yesterday, cnn.com reported
bill clinton on wednesday conceded that over-incarceration in the united states stems in part from policies passed under his administration.
stem from means caused by. stem is a part of a plant.
a daisy . the skinny green part is a stem
the article, based on an interview with cnn’s christiane amanpour contains several productive examples of too used to indicate excess.
bill says we’re wasting too much money on putting people in jail (cnn.com)
clinton explained
there’s too many people in jail and we’re not doing enough to rehabilitate the ones u could rehabilitate. we’re wasting too much money locking people up who don’t need to be there.
and
we wound up…putting so many people in prison that there wasn’t enough money left to educate them, train them for new jobs and increase the chances when they came out so they could live productive lives.
wind up, similar to end up, indicates the end or result.
the heel is the motivation for the expression on the heels of
clinton’s concession reinforces a policy speech his wife, 2016 presidential hopeful hillary clinton, gave last week on the heels of (right after) protests and riots in the streets of baltimore, maryland. the unrest was provoked by the violent death of freddie gray,a young black man, and the role police might have played.
hillary says prison tears families apart (ap photo/mark lennihan)
she also emphasized that too many americans are incarcerated, and that
keeping them behind bars does little to reduce crime, but it does a lot to tear apart families
behind bars is another way to say in jail, incarcerated. tear apart means destroy or pull forcefully into pieces.
both clintons say there are too many americans behind bars
hillary supported her husband’s crime legislation in 1994 though. she called it “well-thought out, smart and tough.” specifically she touted (promoted, praised) the ‘three strikes you’re out’ provision, which guaranteed a life sentence for offenders who committed three serious crimes
we will finally be able to say, loudly and clearly, that for repeat, violent, criminal offenders: three strikes and you’re out. we are tired of putting you back in through the revolving door
this explanation of hillary´s 1994 opinion is extremely useful for seeing the difference between these four words because they look similar and are often confused.
though (similar to but)
thought (the past tense and noun for think; in this case part of the phrase thought out–considered)
tough (hard, strong)
through (from one side to the other)
prisoners passing through a metaphorical revolving door (j.d. crowe)
revolving door is an expression that gives the idea that criminals go to jail but get out quickly to commit different crimes that lead them back to jail.
fun elt practice 
richyrocks english on youtube
what do u think? does putting a lot of people in prison really stop crime? does it lead to other social problems? what other alternatives are there? share your opinions under leave a reply
