PlayStations banned in UK jails

BEFORE READING 

1. SYNONYM MATCH: Match the following synonyms from the article:

1.	heads	a.	heart of the matter
2	banned	b.	act
3.	behave	c.	miserable
4.	suicide	d.	stopped
5.	depressed	e.	anger
6.	sparked	f.	peace
7.	uproar	g.	bosses
8.	order	h.	summarized
9.	summed up	i.	killing oneself
10.	bottom line	j.	started

The heads of British prisons have banned prisoners from playing computer games that have an adult rating. Under new rules, prison authorities have also decided not to buy any more games or games consoles for prisoners. However, they are allowing prisoners who behave well to buy their own PlayStations or xBoxes. Prisons can also allow prisoners at risk of suicide to play games to keep them occupied. The new crackdown on the games culture in prisons is because of a fear that many games make prisoners more violent. The Prison Service has called an end to its PlayStation Project, where games consoles were given to highly dangerous prisoners. The reason for introducing prison gaming was to stop prisoners from getting too depressed.

The British government sparked anger last year when it admitted to spending $20,000 on games and equipment for prisoners to use in their cells. There was public uproar when a convicted killer was photographed with a PlayStation in May. A leading prison reformer, Geoff Dobson, said games did serve a useful purpose to keep order in prisons. “We should not forget the usefulness of these games to prison officers…keeping order in overcrowded prisons,” he said. Dobson added that because of overcrowding, prisoners were spending more time in their cells doing nothing and becoming more frustrated. He summed up the problem, saying: "The bottom line is access to computer games is no substitute for [useful] activity like work or education classes.”

COMPREHENSION 

1. TRUE / FALSE: Look at the article’s headline and guess whether these sentences are true (T) or false (F):

a.	British prisoners can no longer play adult-rated games on PlayStations.	T / F
b.	Prisons will stop buying PlayStation consoles and games for prisoners.	T / F
c.	Prisoners are no longer allowed to buy PlayStations while in prison.	T / F
d.	Prisons introduced PlayStations to stop prisoners getting bored.	T / F
e.	The British government spent $200,000 on PlayStations last year.	T / F
f.	A prison reformer said PlayStations help keep the peace in prisons.	T / F
g.	There are not too many prisoners in British prison cells.	T / F
h.	The reformer said education classes are better than PlayStations.	T / F