the Unexplained

Contents

PearsonEducation Limited
Edinburgh Gate, Harlow,
EssexCM20 2JE, Englmd
and AssociatedCompaniesthroughout the world.

Activities I
Pack ISBN: 97 8-l 4058-5212,8
Book ISBN: 978- | -4058-5068-l
CD-ROM ISBN: 978- I -405 8-5067-4

Chapter 1

Other \Torlds
Activities 2

lv

First edition published 2003

This edition published 2007
357910864

Chapter2

Strange Disappearances

Chapter3

MysteriousMonsters
Activities 3

Chapter 4

Ancient -Worlds
Activities 4

22

Chapter 5

Mind and Body

Activities 5

24
28

Chapter6

Ghostsand PastLives
Activities 6

30
34

Chaprer 7

Earth Mysteries
Talk about it
tVrite about it
Project: Tlue Story?

35
40

Text mpyright @ Karhy Burke 2003

This edition copyright @ PearsonEduationLtd,2O0T
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4r
42

CHAPTER

Activities1
Kfl

What's the book about?

Look at the front cover of this book and discussthese questions.
a What canyou seeon the coverthat is strangeor unusual?
b What do you think the bookis about?ls it fact or fiction?
Check the meaning of the these words in your dictionary.Then use them in
the sentencesand write possibleanswers to the questions.

giant

aliens

monster

Whenhesawthesea....

power

, he wasvery frightened.

Thepresident
hasa lot of
Whatcana president
do?
.. .

..

comefrom otherworlds.

How do they travel?..

Somepeople
can

thefuture.

What do they useto do this?

I saw a

He saw the machine disappearinginto the shy.Allthe

plants on tbat piece of ground were dead.
hen you looh up into tbe night shy, uthat are you thinhing? Do you belieue
\\ff
thot there are other utorlds out there? Is there life in those utorlds? Is it lihe
Y{
life on Earth?

predict

Whywasit frightening?
.

Other tWorlds

.. ... . footprinton the beach.

'irWWhat's out there?

Spaceis perhapsthe most exciting mystery - the last big adventure'
Governments have spent millions of pounds mying to discover its secrets.
So are the storiesof aliens and UFOs true?There have been thousands
ofreports from ordinary people. But spacetravellerssay that they have also
'W'hen
Apollo 1l made the first famous landing on the moon on
seenUFOs.
2l Jttly 1969, rhe spacemenwere not alone. Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin
saw 'rwo very large mysterious things' with bright lights. 'They are watching
us,'Armsttong reported. This information was kept secretfor yearsby the
US governmenr. Bur there have been many more reporrs of uFos from space
travellersand pilots of aeroplanes.
Have UFOs and aliensvisited Earth? Many people say that they have seen
them. Some people have taken photographs. Here are some of their stories.

What madethe footprint?

What happensfirst?
Discussthese questions and make notes. Look at the picture on page 1. What
can you see?What is happening?What is going to happen?

Votes

alien /'erlien/ (n/adj) a living thing, perhaps a person, from another world
U FO /,j u: ef'au/ (n) a my s teri ousthi ng i n the s k y , perhapsfl y i ng to E arth from another w orl d
I

Mysteriesof the Unexplained

Chapter 1 - Other'Worlds

O Mysteriousvisitors
Socono,Neu Mexico, US, 1964
Policeman Lonnie Zamorawas driving home
when he saw a fire in the hills. W'asit a car
accident?As he drove nearer, he saw a large, eggshaped 'machine' about five metres lonq. It had
four legs and no windows or doors. T*"o t..y
short 'men were standing by it. Zamora knew
they werent from Earth. The machine suddenly
made a loud noise and left the ground. Fire
poured from it. It stayed silently in the air for a
few minutes. Then it disappeared into the sky.
tVhen more policemen
arrived, Zamoris

facewaswhite with fear.flees,in the areawereburning and the ground looked

strange- Iike glass.There were four holesin the ground from the four legs.
UFo expertsbelievezamoris story.He wasusuallya very calm person.There
werealsoother reportsof a strangething of this descriptionin the sky that night.
Valeasole,France, 7965
FarmerMaurice Massesawrwo very short, srrange'men' in his field. They were
standingby a strange-lookingmachine.\(hen he camecloser,they point.d
"
long stick at him. A light camefrom it, throwing him to the grourrj. He couldnt
move.After sometime he wasableto sit up. He sawrhe
disappearing
into the sky.AII the plants on that pieceof ground weredead.
-".hin.
After this, Massefelt very tired for weeks.\(hen UFO expertsaskedhim
questions,they showedhim a painting of a uFo. His f".. *.nt white. '\(/here
did you seemy machine?'he asked.It wasa painting of the uFO rhat policeman
Zamora sawthe yearbeforein New Mexrco.
The green children
In the 1100s,a boy and a girl werefound nearthe villageof \floolpit in England.
They werecompletelygreen.They didn't know wherethey were.They didnt
speakthe local languageand only ategreenvegetables.
The boy soon died, but
the girl beganto earrhe local food and lost her greencolour. she learnt the
languageand talked about her life. In her world, all the peopleweregreen.one
day,the sun becamevery bright and the air temperature-changed.
Sheand her
brother fell asleepand then woke up in this new place.

expert /'eksp3lti(n) someonewho knowsa lotabout a subject

W Roswell
The Roswell crash happened many years ago, but it is still one of the most
important and famous of the UFO stories.Peoplestarted to ask questions:Have
aliens really landed on Earth? Are governments hiding important information
from us? Roswell began the great interest in UFOs. Hundreds of books and
famous films like The X-Fileshave followed.
Roswell is a town in the US state of New Mexico. It was iust another small,
unimportant town until July 1947.

A farmer,\Tilliam ('Mac') Brazel,wascheckinghis fields

aftera terriblestorm and found manv piecesof metal.He
thought they were from a plane crash. So he reported
rhe crash to the police. He also took some of the
metal for them to look at. The police passedthe
information to the military. They tested the metal
and made a discovery. They couldnt break it or burn
it. There was also strange writing on it in a language
that no one could understand. They decided that the
metal wasnt from Earth. In their opinion, it was from
a U FO.
The military then reported the UFO crash to the local
radio station. People were very interested and visited the crash

area.The newspapers
quickly printed this excitingstory
and soonpeopleeverywhereknew about Roswell.
the mifitary /de 'mrlatari/(n/adj)the peoplein a countrywho fight in wartime;military planes
are usedfor war

Mysteries of the Unexplained

But after a few weeks, the military's repoft changed. The metal in the field
wasnt from a uFo; it was from a military plane. They immediately closed the
crash area, but they conrinued to take things away. For many years after this, the
US government refusedto say anlthing about the crash.
rn 1994, the military told a new story. The piecesof metal weren't parts of
a military plane. They came from specialequipment for spying on the Soviet
Union. Many people don't believethis story. They think that the government
is keeping important information about UFos from us. There have been many
storiesabout small alienswho were found in the areaaround the crash in 1947
- some alive and some dead. rn 1995, the military showed a film from the time
of the crash.In the film, there was an examinarion of the body of a small alien
by military doctors. But other people dont believethat this is true.
For years,experrshave tried to find out what really happened at Roswell. But
many importanr government papershave disappeared,so we will probably never
know the true story.
ffi They took us away!
There haue been thousands of reltorts of aliens tahingpeople onto (JFos. Are
tltese stories true? were the people dreaming? tlFo experis belieue some of the
stories.

