex after the gang had picked up the money and ____.

2 The good people of Eltham made a stand against crime yesterday. One have-a-go hero was shot in the back by armed robbers and a man who used his car to ram their getaway vehicle was facing a costly repair bill. But the brave folk from the south-east London suburb won in the end, and the raiders ____.

3 A brave police chief foiled an armed robbery on a jeweller’s by grabbing the raiders' shotgun. As Chief Superintendent Chris Standen, 54, wrestled with the gunman, a shot blasted into the ceiling of the shop in Bath. Despite being hit over the head, he clung to the gun and the raiders ____.

4 A sub-postmaster has been shot dead during an attempted robbery of a post-office in Clapton in North London. Police say three armed men were waiting in the post office when the postmaster and his wife arrived to open up. When he refused to hand over any money he was shot. The gunmen ____.

5 Mr. Culling was forced to drive to his bank and hand over the cash. His younger brother Philip was tied up and locked in the boot of a car for three hours while the gang ____.

17 Gun culture. The transcript below is from National Public Radio. The program presenter speaks twice, introducing contributions from two outside specialists, who each speak once. At what two points do each of the two specialists start speaking? (Not all the points indicate a change of speaker.)

Packing a piece

• The popular image of urban homicide is one of urban gang battles and drive-by shootings. But half the people who kill each other also know one another. Many are members of the same family. Jerry Gliden is director of the Chicago Crime Commission, a non-profit organization that monitors why people commit violent crimes.

• They have a lot of pressure on them, put on them by various agencies -whether it's probation or social work or the landlord or the police or whoever.

• And if the wife goes out and does something, or if the husband goes out and gets drunk and there's a big argument, and then sometimes one of them will wait till the other one goes to sleep and shoot them or stab them.

• The gangs - it's over street turf or to show just how tough they are.

• Sometimes they'll shoot a group on the corner just to see if - see how the gun works. Makes no sense at all. The availability of a gun often makes a big difference between a mere argument and a shooting. And the deadlier the weapon, the more likely it is that someone will die.

• Gwen Fitzgerald, of Handgun Control, says criminals know this and they're looking for the most powerful guns they can find.

• One veteran law enforcement officer said, you know, 20 years ago when he started, all criminals were not armed.

• And then, you know, in the 60's and 70's, yeah, they were armed with the Saturday Night Special handguns - very small, easily concealable handguns, usually a few rounds, maybe six or eight rounds. Now not only all the criminals carry guns, but they've got semi-automatic technology.