Unit 1 Tales of the unexplained

 read a news story about a missing boy and a  magazine article about Yetis  listen to a dialogue between a boss and his  employee  talk about aliens and conduct an interview  write a report  tell a mysterious story In this unit, we will

Unit 1 Welcome to the unit

2001 年 12 月 26 日傍晚 5 时 04 分 杭州 The world we live in is full of mysteries unsolved even by today’s advanced science and technology. A spaceship from another planet? A satellite? A weather balloon? Can’t tell? That’s why it is called a UFO!

Have you ever read some reports about UFOs in China? Are you interested in UFOs? Are they really from another planet? What do the letters UFO stand for? Why do you think UFOs visit our planet? UFOs

2001 年 12 月 26 日傍 晚 5 时 04 分 杭州 2005 年 1 月 5 日清晨 7 点 30 分北京 2005 年 11 月 5 日在永康大寒山

UFOs are unidentified flying objects, but no one really knows what they are. The chances for seeing a UFO are greater for those people who live in small towns or in the country and are outside late at night. UFOs come in all shapes and sizes. Some are only small spots of light that move in strange patterns across the night sky. Some can be seen in the daytime and are often disk- or saucer- shaped.

Yeti

The yeti is a humanlike monster who is supposed to live in the Himalayas, the highest mountain range in the world. Several sightings, mainly of footprints, have been reported by westerner explorers throughout the years. Yet none of them have been supported with evidence in any way.

Himalayas the highest mountain range in the world Yeti Abominable Snowman Half-man and half-beast

Where is Himalayas? What’s the weather like there? Why do some people make great efforts to climb it? Yeti is reported to be half-man and half- beast, have you heard of it? Do you think some climbers’ disappearance have some connections with Yeti?

Loch Ness the largest of a series of interlinked lochs, or lakes, located in northern one of Scotland’s top tourist attractions. Lock Ness Monster

On the 21st December 1933, the Daily Mail carried the following headline: "Monster of Loch Ness is not a Legend but a Fact." The hunter, M A Wetherall, a member of the Royal Geographical Society and the London Zoological Society said: “It is a four fingered beast and it has feet or pads of eight inches across. I judge it to be a powerful soft footed animal about 20 feet in length I am sure that it can breathe like a crocodile( 鳄鱼 ) with just one nostril( 鼻孔 ) out of the water."

Loch Ness Monster In China, we have Lake Tianchi Monster.

Pyramids in Egypt

Not much is known about Khufu. The tomb had been robbed long before archeologists came upon it. Any information about Khufu was taken with the objects inside the tomb. He is thought to have been the ruler of a highly structured society and he must have been very wealthy. He was buried alone in this massive tomb. His wives may have been buried nearby in smaller mastabas.

The Sphinx Half human, half lion, the Sphinx is 240 feet long and 66 feet high Pyramids, Egypt

How Wide The base of the Great Pyramid is a square with each side measuring 230 m (756 ft) and covering an area of 5.3 hectares (13 acres). How much is that? Imagine a football field. Nearly 10 football fields could fit within the base. The area of the base is also equal to about seven city blocks in New York City.  If you were to walk around the base, about how far would you walk? A.500 m (1,640 ft)500 m (1,640 ft) B.1850 m (6,069 ft)1850 m (6,069 ft) C.920 m (3,018 ft)920 m (3,018 ft)

How Tall At m (481 ft) high, the Great Pyramid stood as the tallest structure in the world for more than 4,000 years. Today it stands at 137 m (449.5 ft) high, having lost 9.5 m (31 ft) from the top.

How Heavy? More than 2,300,000 limestone and granite blocks were pushed, pulled, and dragged into place on the Great Pyramid. The average weight of a block is about 2.3 metric tons (2.5 tons). How much is that? Well, you can think of it in terms of refrigerators. An average refrigerator weighs about 91 kg. If 1 metric ton = 1,000 kg, how many refrigerators equal a 2.3-metric ton block?  A.25 refrigerators B.5 refrigerators C.90 refrigerators

How Steep? Each side of the Great Pyramid rises at an angle of 51.5 degrees to the top. Not only that, each of the sides are aligned almost exactly with true north, south, east, and west. For a pyramid to look like a pyramid, each of the four triangular- shaped sides must slope up and towards each other at the same angle so that they meet at a point at the top. The builders constructed the pyramid layer by layer, starting at the bottom. They had to check their work often, for even a tiny error at the bottom could grow into a very large error by the time the workers reached the top!

Who built Stonehenge in England and for what reason? No one knows the answer! Stonehenge

Stonehenge prehistoric monument on Salisbury Plain, southern England, consisting of two concentric circles of large standing stones. It was built between 2800 and 1500 BC and is thought to have been an astronomical calendar or a temple to the sun.

Do you think such kind of things mysterious ? Are you curious about them? Besides UFOs, can you list anything more unexplained you’ve ever heard or seen in your daily life?

What other unexplained things do you know about? Can you share them with us?

Do you believe in the existence of aliens? What does aliens look like in your mind's eye? Have you ever seen the film “E.T.” ?

UFO E.T. Famous film: ET

2. If you saw a UFO or a monster some day, what would you do? Group discussion 1. Do you believe in unexplained things mentioned above? Why or why not?

If you saw a UFO or an alien some day, what would you do?

mystery 神秘, 神秘的事物, 谜 他是怎样进去的是一个谜。 How he got in is a mystery. 谁把书拿走了？这是个谜。 Who has taken the book? It is a mystery. 世界上有太多解不开的谜. There are too many unexplained mysteries in the world.

advanced (adj.) 高级的, 年老的, 先进的 advanced teaching methods. 先进的教学方法 a person of advanced age. 年迈的人 the advanced education 高等教育 advanced mathematics 高等数学 advanced studies 高深的研究 advanced ideas 先进的思想

run into 跑进, 撞上, 偶遇, 陷入, 达到 昨天我在街上碰见十年未见的老朋友了. I ran into an old friend yesterday in the street, whom I hadn’t seen for 10 years. 那天他撞到另外一辆车的车尾了. He ran into the back of another car the other day.

Translate the following phrases: 1. 充满神秘 2. 先进的科学与技术 3. 一艘沉船 4. 相信未解之谜 5. 偶遇一个飞碟 be full of mysteries advanced science and technology a sunken ship believe in unexplained things run into a UFO

 Surf the net and learn more about world mysteries. Prepare a short speech to introduce something that interests you.  Preview the reading passage on page 2.