Unsolved Mysteries Reading and Discussion

Nelson English Language Teaching
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London NW3 3HF
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© Author George P. McCallum 1990
First published by Nelson ELT 1990, a division of Thomas Nelson and Sons Ltd
ISBN 0-17-555906-6
NPN 9 8 7 6 5 4
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Printed in China
A cknow ledgem ents

Photographs
The publisher would like to thank the following for kind permission to reproduce copyright photographs:
Ronald Grant, page 10; the Mansell Collection, page 15; Tony Stone Associates, page 20; Columbia
Pictures, page 46.
Illustrations
Gabrielle Morton, cover, David Sawyers, pages 5, 25, 30, 35, Ian Foulis and Associates, page 41.
Contents
page
In tro d u c tio n 4
1. T H E L O C H NESS M O N S T E R :
real or im aginary? 5
2. A T L A N T IS :
is it only a legend? 10
3. T H E M A R Y CELESTE:
why did the people on b o ard d isap p e ar? 15
4. STONEHENGE:
w h a t was its purpose? 20
5. U N ID E N T IF IE D F L Y IN G O B JE C T S (U F O s):
are there such things? 25
6. T H E A B O M IN A B L E S N O W M A N :
m an or anim al? 30
7. L IZ Z IE B O RD EN :
did she m u rd e r h er parents? 35
8. T H E B E R M U D A T R IA N G L E :
is it a triangle o f d eath ? 41
9. A M B R O S E B IE R C E :
w h a t h a p p e n e d to him ? 46
10. A N A S T A S IA :
was she really the T s a r ’sd a u g h te r? 50
In d ex o f v o cab u lary an d p h rasal verbs 56

T e a c h e r ’s In tro d u c tio n 57
Solutions 61
K ey 71
Introduction
Most people like a mystery and like playing detective; the challenge of solving a
crime or other problem is always fun. Unsolved Mysteries is a book designed for
intermediate-level students of English that gives you such an opportunity. It
contains some real-life mysteries, situations for which no solutions have ever been
found (although many people have tried). Now you have your chance!
Apart from providing you with an enjoyable challenge, this book offers practice in
the four skills of English: reading, writing, listening and speaking, with emphasis on
reading and speaking.
Unsolved Mysteries is divided into ten lessons, each with the following format:
— The mystery
— A comprehension check on the reading in the form of true/false statements,
multiple-choice questions and open-ended sentences.
— Language practice. This consists of a vocabulary and phrasal verb exercise
which provides contextualisation and practice of some of the words and
phrasal verbs in the reading, and a grammar point used in the reading, with a
brief explanation of that point as well as an exercise based on it.
— Discussion. This is a discussion of the mystery, with an opportunity to solve
it.
— Writing. This final section of the lesson allows you to express your own
thoughts about the mystery. You may be asked to write a letter about it or to
be a reporter writing an article for your newspaper, and so on.
As part of the language practice has to do with phrasal verbs it might be a good
idea to refresh your memory as to what a phrasal verb is and how it is used:
actually a phrasal verb is a ‘miniature idiom’ of two, sometimes three, words: a
verb plus one or more prepositions. Like idioms, the words in a phrasal verb mean
something quite different when taken together than they do individually. The words
look up, when taken individually, simply mean raise your eyes upwards. As a
phrasal verb, however, these two words mean something quite different: find
information in a reference book or visit unexpectedly. There is often very little
relationship between the meaning of the individual words and their combination in a
phrasal verb.
Finally, a word about the mysteries themselves. The readings here are brief and
give only the information necessary for the class to have an interesting discussion.
If you would like to know more about any of them, lots of books and articles have
been published on all the subjects included here. There are also hundreds of other
unsolved mysteries that you might want to read about, too and try to solve!
1. T H E L O C H NESS M O N S T E R :
real or imaginary
Have you heard of the Loch Ness Monster?
If so, what have you heard?
Do you think this creature really exists
in Scotland’s largest lake?
The mystery
* According to the descriptions,

