SECTION II DOMESTIC VIOLENCE Unit 1

SECTION II DOMESTIC VIOLENCE Unit 1. O.J. Simpson: Profile of an Abuser Focus Vocabulary List Study and learn the topical vocabulary list. Provide Russian equivalents to the vocabulary items. A-B 1) spousal battery; child and wife battering 2) battering victim (battered wife, battering husband) 3) an altercation 4) to live a double life; to disguise one‟s inner life; syn. to hide one‟s real identity 5) to keep up the façade; syn. to build up false images; ant. to peel away the veneer 6) to set out to create a more pleasing self; syn. to appear gracious, warm and congenial 7) to have the upper hand 8) to be fastidious; syn. to be a perfectionist 9) to have a double standard on smth 10) to cruise bars 11) to indulge in drugs and random sex 12) to snort cocaine 13) to philander; philanderer; philandering 14) to womanize; womanizer; womanizing 15) to have a wandering eye 16) to be on the prowl 17) to be free to roam 18) passing flings 19) to be infatuated with 20) a happy-go-lucky guy; a partyer 21) decorous orgies; syn. wild parties 22) irrational; syn. obsessive/rancorous jealousy; jealous ranting 23) a crime of passion 24) to spar with each other; to taunt; to snap 25) to have an anger-management problem 26) to go ballistic; syn. to be beside oneself with rage 27) to scream profanities at; syn. obscenities 28) to attack; to assault; to pounce on 29) to reconcile with; reconciliation attempts; to make/to halt reconciliation attempts; to cut off all contact with 30) an on-again, off-again marriage 31) to delude oneself; self-delusion 32) self-imposed pressure; syn. strain 33) to mold oneself to smb‟s existence 34) to wait on smb hand and foot 35) to put one‟s own life together; syn. to build a new life 36) to stab to death; syn. to inflict stab wounds on smb 37) to slash somebody‟s throat 38) an interracial relationship 39) to challenge overtly the restrictions of race; to play the race card/ syn. to use one‟s skin to one‟s advantage 40) to wind up in a kind of gilded no man‟s land 41) to be a non-issue with smb 42) to be oblivious of/to 43) to have a propensity to/for 44) to espouse smth* 45) to credit smb with smth C 1 1) to gain national attention; a highly publicized criminal trial; to become a public obsession 2) to be televised nationally to a vast audience; massive press coverage 3) to place the time of the murder at from… to 4) to press charges against smb; to file charges; to sue 5) a misdemeanor count (~ of spousal battery ); felony 6) to be arrested on murder charges 7) to be charged with (~ two counts of first-degree murder) 8) to surrender 9) to declare smb a fugitive 10) to enter a plea of not guilty 11) to summon 12) to arraign 13) to be freed on a bond 14) to confine to a single cell 15) to place on a suicide watch; to take one‟s own life; a suicide note 16) sloppiness (~ by the police) 17) to receive a wrist-slap fine 18) a brief stint of community service 19) forensic evidence; significant bits of evidence linking smb to the crime 20) to dismiss the grand jury hearing evidence on the case 21) a preliminary hearing in open court 22) to be bound over for trial 23) to award default judgment 24) to convict smb of smth; conviction; convict / syn. to find liable 25) to acquit smb of smth; acquittal 26) conspiracy (~ to commit a crime) Study the texts, identify the active vocabulary items and discuss the questions following the texts. Introduction The 1995 criminal trial of O. J. Simpson for the brutal murders of his wife and her companion revealed disturbing evidence that O.J. Simpson’s genial public persona masked a more menacing private personality. Audiotapes of Nicole Simpson’s Oct. 25, 1993 police calls offered harrowing proof of a relationship plagued by violence and intimidation. “Trial of the Century” drew unprecedented attention to the national problem of domestic violence and made the whole world understand its nature and dire consequences. O.J. Simpson Pre-reading Exercise: make sure you understand cultural and linguistic realities used in the text. О. J. Simpson play of words: Orenthal James, advertised orange juice; besides he prides himself on being juiced up (animated, energetic, always on the move); “the Juice” – to the team-mates. Hall Of Famer the American football Hall of Famer in Springfield. A committee elects football players into it and makes their statues and plaques. Rent-a-Car Hertz car rental corporation. O.J. Simpson did their TV commercials as a spokesperson for the company. SUPERSTAR of