Chapter 1

Other \Torlds

. In 1961 , Betry and Barney Hill were driving from Canada to New
Hampshire, in the US, when they saw a light in the sky. It followed them
until they stopped.They saw a large, yellow thing. Through a window, they
could seestrange'people' inside. Mrs Hill was frightened, so her husband
started driving again.Then they suddenly felt very tired.
The Hills woke up an hour later in a different place - fifty-six kilometres
away.How did they get there?What happened in the missing hour?
Later, they had terrible dreamsabout aliens,so they told their story to the
military. Doctors askedthem questions.Slowly, they began to remember
what happened.They were taken onto the UFO by aliens.Alien 'doctors'
examined them. They also gavethem information about the position of
different stars.Scientistsagreedthat this information was correct.
. ln l975,tavis \flalton was working with other men in a forest when
they saw a UFO. A greenlight pulled Thavisup into the UFO. It then
disappeared.til/hen Travis was found five days later, he couldnt remember
anything. He was much thinner and his arm was cut.
' In November 1989, a woman phoned the police with a strangerePort'
Aliens were flying with a woman in the sky. Then two New York policemen
reported the same thing! They saw a woman 'flying' out of a twelfth floor
window. There were 'little people' flying around her. The alienstook her up
into a UFO. The UFO then quickly flew away.

Activities2

wereyou right?

Languagein use

Lookbackat your notesin Activity 1.2.Thenusethesewordsin the sentences.

Lookat the sentenceon the right.Then

comptetethe sentencesbelowusingpast
continuousand pastsimpteverbforms.

aliens

another

ground

inside

strange

UFO

LonnieZamorawas driving
homewhen he saw a fire in
the hitts.

On page1 thereis a pictureof a UFOflyingabovethe .........9!i9ln9....

...... lt
hascomefrom........."...

,....world.

On page2,thepoticeman
islooking
at a UFOandtwo
aliensarevery.."...

............
. The

. , sothe policeman
isfrightened.

On page3 the manis lookingat a large

.. .. . with strange
people

insideit. Hiswifeistetlinghimto getintothe ...... . ..

ffi

What more did you learn?

.......gfiYed. -."
Whenthepoliceman

WhentheUFO ......

(arrive),

(disappear),

Name

They saw

(sit)on theground.

(burn).

1 Completethe table with informationfrom Chapter1.

Date

Ptace

Lonnie
Laracx a
Valensole,
France
t1+1

Hitt........
BettyandBarneY

."...,
WittiamBrazel
Putthesehappenings
at Roswellinto the right order,1-8 .

(drive)

(check)hi s fi etdsw hen . . . , .. . . . .

when..
to NewHampshire

a l_-.1
fne mititarytestthe metal.Theythinkit isfroma UFO.
-]
U [- fne mititaryshowa filmof a smallalien.

(see).

(find).

c [_]WittiamBrazel
reports
the metalpieces
to the police.

What's next?

a [l fne policereportthe metalto the military.

do you think
ln Chapter2,you witt readaboutstrangedisappearances'What

e [l rnereis a badstorm.

these are? Circle a possible answer.

1 The BermudaTriangleis a

Ptace. ship.

plane.

g [] ffre mititarysaythe metalis froma militaryplane.

2 The Mary Celesteis a

Place. ship.

plane.

pieces
tr [-lWitliamBrazelsees
of metalin hisfietds.

3 Atlantisis a

Ptace. ship.

ptane.

ffre mititarysaythe metalisfromspyingequipment.

CHAPTER
Chaprcr 2 - Strauge L)isappearanccs

StrangeDisappearances
Ssrmuda

ATt&idTI{.dJif,ftl+

TheyJitund an emp7t sbip! Foocl,equipment and clothes

were all stil/ theye- but no people.

,tl
.'

I
I
I
I

nexplained disappeanxncesAren't neut.All ouer the utorld, people or things

'We
haue disappeareclfor no reason.
still don't hnotu uhy.

I
I

Miami

11r,The Bermuda Triangle

The Bermuda Triangle is an areaof thc Atlantic Ocean near the coast of Florida,
in the uS. This areais famous for the disappearanceof hundreds of ships ancl
planes.Storieslike the rwo below have given experrssome information about
this mystery.
' On 5 December 1945, five military planeswere flying near the coast of
Florida. Suddenly,the pilots didn't know where they were. one of the pilots
phoned with thesewords: '\(/e seemto be lost ... Everything is wrong ... ve can'r
be sure of anything ... c)ur equipment has stopped working ... Even the ocean
doesn'tlook right ... 'Then the phone went dead. The planeswere never seen
again. More than a hundred ships searchedfor them, but they were never found.

: '.:

.'t : .:

.
i

i_.:..::!!,

''lii..:

fr{fi-F#F MF.fiI{l}

BERM UDA
TRIANGLE

--

I
I
I

]\

I
\i,

I
I
I
I

I SanJuan
-.-* Puerto Rito
siF,
fl"AC:[i}fiilfl4$,1

on 11 June 1986, Martin Caidin was flying in good weathef through a clear
l,ltrc sky. Suddenly, the sky around the plane becamevery cloudy. Then it changed
r,, bright yellow. It was so bright that Caidin couldnt see.His equipment 'went
i r.lz)r'and stopped working. Above the plane, there was a hole and he could see
l,ltrc slcythrough it. Below the plane, there was another hole. He could seethe
()ccanat the end of it. Caidin stayedcalm and flew the plane for four hours.
When he finally got back into blue sl1y,the planet equipment immediately started
,vorl<ingagain.He looked back but he could only seeclearblue sky.
Many ships have also disappearedin the Bermuda Tiiangle. Peoplehave tried
r,, cxplain this mystery, but they have different opinions:
- It is the perfect place for alien activrty.
- The lost ciry of Atlantis pulls theseships and planesdown under the sea.
- The weather is unusual there.
are ordinary accidents.
- These 'strange'disappearances

,,,,'ll.'"''"':

But ifthese disappearancesare ordinary, why havent searchersever found any

\Why does
l,iecesof the planes and ships?Why does equipment stop working?
rlrc sky changecolour?

t rian g l e / ' t l a r a e q g o l(/n ) a sh a p e with th r e e sid e s

8

The Mary Celeste,'The Chost ShiP'

( )nc of the srrangestmysreriesof the seais the disappeafanceof the people
The ship left NewYork on 7 November 1872.
orr rhe ship, the Mary Celeste.
his family, and sevenother men, were sailing to
and
licniamin Spooner Briggs
( ,t'rroa,in Italy.

