法律英语练习题

2021年1月22日发(作者：柳滨)
Lesson Three
Comparing Civil and Criminal Law

I.

Discuss the following questions:

1.

What are the two objectives of criminal law?
2.

What is civil law concerned with?
3.

What are the two main branches of civil law?
4.

In
terms
of
duties
or
obligations,
what
are
the
differences
between
contract
law
and tort law?
5.

How many kinds of torts are mentioned in the text? What are they? What are the
difference and relationship between them?
6.

Are
compensatory
damages
and
punitive
damages
the
same
in
nature?
Why
or
why not? Why are punitive damages seldom awarded?
7.

Is
it
justified
to
say
that
a
certain
person
can
file
a
criminal
charge
against
someone else? Why?


II.

Read the text again and decide whether these statements are true or false:

1.

As for criminal law, there is just one purpose: to prevent antisocial behavior.

F
2.

Prevention
of
bad
behavior
may
be
more
the
consequence
of
civil
law
than
the
purpose.

T
3.

The primary purpose of civil law is the compensation of those injured by someone
else
’
s behavior.



T
4.

A agreed to lease an apartment from a landlord for one year and A paid the rent for
one year shortly after he moved in. Half a
year later A moved out for unknown
reasons, and then the landlord had the right to sue A for breach of contract.


F
5.

Negligent tort has occurred when one fails to act reasonably and unintentionally
injury someone.



T
6.

Many intentional torts are also crimes and this is where civil law and criminal law
has much in common.











T
7.

Criminal law is concerned with the immorality of an act while tort law is not.

F

III.

Complete the sentences below using the words or phrases given:


undesirable; nonconformity; monetary; compensation; liability; restitution; tortfeasor;
battery; fraternity; damages
1.

The
monetary
system of certain countries used to be based on gold.
2.

Civil law actually acts to prevent
nonconformity
to society
’
s behavior.

3.

The
court
estimated
the
compensation

in
money
for
damages
sustained
by
the
plaintiff in the contract.

4.

Since A has not breached the contract, he holds no
liability
for damage.
5.

Restitution
means the act of making good or compensating for loss, damage, or
injury, or a return to or restoration of previous state or position.

6.

If
one
at
a
party
heaves
a
beer
bottle
and
strikes
another
present
either
unintentionally
or
on
purpose,
he
has
committed
a
tort
and
he
is
known
as
a

1
tortfeasor
.
7.

Punitive

damages
are

awarded
in
civil
suits
to
prevent
undesirable
behavior
by
punishing those who commit outrageous acts.
8.

Acts
deemed
undesirable

by
society
fall
within
the
prevention
and
punishment
which are two essential reasons for criminal justice system.
9.

He was guilty of assault and
battery.

10.

There is a strong spirit of
fraternity
of among these isolated people.

IV.


Translate the following passage into Chinese:


Crimes and Torts
Criminal
law
and
the
law
of
torts
(more
than
any
other
form
of
civil
law)
are
related branches of the law; yet in a sense they are two quite different matters.
The
aim
of
the
criminal
law
as
we
have
noted,
is
to
protect
the
public
against
harm
by
punishing harmful results of conduct or at least situations (not yet resulting in actual
harm) which are likely to result in harm if allowed to proceed further. The function of
tort law is to compensate someone who is injured in the harm he has suffered. With
crimes,
the
state
itself
brings
criminal
proceedings
to
protect
the
public interest
but
not
to
compensate
the
victim;
with
torts,
the
injured
party
himself
institutes
proceedings
to
recover
damages
(or
perhaps
to
enjoin
the
defendant
from
causing
further damage). With crimes, as we have seen, there is emphasis on a bad mind, on
immorality.
With
torts
the
emphasis
is
more
on
“
the
adjustment
of
the
conflicting
interests of individuals to achieve a desirable social result
”
, with morality taking on
less importance.

Supplementary Reading

“
Tort
”

is
an
elusive
concept.
It
has
defied
a
number
of
attempts
to
formulate
a
useful
definition.
The
dilemma
is
that
any
definition
which
is
sufficiently
comprehensive to encompass all torts is so general as to be almost meaningless.
The one common element of all torts is that someone has sustained a loss or harm
as
the
result
of
some
act
or
failure
to
act
by
another.
Virtually
all
of
the
infinitely
diverse forms of human activity
—
driving a vehicle, engaging in business, speaking,
writing, owning and using real or personal property
—
may be a source of harm and
therefore of tort liability. This diversity of conduct resists broad generalizations, and
so does the tort liability on which it is based.

Sometimes,
it is
suggested
that
a
common element
of tort liability is
fault, that
tortious conduct is that which falls below accepted community standards of behavior.
But
fault
cannot
be
said
to
be
a
universal
principle
of
liability.
Various
kinds
of
blameworthy conduct resulting in damage do not give rise to tort liability. Conversely,
the law sometimes imposes tort liability simply because a particular activity can and
should
bear
the
cost
of
damage
associated
with
it,
regardless
of
the
fact
that
the
conduct of the
“
tortfeasor
”
was morally blameless.

If a definition of
“
tort
”
is necessary, it will have to be something in the nature of
this:
“
A civil wrong, wherein one person
’
s conduct causes a compensable injury to the

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