Rent-a-Car used sarcastically to imply he made it at football but failed to make it a big career as a movie or TV star. Rose Bowl a famous American football game that takes place January 1 in Los Angeles, the “tournament of roses”, colourfully celebrated with floats. It is like a diorama on a truck that moves, with real people or Disney characters, etc. a superfly type a black term; reference to Jim Brown, a footballer who starred in a movie 2 to give high fives a greeting, salutation with an open hand held high with five fingers, an expression which came into use in the 60s, introduced by hippies (similarly: “Slip me fives”, “Give me the skin” which is equal to “Let‟s shake hands”) skycaps porters groupies fan clubs IRS Internal Revenue Service capital gains tax on profits Gin Rummy card play to slurp down to drink (soda, sweet ice through a straw) to quip to retort sarcastically the party was lowkey subdued, quiet Orenthal James Simpson, born 1947 U.S. football player, born in San Francisco, Calif. One of the all-time best running backs in pro football, Simpson first gained national attention as a member of the University of Southern California (USC) Trojans. After attending San Francisco City College (1965-66) to improve his academic standing, Simpson was accepted to USC. He excelled as a Trojan, being named All-American (1967-68), winning the Heisman trophy (1968), and scoring both touchdowns in USC‟s 1968 Rose Bowl win over Indiana. He was also a member of a world-record-setting 440-yard relay team. In 1969, the Buffalo Bills made Simpson the first pick of the college draft. He led the NFL in rushing in four seasons (1972, 1973, 1975, and 1976) and was the first runner to gain 2,000 rushing yards in a season. Known for his exceptional speed and ability to evade the opposition, he had six 200-yard rushing games and was selected to the Pro Bowl from 1972 to 1976. Simpson was traded to the San Francisco 49ers in 1978. Knee injuries led him to retire after the 1979 season. He was elected to the College Football Hall of Famer in 1983 and the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1985. Juice, or O.J. Juice, as Simpson was often called because of his initials, became a commentator for various televised sporting events, including NBC Sports (1978-82), Monday Night Football (1983-86), and the Summer Olympic Games of 1976 and 1984. He was frequently seen on television in commercials, most notably for the Hertz car-rental company, and also acted in several movies, including “The Naked Gun” series. In June of 1994, Simpson was arrested on murder charges in the stabbing deaths of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and a friend of hers. Television cameras rolled as Simpson and a former teammate led Los Angeles police on a two-hour freeway chase before the men stopped at Simpson‟s home and later surrendered. June 12-20, 1994: The O.J. Simpson murder case The bodies of Nicole Brown Simpson, the former wife of noted football great O.J. Simpson, and an acquaintance of hers, Ronald Goldman, were found outside of her condominium in Brentwood, an exclusive section of Los Angeles, at 12:10 a.m. Monday morning. O.J. Simpson was a member of the Football Hall of Famer, sports announcer, and sometimes actor. Goldman was a waiter at the Mezzaluna restaurant, located a few blocks from the condominium. Nicole Simpson had left the restaurant at 8:30 Sunday evening. Goldman followed more than an hour later to return sunglasses she had forgotten. Police placed the time of the double murder at from 9:45 to 11 p.m. Sunday evening. O.J. Simpson had meanwhile flown to Chicago, where he checked into a hotel near O‟Hare Airport. After a series of phone calls from the West Coast, he returned home on an early morning flight. He was questioned by Los Angeles police for more than three hours the same day. Significant bits of evidence apparently linking him to the crime were found by police at his home and at the crime scene. On Friday, June 17, he was charged with two counts of first-degree murder and ordered to turn himself in. After failing to surrender, police declared him a fugitive. He had fled with the help of his friend and former football teammate, Al Cowlings. Later that day, after a 60-mile (100-kilometer) slow-speed automobile chase from Orange County north to Los Angeles, he was arrested at his Brentwood mansion. The chase was seen on television by viewers all over the United States and in some foreign countries.

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