CHAPTER

Mysteriesof the Unexplained

MysteriousMonsters
Thenextmorning,hesawkrgefootprintsin thesnow.Theywerethirty-fue
centirnetreslnng and eighteencentimetreswide.
hereare rnan! strangeliaing things on hnd and in the seatbat are still a
L rnystery.Someof thern seernto comefrom another time, Sornearml often
seenor photogra2thed.But enoughpeople say that they haueseentheru.As a
result,ue want tofind oat ruore.

O Ordinarypeople
Herearesome
famousoldsnriesof ordinarypeoplewhodisappeared.
why did they
disappear?
wheredid thrygo?No onehasLo")ot , n^uo, these
questions.
Daaid Lang

The Vaugbanchildren

monster /'monste/ (n) a large, ugly, frightening animal

l0

ril$ The Loch Ness monster

'Nessie',the Loch Ness monster,
is probably the most famous lake
Inonster in the world. There are
well-known lake monsters in
Canada, the US, Sweden, Norway,
Iceland and other countries. But
Nessiefeels like part of the family
to many of us becausewe have
known about her for so long.
The first description of a
Inonster in Loch Ness, Scotland,
was more than 400 years ago.
'fhere have been many reports
since then. Some of thesehave
been honest mistakes.But
sometimespeople have lied to
rurakemoney from the Nessie
story. No one has proved that a
rrronster really lives in Loch Ness.

lJut somepeoplehavetakengood photographs.Expertsand ordinary people

havewatchedthe lake for years.They arestill trying to explainthe mystery.
Many touristscome eachyearto try to seethe monster.'Nessiewatchers'travel
ro Scotlandto look for her. Since1930, more than 3,000 peoplehavereported
seeingthe Loch Nessmonster.
The first newspaperstory about Nessiewasin 1933. Mrs Mackaywasdriving
:rlongthe lakewhen shesawsomethingmoving in the water.It wasa very
lrrrge,black animal and it wasmoving up and down. Her report gavea lot of
information.
11

Chapter 3 - Mysterious Monsters

Mysteries of the Unexplained

Then, in 1934, Dr Kenneth \Tilson took one of the most famous black and
white photographs of Nessie.There wasn't a better photograph until 1977.In
that year, Doc Shielstook some colour photographs of the monster while he
was on holiday. Some of these photos were losr or destroyed. This has often
happened. Peoplehave broken or lost their cameras- and sometimesimportant
photographs, too! Itt part of the mysrery.
Many scientists agreethat there is 'some kind of living thing' in the lake.
This 'thing' is very large and has a long neck. But no one hasprouedyet that a
monster lives in Loch Ness.

I'lre dead monster was then pushed onto the beachby the water. Peoplecouldnt
lrclieve what they saw. It was a very large, shapelessthing, with a long neck and
rro head! It was fourteen metres long, three metres wide and one and a half
nrctreshigh. No expert could name the animal. Many people, often fishermen,
lurvereported seeingtheselarge, ugly monsters.

S Don't go in the water!

You are lying on a beautiful beach, looking at the lovely blue water ... But what
is under the water, deep down in that terrible black world? Some people feel
that seamonsters are the most frightening of all monsrers. In Herman Melville's
book Moby Dick, a fisherman fought a long, bloody war with a terrible whale.
\(hen steven Spielberg's frlm Jaws was first shown, people of all agesscreamed in
cinemas around the world.
But sea monsters arent only in films and books. People have discovered
'real' monsters in the seasand oceans.These are often more frightenine than a
monster from a story.

lirmous of thesemonsters.

Giant squid
The idea of a giant squid is very frightening, but people have seen them. A US
military ship was sailing near Newfoundland, Canada, when suddenly avery
large whale jumped out of the water. It was fighting with a giant squid. The
whale looked about eighteen metres long, but the squid was trying to kill it with
its long arms. The squid was as big as the whale! The men on the shrp were very
frightened. They didnt want to ger close enough to take photographs. These
giant squid are true monsrers. It still isnt understood why they grow so large.
The'Globster'
This is probably the most unusual monster. In November 1922, people on a
beach in South Africa watched two whales fighting with a seamonster. The fight
continued for hours. The monster sometimesjumped six metres out of the water
and hit the whales with its tail. The whales won the fight and swam away.

whale /w e r l / ( n ) a v e r y l a r g e a n im a l th a t swim s in th e se a ; it takes i n ai r throuqh a hol e on the

top of its head
giant /'dgarent/ (adj) very, very large
squid /skwrd/ (n) a sea animal with a long, soft body and ten arms

I2

' Monsters that walk the Earth

'l'here are monsters in mountains and wild areas.Many people have seen
nronsters in China, Nepal, Russia, North America and other places that are
'lralf man and half animal'. No one has ever caught one. Here are the tvvo most

'[he Yeti
'Ycti' have walked in the Himalayan mountains of
Nepal and China for hundreds of years.Reports
ll'om climbers in the Himalayan mountains have
dcscribed them as very tall - nearly three metres. A
Ycti stands like a man and has hair all over its body.
It is dangerousand can attack people. Most people
Irirveseen signs of the Yeti in the snow. These have
t lre shape of a mant foot but are very large. They
c:tnt be the feet of an animal.
The most famous report came from Don \Thillans, a British climber, in
1970. In the mountains of Nepal, he watched a Yeti playing in the snow by the
light of the moon for about twenry minutes. The next morning, he saw large
lirotprints in the snbw. They were thirty-five centimetres long and eighteen
ccntimetreswide.
Bigfoot
'Bigfoot' is the American 'Yeti'. The Native
Americans* first saw the monster and named it
Sasquatcb.Reports of Bigfoot have continued
since the early 1900s. Descriptions are similar to
descriptionsof the Yeti.
The most frightening story came from Albert
Ostman, a Canadian, in 1924. A large, strangelooking animal picked him up and carried him for
three hours.
+ Native Americans: the first people in North America, before Europeans arrived

r3

Wereyou right?

Languagein use

LookbackatActivity 2.4.Thentack(,/l the right answers.

t

look at the sentenceon the right.Then

use many, more, most orthe most in these
rentences.

Triangle
is a placenearNewyork.
J fne Bermuda

Z [f rne Bermuda
Triangle
is a placenearFlorida.

I There
arelakemonsters
in ..................rypn).........,........
countries.

3 E Attantisis a place,a lostcity underthe sea.

2 DrWilson
tookoneof ......."........"

+ [

Rttantisis a place,a town in ltaty.

S I

fhe MaryCeleste
isthe nameof a plane.

4 Theglobsteris probably

S fj fne MaryCeleste
is the nameof a ship.

1 Matchthe first part of these sentencesabout the BermudaTrianglewith

their endings.
..""""'i.
1 Fivemilitaryplanesdisappeared

a ...througha holein the cloud.

b ...nearthecoastof Florida.

