TEXT E There are many ways of
dealing with offenders that do not involve the payment of money. One is
probation, a system that takes many different forms in different jurisdictions
but that essentially involves the suspension of sentence on the offender subject
to the condition that he is supervised while living in the community by a
probation officer and possibly agrees to comply with such other requirements as
the court many think appropriate. Usually, if the offender complies with the
probation order and commits no further offense while it is in force, no other
penalty is imposed, but if he breaks the requirement of the order or commits
another offense, he can be brought back before the court and punished for the
original offense as well as the later one. In many U.S. states probation is
combined with a suspended sentence, so that the sentence the offender will
have to serve if he breaks the order is fixed in advance; in England the
sentence is not fixed in advance, and the court has complete discretion if there
is a breach to sentence the offender for the original crime in light of his
later behaviour English law allows suspended sentence of of imprisonment
for a specified period (not more than two years), on condition that the
offender commit no further offense during the period of suspension. This is
different from a probation order, as no supervision is required and no other
conditions may be included in the order. Other alternatives to
prison are based on the idea of preventing an offender from committing further
offenses, without necessarily confining him in a prison. The most familiar power
of this kind is that of disqualifying an offender from driving a motor vehicle
or from holding a driver’s license. This power is available under the laws of
most countries to deal with those offenders who either commit serious driving
offenses, such as driving while intoxicated, or who commit repeated but less
serious offenses, such as speeding. In many countries there exists a system in
which the offender is awarded a number of poims each time he commits a motoring
offense; when the number of points accumulated reaches a certain figure, he is
automatically disqualified for a specified period. Some countries allow courts
to disqualify from driving those offenders who have used motor vehicles in
commission of the crime for which they are being sentenced, with the aim of
hindering the offender from committing further such offenses. Although
attractive in the abstract, this seldom works well in practice, as the absence
of a driver’s license may well prevent an offender from finding work after
release from prison; as a result he may be likely to commit further crimes.
Other forms of disqualification may be imposed on offenders convicted of
particular types of crimes: a fraudulent company director may be disqualified
from being involved in the direction of a company, a corrupt politician may be
disqualified from holding public office, or a parent who sexually abuses his
children may be deprived of parental authority over them. According to this passage, disqualification ______.
A.seldom works well in practice B.usually fails to prevent an offender from committing further offenses C.is only applicable to those offenders who commit serious driving offenses D.may be applied to offenders who have been convicted of various types of offenses