M what does the monster look like?
O n e afternoon in A pril 1933, as J o h n M ack ay a n d his wife drove along the

n ew ly-constructed ro ad a t the edge of Loch Ness, M rs M ack ay , looking across the
w aters of S c o tla n d ’s biggest lake, su dd en ly cried out, ‘Jo h n ! W h a t ’s th a t? ’
‘W h ere?’
‘O u t there!’ She p oin ted to the centre of the lake. Its usually q u iet surface was
strangely d istu rb ed a n d covered w ith foam. H e r h u s b a n d stopped the car.
S uddenly a hug e cre a tu re a p p eared . T h e M ack ays stared as it m oved a b o u t in the
w ater, going u n der, th en p o p p in g up again. Finally, after a few m inutes, it
d isap p e ared u n d e r the w ater a n d the lake becam e calm once more.
T h a t was the first a p p e a ra n c e in m o d ern tim es of the L och Ness M o n ster, the
n a m e w hich was given to it by a n ew sp ap er reporter. L a te r, this tim id, harm less
c reatu re becam e affectionately know n as Nessie.
Since the M a c k a y s ’ experience w ith the m ysterious an im al in 1933, m ore th a n
3,000 o th er people claim th a t they have seen Nessie. Som e o f th em believe th a t the
lake is in h a b ite d by ten, tw enty or m ore o f these creatures. T h e in teresting thin g is
th a t a sim ilar description of Nessie is given by alm ost everyone:
L en g th — a b o u t fifty feet
Body — th irty feet long, twelve feet a ro u n d the m iddle
Head — very small, co m p ared w ith the body
Neck — from four to seven feet long
Skin — greY
Flippers — two small ones a t the front, two large ones a t the back
T ail — sh o rt a n d flat
p> What explanation is there for

Nessie’s presence in Loch Ness?
A ltho ug h the M ackays are the first people in m o d e rn times to see the M on ster,
a b o u t 1400 years ago St C o lu m b a, the m an w ho b ro u g h t C h ristia n ity to Scotland,
was supposed to have seen a ‘w a te r m o n ste r’ in L och Ness. Little or no reference
was m ad e to it d u rin g the next 500 years, a lth o u g h in the n in eteen th centu ry an
occasional m en tio n was m a d e in books a n d new spapers.
W h y is it th a t since 1933 m an y people claim to have seen Nessie but, as far as is
known, very few before then? O n e exp lanation is th a t shortly before th a t d ay in
1933 w hen the M ackays saw the M on ster, a new road was co nstru cted beside
Loch Ness. In o rd er to build the ro ad the engineers b lasted tons o f rock into the
lake. T h is evidently destroyed the a n im a ls ’ u n d e rw a te r hom e a n d forced th em to
swim a b o u t the lake in search o f a new place to live. T h e y rose to the surface w ith
greater frequency after that.
I f we assum e th a t a ‘m o n ste r’ really exists in L och Ness, w h a t is it an d how did
it get there?
W e are told by experts th a t Nessie m ay be a d e sc e n d a n t o f the plesiosaurs,
creatures th a t lived over seven m illion years ago. Geologists say th a t Loch Ness
was once a p a r t of the sea; then, d u rin g the Ice Age, it was closed off by glaciers
an d a lake was form ed. T herefore, it is possible th a t the original m o n ster family
was c au g h t in the new lake, u n ab le to leave. S om ehow the m onsters survived and,
to this day, their d e scen d an ts co n tin u e to in h a b it Loch Ness.
p What do scientists think