3 Shipssearched
for them,

c ...buttheywereneverfound.

4 WhenMartinCaidinflewthere,

d ...the skyturnedyellow.

A giantsquidis

. frightening
thana whale
unusualmonster.

.....,.......

......."
fishermen
haveseenglobsters.

.............

........
signsof Yetiarefootprints
in thesnow.

" ........"."..
Ostmanin 1924.

frightening
storyaboutBigfoot
camefromAtbert
".."....

What'snext?
Lookat the pictureson pages15-19.Discusswhat you knowabouttheseplaces.
Thenwrite about them below.What do you think the story is about?Makenotes.
Stonehenge

Easter lsland

5 Hecoutdonlyseebluesky

e ...hecouldonlyseeclearsky.

6 Looking
backlater,

7 A lot of shipshavedisappeared

g ...wheretheywere

...sincethen.
The Pyramidsof Giza

2 Matchthe monsterwith the place.Writethe letter.

A Nepaland china B southAfrica c North America D Scotland E canada
1 f-]Nessie

I Ciantsquid

4 f,veti

The Giant Sphinx

3 ! ctobster

aigtoot
14

photographs
.......
famous
of Nessie.

What more did you learn?

2 Thepitotshadno idea

'Nessie'
...is probably
the most
famouslakemonsterin the
world.

L'

C H A PT E R
Chapter 4

Ancient \Torlds
But before the year ended, twelue of the twenty scientists
from his team were dead!
are learning about neu mysterieseuerjr day. There are reports of alien
\Y/"
VY actiuitlt, strange new lmonsteri, unerplained stories in medicine, strange
actiuity in space. It seemsthat the number of mysteries is growing. or are tae
just more interested? Examples of mysteries comejiom tlte early days of our life
on earth.

{S, How did they do it?

Stonehenge
Stonehenge,in the uK, is different from anything of its kind in Europe. After
5,000 years,it is still standing. But why was it built? was Stonehengeused like
a giant computer to make predictions from the position of the sun, moon and
stars?This is the most popular opinion.
Howwas it built? Many of the heavFstoneswere brought from 240
kilometres away)so 1,500 men had to work every day for over five years,in one
predic t / p r r ' d r k t /( v ) t o s a y th a t so m e th in g will h a p p e n
l()

Ancient \Torlds

, i lrt lt's opinion. The very large top stonesfit into the smaller standing stones.
I lris neededtools and skills that people didn't have at that time. Experts agree
rlr.rt a higher intelligence was needed.So who built Stonehenge?No one knows.
l ,' r rhi s reason,i t i s sr ill one of t he wor ld'sm ost int er est ingm ysr er ies.
I'|rc Easter Island statues
I lrc island of Rapa Nui, in the Pacific Ocean, was named EasterIsland when it
'discovered'by Europeanson Easter Day in 1722.It is famous for over 800
'''.rs
,,1(
)lre statues, called moai.The statuesare between one and ten metres tall and
l'.rvcsimilar faces.They stand by the sea,facing the land.
V/hy did the people of EasterIsland build them? Some expertsthink that the
,r,r(ueswere the 'homes' of ghosts of people from the island'spast.The ghosts
1,,,'l<ed
through the statues'eyesand guarded the island. Peoplebuilt the statues
then moved them to another part of the island (twenty-five kilometres away)
''rtl
,rrclput them on platforms. In the early 1990s, forty scientistsmoved fifteen of
rlrc statuesand put them on new platforms. They used modern equipment and
everyday, but it took them four years.So how did the people of Easter
'v,,rked
lsl:rndmove more than 300 statues?Scientistshave found no answers.

statue /'stetj u:/ (n) some thi ng (i n s tone or metal , for ex ampl e)that l ook s l i k e a pers on or
ani mal
ghost/gaust/ (n) a fri ghteni ng, mov i ng thi ng i n the s hape of a pers on w ho has di eo
17

Mysre ries of the Unexnlained

Chapter 4 - Ancient \(orlds

,if Mysteries of EgyPt

The Pyramids
The three mosr famous Egyptian pyramids are in Giza. They were builr for the
bodies of the pharaohs* after they died almost 5,000 yearsago.The pharaohs'
gold was put with them for rhe 'next life'. The Great Pyramid is the largest.It
is 140 metres high and 228 metres wide at its widest point. King Khufu's body
is there. Peoplethink that the pyramid shapehelped the pharaohsclimb to the
sky after their death. So how were rhe pyramids built? That is still not known.
Scientiststhink that over 100,000 men worked for more than rwenry yearsro
build the Great Pyramid. More than two million sroneswere used.The srones
were very large and very heavy. How were they lifred to the top?

'l'he Great Spbinx

I he Sphinx guards the pyramids. It is twenty metres high and more than
\cventy-three metres long. The face is four metres high and each eye is nearly
rwo metres long. The Sphinx has the head of King Khufu's son, King Khafre.
l'he body of an animal shows how strong the king was. Experts still cant explain
lrow it was built.

I(ing Tutanhhamen
I'heValleyof the Kings is nearthe city of Luxor,

* pharaohs:the kingsofEgypt
pyramid/'prramrd/
(n) an old stonebuildingwith wallsthat meetat a singlepoint at the top
18

in Egypt. The bodies of the most famous

pharaohswere put in specialrooms there. An
llnglishman, Howard Carter, searchedfor
vearsfor the place where King Tutankhament
body was kept. In 1923,he found a large
room filled with gold and other beautiful
things. He took many things away.But
Carter and his team paid a terrible price
For their discovery. A sign at the entrance
promised death to the people who opened
it. Carter didnt believethis. But before the
year ended, twelve of the twenry scientists
From his team were dead!
19

Myste ries of the Unexplained

Chapter 4 -Arcient \Worlds

There have also been reports about the ancient civilization of Mu, near
Japan.There are photographs of this 'mystery ciry' under the sea.Peoplebelieve
they have seen buildings, statues and roads.
t& The Nazca Lines
In Peru, very large 'drawings' of animals and 1,300 kilometres of straight lines
cover more than 500 squarekilometres of land. These were made by the Nazca
people thousandsofyears ago. Scientistshave travelled to Peru to study these
shapesand lines. Many of the animal shapesare as
big as two football fields. You cant seethem from
the ground becausethey are so large. So scientists
have to take photographs from the air. There are
many questions about the Nazca Lines. \flhy are
they so large?How could the Nazca people make
perfect shapeslike these when they couldnt see
them from the ground?'Who or what were they
made for? Perhaps they were used to predict the
weather and the best time for planting crops. Some
people think the lines have a religious meaning.

