Listening

Alcatraz 1

Alcatraz is a small island in San Francisco Bay, 1.5 miles from San Francisco. 

From Alcatraz, you can see the famous Golden Gate Bridge.

Alcatraz is also famous and is now a major tourist attraction.

Tourists can reach the island by boat from the city.

Alcatraz has often appeared in movies, including "Escape from Alcatraz" which was made in 1979. 

One reason it’s famous is because it used to be a prison, a very special prison.

It was designed for prisoners who were causing trouble in other prisons, such as trying to escape. 

It was a maximum security prison, so escape was almost impossible.

The waters around it are cold, and only very strong swimmers can swim from the island to San Francisco.

The first group of prisoners arrived in 1934.

There were 137 prisoners,d including bank rubbers and murderers. 

They came by train from another prison in the state of Kansas.

During that trip, there was heavy security.

The prisoners were under guard and handcuffed. 

Nobody wanted them to escape.

Alcatraz 2

The prison was designed to hold up to 336 prisoners. 

However, the average population was only about 270.

Although there were several notorious inmates, such as Al Capone, most of the inmates were not well known. 

Many had tried to escape from other prisons or were considered violent.

If a man did not behave at another prison, he could be sent to Alcatraz. 

At Alcatraz, there was just one inmate in each prison cell.

Prison life at Alcatraz was highly structured and boring. 

It was designed to teach prisoners to follow rules.

They had four rights：food, clothing, shelter and medical care. 

Everything else was a privilege that had to be earned.

Privileges included working, visits from family members, and access to the prison library. 

There were also activities such as painting and music.

Once a prisoner showed that he could follow the rules, he could be transferred back to another prison to finish his sentence.

Alcatraz was used as a prison for 29 years.

During that time, no prisoners escaped successfully. 

There were 14 escape attempts, involving 36 prisoners. 

23 were caught alive, and 6 were shot and killed.

2 men tried to escape twice.

2 drowned and 5 were listed as missing and presumed drowned.

The most violent escape attempt occurred on May 2nd, 1946 when 6 prisoners tried to escape. 

That event is called the "Battle of the Alcatraz".

While it was in use, Alcatraz held some of the most notorious criminals in American history, such as Al Capone. 

Al Capone was a crime boss who built his career in Chicago.

The prison was finally closed in 1963.

It was closed because it was too expensive to operate.

No prisoners ever escaped from Alcatraz.

Vocabulary

 Graphs & Charts

A bar graph uses rectangular bars of different lengths to show and compare data. 

The lengths of the bars are proportional to the values they represent.

The bars can be vertical, up and down, or horizontal.

A circle graph, often called a pie graph, is shaped like a circle. 

It is divided into segments that look like pieces of a pie.

Percentages are used to compare the segments which are ordered from biggest to smallest. 

Line graphs are used to show the relationship between 2 variables, such as time and distance. 

These variables are plotted on 2 axes, the x-axis and the y-axis.

The x-axis often shows time while the y-axis shows how quantities, such as distance, temperature or profits change with time.

A flowchart is a type of graph that shows how a process or project flows from start to finish. 

A flowchart consists of start points, inputs, outputs and decision points.

An organizational chart, or org chart, shows the structure of a company.

It shows how people and departments within a company are connected.

It defines the roles and responsibilities of people and departments within a company.

Line graphs are very good at showing how things change over time.

An org chart shows how people and departments within a company are connected. 

A line graph uses connected points to show how things are related to each other.

Legal Terms

Laws are rules that people are supposed to follow.

A system of laws governs the behavior of people within a country. 

Criminals are people who break the law.

People who commit a crime are called criminals.

Some criminals are very dangerous and need to be put in jail.

A jail or prison is a place where criminals are locked behind bars, sometimes for many years. 

Prisons are designed to keep criminals away from other people.

A courthouse is where someone charged with committing a crime goes on trial. 

In court, evidence is presented to show the guilt or innocence of the person on trial.

When someone breaks the law they may be arrested by the police. 

To arrest someone means to take and hold them until they go on trial.

When a person is charged with breaking a law, they are tried in a court of law. 

An action that is against the law is an illegal action.

An action that is follow the law is a legal action.

Someone who is found guilty of committing a crime is sent to prison.

Dialogue

Currency Exchange

W：May I help you sir?

M：I’d like to change some US dollars into Japanese yen please. 

W：Yes, certainly, sir. How much would you like to change?

M：I’d like to change 500 dollars.

W：May I see your passport, please?

M：I don’t have it with me, but I do have my driver’s license. Would that be ok? 

W：No, I’m sorry, sir. I need to see your passport. It’s the law.

M：Look, I’m not asking for a loan. I just want to convert my dollars into yen. Why do I need my passport? 

W：I understand your frustration, sir. But that’s the law. I cannot do something that is illegal.

M：Ok, do you have any suggestions?

W：Sure, the easiest thing for you to do is to use a machine in one of the hotels near here. You can borrow someone’s passport and then do the conversion.

M：So the machine doesn’t check my figure prints or anything like that?

W：No, sir. But there’s a limit as how much you can change at one time. You also have to pay a higher fee. 

M：Thanks for your help.

W：You’re welcome, sir.