^ about the Loch Ness Monster?
J u s t as there are people w ho believe in the L och Ness M o n ste r there are
non-believers, too. M a n y of these are p ro m in e n t scientists w ho d e m a n d further
evidence. In spite of m a n y eye-witness stories a n d re m a rk a b le p h o to g ra p h s,
scientists sim ply lau gh off the idea th a t an u n k n o w n an im al exists in Loch Ness.
H ere are some of their reasons:
— W h a t people see on the surface o f the lake are floating logs.
— M ass h allu cination - the p ow er o f suggestion - has influenced people who
say they have seen Nessie.
— T h e M o n ste r is fiction, n o th in g m ore th a n p r o p a g a n d a p u t out by the
Scottish T o u rist Board.
— W h a t people see are large otters.
— T h e claims are false ones, m a d e by people w ho w a n t to see their n am es in
the new spapers.
— T h e pictures are p h o to g ra p h s w hich have been cleverly touched up.
H ere are some of the co u n te r-a rg u m e n ts m a d e by the pro-N essie people:
— Logs could not m ove in the w a te r the w ay the M o n ste r does.
— T h e Scottish T o u ris t B oard has never exploited Nessie in any way.
— Even a large o tter could n o t d istu rb the surface of the w ater as Nessie does.
— M a n y highly-respected individuals have accepted the existence o f an
u n k n o w n creatu re in the lake; som e even a d m it they have seen Nessie.
— N o t everyone w ho claims to have seen the M o n ste r is interested in publicity
for himself/herself.
T h e search for Nessie goes on. P erh ap s one d ay th ere will be sufficient p ro of
th a t a m o n ster does - or does not - exist in L och Ness. U n til now, how ever, th a t is
n ot the case.
Comprehension check
Look back at the reading and find information to complete these sentences.
1 Scotland’s largest inland body of water i s ___________
2 In this century the Loch Ness Monster was first seen i n ___________
3 The Monster is affectionately ca lle d ___________
4 Since 1933 the number of people who claim they have seen the Monster is
a b o u t___________
5 St Columba was famous f o r ___________
6 A plesiosaur i s ___________
7 According to geologists, Loch Ness was formed b y ___________
8 Scientists say that pictures taken of the Monster a re ___________
9 Pro-monster people say the logs in the la k e ___________
10 Supposedly some people make false statements about seeing the Monster
because ___________
Language practice
1 Vocabulary
Here is some vocabulary from the text. You can deduce the meanings of these
words from their context in the reading. In the left-hand column are the words
from the reading; on the right are their definitions. Match the words with the
definitions. The first one has been done for you.
1 foam (/. 6) k a say that something is true

2 huge (/. 7) b used explosives to break up rock
3 stared (/. 7) c person who sees something happen
4 claim (/. 14) d parts of a tree (cut into pieces by people)
5 flippers (/. 22) e many people seeing something which is
6 blasted (/. 32) not there
7 glacier (/. 40) f looked long and hard at something
8 eye-witness (/. 46) g extremely large
9 logs (/. 49) h limbs (like arms and legs) used by sea
10 mass hallucination animals for swimming
(/. 50) i mass of ice moving down a mountain
11 otters (/. 54) j fur-covered water animals
k white mass of bubbles on top of water
Phrasal verbs
These phrasal verbs also come from the text. Match them with their definitions.
1 pop up (/. 8) a dismiss something as a joke

2 laugh off (/. 47) b produce
3 put out (/. 52) c continue
4 touch up (/. 57) d appear suddenly
5 go on (/. 66) e change appearance of something
(a picture)
3 Grammar; the passive

Look at this example:
Active: The Mackays saw the monster.
Passive: The monster was seen by the Mackays.
It is often possible to put a verb phrase in either the active or passive voice,
according to the focus of the sentence.
In the active voice the subject performs the action.
In the passive voice the subject receives the action.
In the passive the verb to be is used with a past participle: is said, were written,
will be offered.
Exercise
Find ten uses of the passive voice in the reading and change them to the active
voice, for example:
A similar description of Nessie is given by almost everyone.
Almost everyone gives a similar description o f Nessie.
Discussion
Your teacher will give you instructions on how to do this part of the lesson.
Writing
What do you think? Is there a strange creature in Loch Ness? Write a paragraph of
about 40 to 60 words giving your personal opinion.
IN METRO SCO PE A N D M E TR O C O LO R A GEO RG E PA L PRO D U CTIO N
M ETRO -GO LD W YN -M AYER presents ata rrin , A N T H O N Y HALL • JOYCE TAYLOR • JO H N DALL
ATLANTIS T H E LO ST C O N T IN E N T iqi ........ * - -- - P ro d u c e d and D ire c te d b y G E O R G E P A L
Screenplay by DANIEL MAINWARING Based on a play by SIR GERALD HARGREAVES
The mystery
* Where did Plato