Were there really 'perfecf ciailizations tltousands ofyars ago?'W'erethe people

beautiful and intelligent? Did they liue utithout uar?'W'ere their liues more
utonderful than ute can irnagine? Or is this just our hope for a perfect u,orld?
@ Lost civilizations
The Greek writer Plato told a story about an island in the Atlantic Ocean called
Atlantis. It was a beautiful place.The people were intelligent and had many
interests. The land was rich with plant and animal life. The people used their
skills well, so the island was a centre for farming and business.Their buildings
were beautiful and well built. Their kings and queens had great power in Europe
and Africa. This was more than 1 1,000 yearsago - and then the ciry disappeared
under the sea.
\fas there really an Atlantis? If there was, why did it disappear?Some experts
agreeon one idea: perhapsthe story of Atlantis is really the story of the Greek
island Santorini. Peoplestill want to know about Atlantis. They are sdll looking
for this lost civilization.
civilization /,srvelar'zerJen/(n) a group of people who have the same laws and ordered way of
lif e
powe r / ' p a u e /( n ) a s t r o n g p o sitio n o ve r p e o p le ; th e y m u st d o w hat they are tol d

20

ancient /'ernJant/ (adj) from a very long time ago

crop /krop/ (n) a plant, like rice or fruit, that you grow for food
)1

Activities4
My s teri esof the U nex pl ai ned

ffi

Wereyou right?

Languagein use

Lookbackat your answersto Activity 3.4.Thencompletethe sentencesabout

Look at the question on the right. Then make questions

for these answers.Use passiveverb forms.

each picture.

Howwasit buitt?

Easterlsland CreatSphinx ThePyramids

NazcaLines Atlantis Stonehenge

? (buitd)
Forthe pharaohs.

1 .. .. . . . . q r p .q
9 pr:h n 1 ..... ....:a statuewith the headof a man andthe bodv

(guard)
........
.......?

What.......
...

of an anim al.

Bythe Sphinx.

a circlemade from heavystones.

an islandunderthe sea.

a placewith eight hundredstatues.

a n i m a ls h a p escut i nto the ground.

pointedbui[dings
madefrom mi[[ionsof stones.

? (find)

Where
In the Valleyof the Kings.

(make)

W ho............
By the Nazcapeoplein Peru.

? (discover)

W hen.......... .
ln 1722,when Europeans
arrivedthere.

ffi

What more did you learn?

Where

Match the words with a possibte

'speaker'.

Toplatforms,
in anotherpartof the island.

? (move)

What's next?
Chapter 5 is about peoplewho can do strangethings with their minds and
bodies.Thesentencesbelow te[[ you about some of these people. Discussthe
best ending for each sentence.

1 l-*]'t amguarding
the Pyramids.'
2 fl 'l amgoingto writea storyaboutAtlantis.'
3 il 'ffre ghostsof ourgrandparents
livein the statues.'
4 [--] 'l wantto takemy gotdwith mewhenI die.'
'Twelvescientists
5 [=.-]
diedafterwe foundthe room.'
22

Uri Cellerchanges

A aboutthefuture.

Nostradamuswrote a book

B over fire.

DavidBoothdreamed

C t he shapeof m et at t hings.

'l witt die on my 45thbirthday,'

D thoughtJohnsnell.

KudaBuxwalked

E out of a third-floorwindow.

DanielDouglasHome flew

F abouta otanecrash.

C H AP T ER

Mind and Body

He usedthepower of his mind to changethe shapeof
metal tbingslibe spoons,
forhs and heys.
hnout that our bodiesarenl just simple rnacbines.But what powersdo
\Y/"
YY oo, minds haaeouerour bodies?How can an ordinary man siddenly hrt
a car to sAaesomeone\life?Hou dopeopleutalh onfire withoutfeelingpain?
IVhat is the mind? Scienceis still not sure.

& Thepowerof the mind

Uri Geller became famous in the
1970s. He used the power of his mind
to changethe shapeof metal things
Iike spoons, forks and keys. He has
shown his very unusual skills many
times. He can 'see'when his eyesare
covered.He can describea picture
or 'read' a letter. He has stopped
clocks working. Geller discovered his
powers when he was only four years
old. Scientistsstill can't explain how
he does thesethings. Not everyone
believesin his powers. But no one has
proved that they arenr real.
O Nostradamus
\Would you like to seeinto the future?
Do you know anyone who has this
power?The earliestknown person
with this power was Michel Nostradame, 'Nostradamus' (1503-66). He had
great skill as a doctor and he was very brave. 'Vhen the 'Black Death killed
thousandsof people in Francein the 1500s, he savedmany people. But he
couldnt savehis wife and children from this terrible illness. \fhen they died, he
left his home. He travelled around Europe and becameinterestedin mysteries.
Other people soon discoveredhis power to predict the future. He becamevery
well known in Europe and wrote a famous book, Les Propheties,of more than
1,000 predictions. These predictions were about times that were 500 yearsinto
the future.

Chapter 5 - Mind and Bodv

Nostradamus correctly predicted many

important things: the power of Hitler
in Germany, the Second \7orld
tVar, and the deaths of some
important people.
He wrote of President
Kennedy,'His death
will be sudden and sad.'
Nostradamus even
correctly predicted his
I
own death. He described
exactlyhow he would

die.\X/hensomething
importanthappens
in *re
world, expertsstill readhis
predictions.
Other people

ll
\1

with this power have become

famous since Nostradamust time.
but Nostradamust work sdll interests
people after 500 years.

S Dreamsof the future

Some people have a strange feeling (often a dream) that something - usually
bad - is going to happen in the future. They can't explain the feeling but they
are very sure. Many people have 'seen' terrible things that have happened in the
world. They have known about them before they happened!
. A girl had a dream about the end of the great ship Titanic on the night
that it happened. She saw a large ship with many people on it. Suddenly,she
heard a loud screamand one end of the ship went up into the air. The ship
then disappeared quickly into the sea.Ocean travel was dangerous in those
days, but how can we explain stories like hers?
.In 1979, David Booth had the same dream night after night. In his dream,
he saw a plane crashing and burning near buildings. He told people about
his dream, but he couldnt give them the time or place. The next day, a plane
crashed at Chicago Airport and everyone on the plane was killed.
. The night before the attackson New York in September 2001, a woman
dreamt that she met a friend in New York. He was crying and pointing
to Nvo tall buildings. They were burning. The next morning, the attacks
happened.
25

Mysteriesof the Unexplained

Chapter 5 - Mind and Body

John Snelllived in Poole,in England.On holiday,he paid a woman to look

into his future. Shetold him, 'You will die on your forty-fifth birthday.' He
wasnt frightenedbecausehe didnt believeher. For rwenty years,he worked
long hours and enjoyeddrinking. But ashis forry-fifth birthday camenearr,
he startedto worry. He stoppeddrinking. On his birthday,he refusedto go
out. The neft day,he reada local newspaperreport about the deathofJohn
Snellof Pooleon his forty-fifth birthday.The woman wasright and wrong.
ThereweretwoJohnSnellsliving in Poole.The otherJohnSnelldied!

