Mata Hari (born Gerda Zelle), 1876-1917

Guess the name of the character.

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2) noun - a person who commits crimes;

3) noun - delinquency.

27. Luciano, Charles "Lucky" (Salvatore Luciana), 1897 - 1962

"Lucky" Luciano, so called because he led a charmed life and avoided assassination, was one of the most powerful leaders of the Mafia in the USA. Having risen to be a trusted lieutenant of Joe Masseria ("Joe the Boss"), he had him killed in 1931. This was the first step Luciano was to make in getting rid of the old guard of the Mafia, to make way for younger men like himself. In the reorganisation that followed Luciano became capo or head of one of the five New York Mafia "Families". He became the most powerful chieftain in the Mafia, and formed alliances with gangsters of other national groups such as the Jews and Irish-Americans. In 1936 he was sent to prison but paroled in 1945 because of his and the Mafia's secret work for the US government during the Second World War. Afterwards he was deported to Italy, from where he ran the European end of the Mafia's drugs operation.

Match each word or expression on the left with the correct definition on the right.

a) to lead a charmed life

b) an assassination

c) a gangster

d) to send to prison

e) to parole

1. to jail

2. a member of a gang of armed criminals

3. a murder for political reasons

4. to free a prisoner on a promise that he will not repeat a crime

5. to be lucky

He was a real live king of Scotland, but he is best known through the famous tragedy written by Shakespeare and based on his life. In the play, this king is encouraged by his wife to kill Duncan, King of Scotland, who is his guest at Dunsinane, this king's castle, and take the throne. He does kill Duncan by stabbing him to death, but he is troubled by dreams and fears that Banquo, a fellow general, will seize the throne from him. He, therefore hires two assassins to kill Banquo but lets his son escape, thereby fulfilling the prophecy that from Banquo "shall come a line of kings". After Banquo's death things go very wrong for the King. His wife, stricken by remorse, goes mad,

sleepwalking and talking of blood on her hands, and soon dies. Malcolm, Duncan's son, then sets out to avenge his father's death, marching on Dunsinane with an army. The King is defeated and killed in single combat with Macduff.

Mata Hari, who was executed (a) by a firing squad in France in October 1917, is probably the most famous spy of all time. She is renown for her beauty, her numerous military lovers, her provocative Oriental dancing, and, above all, her espionage. Yet in fact, she was not Oriental, or even a spy (b). Mata Hari was a stage name adopted by a plump middle-aged Dutch divorcee, named Mrs. Margaretha MacLeod, who had left her alcoholic Scottish husband in the Netherlands East Indies (now Indonesia) and opted to become a dancer in Europe.

The evidence (c) of her alleged (d) espionage on behalf of the German Kaiser is based merely on her being mistaken for a well-known German agent Clara Benedix, by the British in November 1916. In that month Mrs. MacLeod was arrested in Falmouth, Cornwall, on board of the ship Hollandia

while she was on her way to Holland. The police released her when they realized the mistake. Later she was arrested in France and charged with (e) having been in contact with German intelligence officers in Madrid (though she had never even been there).

At her trial in Paris her lurid life-style was used to damning effect. It was only in 1963, when the secret files relating to her case were released, that the legend was reassessed. Most historians now think that, far from being a spy, Mata Hari was simply an innocent scapegoat - shot because the French government wanted to cover up its military ineptitude by fabricating an all-powerful ring of German agents.

Complete the following sentences with the underlined words from the text.

1. There was not enough_____to prove him guilty.

2. He was_____for murdering his wife.

3. In your statement, are you the scene of the crime?

that the accused man was seen at

4. He was told to__

5. The criminal was

on the enemy's movements, with murder.

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