M get his information about Atlantis?
It all started w ith the G reek philosopher, Plato. A b o u t 347 b c in two of his famous
dialogues, Plato described a prosp ero us co n tin en t in h a b ite d by people of great
learning a n d culture. T his co ntinent, or island, was located beyond the ‘Pillars of
H ercu les’, w hich tod ay we know as the S traits o f G ib ra lta r. O n e d ay in 9600 b c ,
according to Plato, the island was destroyed by a volcanic explosion an d a huge
tidal wave. O v e rn ig h t it sank to the b o tto m of the ocean. O n ly a few people
escaped. T h e n a m e Plato used in his dialogues for this island was Atlantis.
T h e story o f the lost continent, as it is often called, was one told originally by a
G reek sta te sm a n n a m e d Solon. H e h a d h eard of the island d u rin g a trip to E gypt
in the sixth cen tury b c an d he found o u t all he could a b o u t it. W h a t Plato wrote
two centuries later was based on Solon’s findings.
For th o u san d s of years P la to ’s story o f A tlan tis was the only one; no one else
w rote a b o u t it. T h e two dialogues were full of descriptive detail a b o u t the island
an d m an y o f P la to ’s fellow G reeks were convinced the story was true. O th ers,
how ever, including P la to ’s fam ous pupil, A ristotle, were not convinced. T h e y did
not go along w ith Plato b u t said it w as an invention he used to illustrate his
philosophy. Plato insisted th a t his acco u n t of A tlantis was com pletely authen tic.
R Why are the

° Mayan and Incan civilizations mentioned here?
Since P lato ’s tim e millions of w ords have been w ritten a b o u t A tlantis. T h e re is a

wide variety o f opinion, however, a b o u t the location of the island an d the exact
d ate th a t it blew up an d sank into the sea. Som e authorities on the subject claim
th a t it was located b en eath the Azores an d th a t these P ortuguese islands in the
A tlantic are the tops of m o u n tain s on A tlantis. T h is coincides w ith w h a t Plato
believed. O th e rs feel it is farth er south, u n d e r the C a n a ry Islands.
C ertain F rench archaeologists have an n o u n c e d th a t the S a h a ra D esert in
N o rth Africa was once covered by a n inland sea an d th a t by digging in the san d of
the desert we will find A tlantis.
S panish autho rities on A tlantis insist th a t it is som ew here off the coast of Spain.
R ussian scientists tell us th a t the lost co n tin en t is in the C a s p ia n Sea. T h e re are
m an y o th er fascinating theories, too. T h e y differ in m a n y ways b u t all agree on one
basic point: long ago there existed a co n tin en t th a t blew up one d ay an d
d isap p e ared b en eath the waves of the ocean.
In 1882 an A m erican n am ed Ig n a tiu s T D onnelly g a th e re d to gether all the
inform ation he could find a b o u t the m ysterious island a n d p ublished it in Atlantis:
The Antediluvian World. T o d a y D o n n elly ’s book is still considered the ‘b ible’ of
Atlantis. T h e lost island, he rep orted , was w here all the civilisations of the world,
from E g y p tian to In c a n , originated. Survivors o f the c a ta s tro p h e in 9600 b c fled to
the lands east a n d west. Some o f th em reach ed w h a t is now A m erica. T h e re exists
the belief a m o n g some people th a t In d ia n s living in the A m ericas are d escen dan ts
o f these survivors. T h e M a y a n a n d I n c a n cultures, according to this belief,
developed from the original civilisation of A tlantis. I n c a n a n d M a y a n folktales
relate the story of a people w ho escaped to A m erica from a terrible disaster in a
d ista n t land.
p What caused the

^ Minoan Empire to lose its power?
Early in the tw entieth c en tu ry atten tio n tu rn e d to yet a n o th e r ex p lan atio n of