Fire-utalhing
\7e have heard stories for many
years about religious men
walking on fire. In 1935, this
was tested for the first time. An
Indian man, Kuda Bux, walked
over a fire. The fire's temperature
was 300'C, but his feet werent
burnt and he felt no pain.
Scientistswatched and it was
filmed. Scientists now agreethat
this is an example of the power
of the mind over the body. In
this photo a fire-walker in Sri
Lanka walks calmly acrosshot
stones.

& Body mysteries

Someof tbesestoriesshou thepouer of the rnind ouer the body. Otberssltow
frightening things that haaehapltenedto peopldsbodies.All are mysteries.
Fire!
How can a personsuddenlystart burning for no reason?
There havebeenmany
terrible examplesof this. The personis burnt to deathvery quickly, but nothing
aroundthem is burnt.
student,waswalking down the
JacquelineFitzsimmon,a seventeen-year-old
collegestairswith two friendswhen shesuddenlystartedburning. Three people
tried to stop the fire, but it wastoo fast.Shedied in minutes. Firemenand police
could find no reasonfor the fire or why it wasso sudden.
Tbe'Iigbf utom"an
In April 1934,a young woman from Pirano in haly beganto havea very strange
problem. SThenshewassleeping,a blue light camefrom her body.\(rhen she
Her family calledin scientists.
The scientists
woke up, it disappeared.
watched her sleeping for a week, but they
couldnt explain it. After three weeks,

the blue light disappearedand

neverreturned.

26

Up, ap and auay

Some people are able to lift
themselvesoffthe ground and
stay in the air with no help. Most
reports of this are about religious
people. The most famous story
from Europe is of an Englishman,
Daniel Douglas Home. In 1868,
while people watched, he 'fle# out of a third-floor window. He then flew back
into the building through an open window in another room. Asian countries have
many stories like this. ATibetan religious man, Milarepa, slept, ate and walked in
the air!

27

Activities5

ffi,ffi

Mysteriesof the Unexptained

ffi tanguagein use

Wereyou right?

Look at the sentence on the right.

Then choose a word from the box
to complete these sentences.

Look back at Activity 4.4.Then answer these questions'

1 Who can changethe shapeof metalthings?
2 Who wrote aboutthe future?

because and

He totd peopleabout his dream,but he

couldn'tgivethem a time or Place.

while

unti[

3 Who dreamedabouta Planecrash?

Uri Cettercan changethe shapeof metalthings..

Who walkedovera fire?

so

afd

canstooclocKs

working.

5 Who didn't die on his forty-fifthbirthday?

6

but

aresti[[
.. people

500 yearsago
madehis predictions
Nostradamus

Who flew out of a third-floorwindow?

interestedin hiswork.
3 JohnSne[[wasn'tfrightened

#ffiffiffiWhatmoredidyoulearn?
Circle the right answer.
1 What hasUri Cellerstoppedworking?

.."he didn't believethe prediction.

wasdead.
. . . . . . .Jacquet
.
ine

Thefi remendi d n'tar r ive

Her familywasworriedaboutthe btuetight,

...they calledin

scientists.

Cars. (Ctocks; ComPuters.

6

Mi l orepastept . . . . . . . . ". . . .

he wasin t he air .

2 What wasThe BlackDeath?

An i[]ness. A book. A

What's next?

3 What was the Titanic?

A buitding. A shiP' A Plane.

200J1 *, -*"-:--- "

4 Whichcity wasattackedin September
! Chicago- Londo!., llev-Yorkr- i

chapter 6 is about ghosts. Do you know of any famous ghosts, in real tife or in
fiction?
was it seen?
a Makenotesaboutone ghost.Where
What was it tike?What did it do?

y o?
5 W hat did J ac que ti nFei tz s i mmosnu d d e n l d

.f!n!vtllt'-9,:*!t!]t:-ai::ttslt*,l
i llqvsll:sa',

Vo*es

6 What camefrom the girt in Pirano'sbodYwhen shewas steePing?

I

A btue tight.

Fire. Water.

7 Who did her familyaskto watch her?

Doctors. Policemen. Scientists.
8 What happenedto KudaBux'sfeet when he watkedoverfire?

Theyhurt. Theyturnedwhite. Nothing.

is the most
b Compareyour ghostwith the ghostsof otherstudents.Whose
Why?
interesti
ng/frightening/amusing?
28

CHAPTER
Chanter 6 - Ghostsand PastLives

Ghostsand PastLives
Shefnally turned totuardshim, and shebad no face.
He screamed
and ran away.
o yoa-belieaein ghosts?Canpeoplc really return to life on Earth after
fuath?

S Ghosthouses

ln 1928, Lionel and Marianne Foystermoved into the house. Marianne

immediatelyhated the dark, ugly

building. Soon after they moved
in, frightening things beganto
happen.\flhen a ghostwrote
messages
to Marianneon the walls,
photographsweretaken.Local
peopledidnt believeMarianne's
stories,but morethan 2,000
mysteriousthings werereported
during the Foysters'five-yearstay.
\[hen the housewas destroyed
in a fire in l939,that seemed
to be the end of the story.Then
local peoplebeganto talk about
strangethings happeningin Borley
Church.
In 1974,the BBC filmed
Borley church. They put sound equipmentinsideand watchedthe church.
They heardloud noises:peopleralking, a door openingand closing,heavy
footsteps.But the door didnropen or closeand they found ,ro orr.l al the

30

Since the BBC visit, many more mysterious things have happened at Borley
Church. You can visit the church on your next trip to England if you are brave
enough!
A house in Norfolk, England, is famous for the ghost called 'the Brown
Lady'. She was first seen in 7835,very late at night. She wore a beautiful brown
dress and her face shone with light. But she had no eyes- only two black
holes! In 1936, wo photographers from County Life magazine came to take
photographs of the house. They saw the Brown Lady moving up the stairs. They
were very frightened, but they took this famous photograph. It is one of the best
photographs of a ghost. Since this time nobody has seen the Brown Lady in the
house. Did the photo frighten her away?

I Around the world

Eaerycountry hasfamous ghostsand gboststories,Somecountrieshauesimilar
gbosx but with dffirent nArnel Do you haaeany of theseghostsin your
country?
India
An acheriisthe ghostof a little girl who livesin the mountains.Shecomes
into the villagesat night to makethe children sick. Children wearpiecesof red
cotton round their necksto protect them from the acheri.In many European
stories,peoplealsowear red to protect themselvesfrom bad ghosts.
5I

Mysteriesof the Unexplained

Chapter 6 - Ghostsand Pmt Lives

Japan
Japanhasmanyghosrs.Theburuburuis
the ghostoffear'. It livesin dark forests
and looks like a shakingold man or

W Pastlives
Haueyou euerthought,'Ibe beento thisplacebefore',or 'Ibe alreadymetthis
person?'Herearesornestoriesofpeophubo liuedcomplzteliuesin othertimes.

woman, often with one eye. The buruburu

jumps on a persont back. The person
suddenly feels very cold and dies offear.
The 'facelesswoman'was first seen
in Tokyo hundreds of years ago. A man
was walking home one night when he
saw a woman crying. He tried to help her,
but she couldnt stop crying. She finally
turned towards him, and she had no face. He
screamed and ran away. He ran until he saw an old
man on the road. He told him about the womant face.

