IELTS Energy 271: Vocabulary for IELTS Questions on Crime and Punishment

IELTS vocabulary crime and punishment

Today you’ll get new vocabulary for IELTS questions that are related to crime and punishment!

These topics could come up in Listening Sections 3 and 4, a reading passage, Writing Task 2 or Speaking Part 3 questions.

Here is a crime and punishment question that might come up: “Some people believe that there should be fixed punishments for each type of crime. Others, however, believe that the circumstances and the motivation for committing it should be taken into account when deciding the punishment.”

When you get a question like this it’s important to have specific vocabulary. For example, in this question you need to name specific crimes.

If you don’t get specific with your examples and details using specific vocabulary on the Writing test you will not get higher than a 6 for Task Achievement because you are not strongly answering the question.

Also for your vocabulary score you cannot stay general and get a good score above a 7.

To get vocabulary and ideas you need to read newspapers about things you might not want to read about.

You have to be prepared.

You need to have ideas in your head about a lot of different topics.

Read English language newspapers a few times per week.

Don’t turn your back on these topics or your score will suffer!


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Vocabulary for Crimes:

  • Drunk driving: Driving while you are intoxicated with alcohol
  • DUI: Driving Under the Influence- you get this when a cop stops you and arrests you for drunk driving
  • Theft: Any time something is stolen it’s called “theft”
  • Robbery: When an intruder comes in and the victim is present
  • Burglary: When an intruder comes into a home when the victim is not present
  • Rape: When someone has sex with someone against their will
  • Murder: A general term for killing someone
  • Manslaughter: A more technical term for killing someone
  • Premeditated: This means that you planned the crime ahead of time
  • Arson: When something is set on fire such as a building
  • Fraud: Usually a “white collar crime” that doesn’t involve physical harm
    • Check fraud: When someone falsifies a check
    • Identity theft: When your identity is stolen and someone uses your information to purchase things such as a car or a house
    • Tax fraud: When income is hidden to avoid taxes or other illegal actions are taken when submitting taxes

**Listen to the episode for more vocabulary about punishments!

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