Speed Reading — Level 3 — 300 wpm 

Now do this put-the-text-back-together activity.

This is the text (if you need help).

A new report from a British market research company says there is a "wave of micro crime" in the country. Researchers from the organisation YouGov said they were shocked by their findings. Matthew Smith, a data analyst at YouGov, said: "Looking around you, you probably wouldn't expect that three in every four people you see are [hiding] a criminal past. Yet that's exactly what is happening as new research…[shows] that as many as 74 per cent of British people are 'micro-criminals' – having [done] at least one very minor or 'micro' crime." The most common crime confessed to by the British public is paying someone cash for services, knowing that the person will not pay tax on it.

YouGov says that men and middle-class people were the most likely to commit these micro crimes. Researchers say 77 per cent of men and 71 per cent of women committed micro crimes. About 80 per cent of middle-class people admitted to committing micro crimes while the figure was closer to 70 per cent for working-class people. The second-most commonly committed crime was illegally downloading or streaming TV shows, movies or music. Slightly fewer than 30 per cent of people said they had done this. Other micro crimes included not paying for plastic bags in supermarkets, lying about your age to get a better deal, and eating things in a supermarket without paying.

Comprehension questions
  1. What kind of company made the report?
  2. How did the researchers feel about their findings?
  3. What did the researchers say three in four British people were hiding?
  4. How many micro crimes have 74% of British people done?
  5. What will some people not pay when they get cash?
  6. Which class of people were most likely to commit micro crimes?
  7. What percentage of women committed micro crimes?
  8. What is the second most common micro crime?
  9. What percentage of people had illegally downloaded things?
  10. What did people lie about to get a better deal?

Back to the micro crimes lesson.

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