VirginiaTighe was the wife of a businessmanin'Wisconsin, in the US. But this

wasnt her only life. One hundred years before, she was a young Irish woman
called Bridey Murphy. Virginiat story is one of the most famous in the world.
\X/hy have so many experts believed her? Virginia never travelled and knew
nothing about Ireland, but she knew many important things about Brideyt life
and town: the language, the names of local shops and people, the rype of money,
even popular songs. Experts have checked Virginia's story for over thirty years.
They havent proved that it isn't true.

'I7as it like this?'askedthe old man ashe turned round. He, too, had no face!
Gerrnany
Theword pobergeistcomesfrom
Germanandmeanshoisy ghost'.How doesa
ghostbecomea poltergeist?
Perhaps
if a persondiesin r.r.ibl. *"y, their ghoststays
"
angryaftertheir death.A poltergeiststayedin a man'soffice
in Germrnyfor y.".. i.
"
destroyed
furniture,threwthings,turnedlightson andoffand movedpictures
round
the walls.It alsomadehundredsof expensivetelephonecalls.Expertsdiscorrered.
that
it wasangrywith a secretary.'whenshemovedaway,the activity stopped.
The Muslim world
The zaris known in Muslim counrries.It is a man-hatingghost.It comesinro a
houseand makesawife crazy.As a result,sheshoutsat her husbandall the time.
There is only one way ro sendthe zar away.The husbandmust be very kind to
his wife and give her expensivepresents!
Russia
Domouihslive behind the cooker.'when a family moveshouse,they welcomethe
domouikto his new home with a fire in the cooker.The domouiklooksafter the
house.But if you makehim angry,he will burn your housedown.
A rusalkais the ghost of a young woman who has died in water.Rusalhasare
beautiful,_withlong greenhair. They live in lakesand riversand secretlyhelp
poor,hard-workingfi shermen.

32

Brifu Muryby

Sbanti Deui
Shanti Devi was born in 1926 in Delhi, India. \7hen shewas four yearsold, she
began to talk about her 'other life' as a wife and mother in the town of Mathura.
She said things like, 'This was my husband'sfavourite food.' She remembered many
things about her life in Mathura. Her husband wore glassesand had a clothes shop.
She died when she had her second b"by.At nine yearsold, Shanti remembered
her husbandt name: Pandit Kedarnath Chaube. Shantit parents wrote to him and
invited him to their house. Shanti knew him immediately. She then wanted to go
back to her old home. Family and friends went with her. \fhen they arrived in
Mathura, she saw her husbandt brother. She immediately knewwho he was. She
found her old house without help. She knew where her bedroom was. She found
some of her things there. Pandit agreedthat they were hers. Shantit story interested
people all over the world. Mahatma Gandhi invited her to his home. But Shanti
alwaysmissed her first life and nwer married. She died sad and lonely.
The Polloch children
In 1957, sadnesscame to the Pollock family of Hexham, England. The only
children, two sisters,were killed by a car.The Pollocks found happiness again
when Mrs Pollock had more children - two more girls. But something was
strangeabout thesechildren. They knew all about their dead sisters'lives.They
knew about their school, their friends and even their toys. \f/hen the girls were
older, their parents sometimes found them crylng.'\When cars drove quickly
along the road, they screamed.AII of this stopped when the girls became older.
After that, they couldnt remember any of it. Experts still cant say why these
things happened to the Pollock children.
33

Activities6

Mysteriesof the Unexptained

Languagein use

$ Were you right?

Look back at your answer to Activity 5.4. Readthe story about the buruburu at
the top of page32 and compareit to your ghost. Are the two ghostssimilar in
any way?
S im i l a r

Different

Look at the questionon the right.

Then make other questionsusing
present perfect verb forms.

Haveyou ever thought,'l've beento

this olacebefore?'

1 . ... ...!lt:gll i r .. L........ (you/see)a ghost?

2

. (there/be)a ghostin BorleyChurch?

a photographof the BrownLady?

. (anyone/take)

. (you/tive)before,do you think?

domovikto their house?

. (they/wetcome)the

the zar away?

. (herhusband/send)

What more did you learn?

Answerthe questions.
1 Why did the BBCgo to BorleyChurch?
I r: r^'rclKe
ra -iilrn
2 What doesan acherido?

3 What doesa poltergersfdo?

4 Who wasthe poltergeistin the Cermanofficeangrywith?

5 What doesa zar do?

6 What doesa domovikdo?

7 Where do rusalkas[ive?

8 WherewasVirginiaTighefrom in her first [ife?

9 Why did ShantiDevigo to Mathura?

f O Wnut .hungedthe tiu., of fVr.and Mrs Pottock?

)f ',,,jWhat happensnext?
Discusswhat happenedto the people in these pictures.

C H A PT E R
Chapter 7 - Earth Mysteries

Earth Mysteries
Suddenlya uerylargeball offre coueredmostof
thesby.Theneuerythingwent black.
he Earth has its oun great mysteries, Science has still not explained many of
the strange things that haue happened to our uteather, knd and animab.

O Cropcircles
In theearly1980s,strange
thingsstarted
happening
on Englishfarms.There
were many reports of large circles in fields. Crops were flattened, but they were
still growing. The circles had beautiful shapesinside. The first crop circles were
seen on small farms. They didnt become well known until later in the 1980s.
\7hen more crop circles were seen, scientists were called in. They were very
interested in the beautiful shapes.The shapeswerent simple. Some experts
thought that perhaps they were made by an 'unknown intelligence' - by aliens.
Many of the circles were found near ancient places like Stonehenge.This added
to the interest in aliens. But other scientists disagreed.They thought they were
made by strange winds.

By the end ofthe 1980s,crop circles

werevery famous.But were they
made by aliens or winds, or
were people just playing
games?Some people
thought that the shapes
were an ancient
language. They'read'
predictions in the
circles.

In 1990,manymore
crop circleswerereported,
with someof the most
Peoplefrom
beautifulshapes.
other countries came to England to see
them. Filmmakers waited in fields at night and tried to film the circle-making.
But they were never able to seeit - only the finished circles.Crop circleswere a
bigger mystery than ever. 'Who was making them? How were they making them?
And why?
In 1990, it was discovered that ordinary people were making some of the
circles. Two of these people were artists, Doug Bower and Dave Chorley. Their
circles were called the 'Doug and Dave' circles. Experts wanted to be sure that
people really could make these..15,000was offered to the person who could
make the best crop circle. Some beautiful shapeswere produced. This proved
that ordinary people could make crop circles. Many experts lost interest then.
But every year, new crop circles are seen. Many'crop circle makers' cant
explain some of these new shapes.They are so perfect - too difficult to draw
on paper. How can someonemake thesebeautiful shapesin the short summer
night? \X/hy hasnt anyone ever seen a person making a crop circle? The mystery
contrnues.

S Other mysteries
In someof thestrangerEarth mysteries,
surprisingthingsfallfrom theshyor
come oat of the ground. Sometirnes tltere is a sudden unexplainable change in the
ueatlter. There are many rnore stories lihe tltese, but not rnany ansuters!
It's raining!
. In 1985, in Texas,small fish fell into a man's back garden.\fhen he went
outside, hundreds more living fish fell out of the sky.
36

)/

Chapter 7 - Erth Mysteries

Mysteries of the Unexplained

. Thousandsof frogs fell during heavystormsin Birmingham, England

1954,in Canet-Plage,Francein 1977 and in Arkansas,US in 1973.
. In Englandin 1987,sandrainedfrom the sky four times. Scientiststested
the sand.They discoveredthat it wasfrom the Sahara!
Animab in stone
In 1960,workerswere breakingstoneswhen they found small frogsinside
- someliving and somedead.One scientistsaid,'Theyve probablybeenin the
rocksfor thousandsofyears.Someof their mouths havegrown shut.'People
could seetheir heartsmoving through their thin skins.Scientistscant explain
why someof the frogswerestill alive.
Snange ligbx
In January1984, a 'ball of light' flew through a Russianplane,abovethe
frightenedpassengers.
It then broke into two parts,formed a ball againand
suddenlydisappeared.
Ghost lights aremoving ballsof light that changecolour.They areonly seen
awayfrom cities.They disappearif you go nearthem. Many peoplethink they
areghosts.They areonly seenin placeswherepeoplehavedied in terrible ways.
Reportsof thesestrangelights havecomefrom Britain, the US and Japan.
'W'eatber
cbanges
. At 7.30 a.m. on 7 July 1987, the temperaturein the Americantown of
Kansaswent up I 1'C in ten minutes- from 24"C rc 35'C. No
Greensburg,
one hasfound a reasonfor this.
. In March 1978,workersin a field in Francehearda very loud noiseand
the earth shook.The noisecamefrom the next field. They ran to the field
and found a very largehole in the ground.In the hole wasa 25-kilo pieceof
ice.The ice stayedin one piecefor an hour.
il The Siberianmystery
In the earlymorning of 30 June 1908,a very largeball of fire camefrom the sky
and hit the Tirnguskariver valleyin Siberia.In seconds,everFhing for sixty-five
kilometreswasdestroyed.FarmerSergeiSemenovwaseighty kilometresaway,
but he sawa very largelight in the sky and felt terrible heat. It almostburnt
his shirt offhis back.Suddenly,avery largeball of fire coveredmost of the sky.
Then everythingwent black.

ftog lfrog/ (n) a small green animal that lives near water; frogs have long legs for jumping

38

'When

scientists visited the Tirnguska valley after this, they couldnt believe
their eyes.Dead 'cooked' animals were still standing. There were no living trees
or plants of any kind. The Tirnguska river was boiling hot. Later, it was reported
that people seventy kilometres away were thrown into the air. Scientists have
tried to find out why this happened for almost a hundred years.It is still one of
the worldt greatestEarth mysteries.

il lt's a[[ a mystery

Somescientists
thinkTunguska
happened
asa resultof a 'blackhole'.Black
holes are formed from stars that are much larger than our sun. The centre of the
star is presseduntil it breaks.In lessthan a second,it becomesa 'black hole'.
Vhat happens then? Some expertsthink that black holes are the reasonfor
some of the Earth's strange disappearancesin places like the Bermuda Thiangle.
One thing is sure; black holes are the greatest mystery of spaceand time.
'We are
discovering more and more about our world. But as we learn more,
we have more questions.Many things about this world are sdll a mysrery...

Answerthese questionsyourself.Thenaskten or more other people.Write

th e i r nam es .
Do yo u believ ein . . . ?

Choose one of the stories from this book. Readthe story again. lmagine that
it happened to you. Are you, for example, Lionel Foyster? He saw the Borley
Ghost. Or are you Lonnie Zamora? He saw aliens and a UFO.Write a letter to a
friend. Describewhat happenedto you. How did you feel?

Work with another student.lf you askeddifferent people,add your resultsto

his/hers.What did most people believein? What did fewest people believein?
Presentyour resultstike this.
Chosts
Monsters
UFOs
ALiens
0246810
40

4l

You and your friend see this in a

newspaper.Youdon't believe in
aliens but you want the f 50O.You
decideto phone the newspaperand
make up a story. Before you phone,
make sure you and your friend have
got your story right. Make notes
below on your story.

tlave You ever

InEt Ad ALIEN?
I1 you have.we would like
to meetyou! $500 for your
TRUIJ story!
Telephone
Alan or Sueat the
ThronPoston 8892-661235.

Now work as a class and have a meeting at the newspaper office.

,.& +aeqc+
ffi:
*q;fffiriec-i.ts

Youarethe peoplewho telephonedthe newspaper

office.
Yousayyou havemet aliens.The
otherstudentsare
goingto questionyou aboutyour story.Theywant to be
surethat your story isTRUE!Theywitt questionyou one
at a time. So makesureyou knowyour story verywe[[!

All other students:

Youaregoingto askquestionsfirstto StudentA, alone,

and then to StudentB,alone.You
can askeachof them
Askeachstudentthe
no morethan twenty questions.
samequestions.
Do they givethe sameanswers?ls their

When?

storytrue? Makenotesbelow.
Str;cier-rt
A s ,mnsi'r''ens

Where?

What happened?

How did it end?

ffi

Work in pairsand practisethis telephoneconversation.

Te[[themthat
andaskforA[anor Sue.
the newspaper
lStudent A: I Tetephone
a few
youandyourfriendhavemetanalien.Bereadyto answer
que s ti o nas b o u ty o u r a [i e nm e e ti n g!
. p eakto the cal terandaska few
lm a g i n eth a t y o u a re A[a no r Su e S
generalquestions.Then
arrangea time to meet the callerand his/
herfri e n d .
42

5t u dent ffi's 6 s"l$',tu{t:,i"r;

You have finished questioning StudentA and Student B. Perhapsyou believed

their story. Perhapsyou thought it was untrue.Write a rePort for the
newsPaPer.

4+

KathyBurke
BritishEnglish
Originol
lifein otherworlds?What special
lsthere intelligent
powersdo our mindshave?
How canpeoplesuddenly
Read
Are there reallymonstersandghosts?
disappear{
and exciting
aboutsomeof the world'smostfrightening
- mysteries
that sciencecannotexplain!
mysteries

Easystarts
Level 1
Level 2

200 headwords
300 headwords

Level 4

1700headwords lntermediate

600 headwords

Beginner
Elementary

Cover photograph @TomTill / Getty lmages/ Stone

I SB N 978-1-4058-5212-8

iii

{lr

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