Atlantis: Santorini, an island in the A egean Sea. In an cien t times this w as called
T h e r a an d was p a r t o f the M in o a n E m pire. Scholars note sim ilarities betw een
A tlantis an d the M in o a n civilisation, w hich w as centred a t K nossos on the island
of Crete. T h is was a powerful em pire until a b o u t 1400 b c w hen a disastrous
explosion caused m u ch of S an torin i to d is a p p e a r into the sea. T h e tidal w ave th a t
followed reached C rete, destro yin g m u ch of its coastline. T h is w eakened the
M in o a n E m pire, w hich d e p e n d e d on sea trade. I t never got back its form er
s tren g th as a M e d ite rra n e a n power.
A g reat difference in tim e can be seen here. A cco rdin g to Solon’s acco u n t
A tlantis d isa p p e a re d in 9600 b c , b u t S anto rini was d estro yed in 1400 b c . T h e re is
a sim ple exp lan ation for this g reat difference: Solon read the n u m eric al sym bols in
the E g y p tian records incorrectly. H e read 100 as 1000. I f we rem ove one zero we
can th en read every n u m b e r in Solon’s story o f A tlan tis qu ite differently; the
destru ctio n o f A tlantis thus took place a b o u t 900 years before Solon’s time, not
9000 years; this places the tragic event in the fifteenth ce n tu ry b c , w hich is w hen
S an torin i was destroyed.
n What is
^ David Zink’s theory?
M o re recently a n A m erican visionary, E d g a r C ayce, looked into the p ast a n d said

he saw A tlantis. A lth o u g h he h a d never read P la to ’s dialogues his d escrip tio n of
the lost co ntin ent was sim ilar to the one w ritten 2300 years before in Athens.
C ayce said th a t in his vision he saw A tlantis located n e a r N o rth Bimini, an island
in the B ah a m a s. H e p red icted th a t in 1968 or 1969 som e tem ples o f the ancient
kingdom w ould be found there.
In 1968 a deep-sea diver, J M a n so n V alen tin e, cam e u p o n the ruins of some
ancient buildings while sw im m ing u n d e rw a te r off the coast of N o rth Bimini. Since
then o ther divers h ave explored the area. T h e y declare th a t the ‘b u ild in g s’
V alen tine saw were not m a d e by m an b u t were form ed by n atu re.
In 1975 an d again in 1977 expeditions co n d u cted by D avid Zink in the sam e
area b ro u g h t blocks of stone to the surface. Z ink insisted th a t because of the w ay
these blocks h ad been form ed a n d placed one on the top o f the other, they could
only be m a n -m a d e . U n til now no one has been able to d isp u te this theory.
W h ere A tlantis was located has been the subject of m a n y a rg u m en ts, b ut, for
the m o m en t all th a t has been claim ed, either for or again st the existence of
Atlantis, from P la to ’s d ay to the present, has been speculation. T h e m ystery of the
lost co ntin ent rem ains unsolved.
Comprehension check
Look back at the reading and find information to fill the gaps in these sentences.
1 A Greek na m ed __________ first brought the story of Atlantis from Egypt.
2 Plato’s p u p il,__________ , did not believe that Atlantis existed.
3 Some authorities believe that th e __________ are the tops of mountains on
Atlantis.
4 French archaeologists think that Atlantis lies beneath th e ___________
5 ______________ say it is in the Caspian Sea.
6 A book by Ignatius T Donnelly is considered th e __________ of Atlantis.
7 Santorini is an island in the Aegean Sea that was formerly named
8 The Minoan civilisation was centred at Knossos, on the island of
9 Edgar Cayce believed Atlantis was located n e a r__________ , in the Bahama

Islands.
10 David Zink broug ht___________ of stone to the surface of the water which,
he said, were man made.
Language practice
1 Vocabulary
1 straits (/. 4) c a ran away

2 tidal wave (/. 6) b under
3 sank (/. 6) c narrow water passage connecting
4 authentic (/. 17) two seas
5 beneath (/. 21) d disappear under the surface of the
6 fled (/. 36) water
7 visionary (/. 60) e argue about
8 diver (/. 66) f true/real
9 dispute (/. 73) g big, destructive movement of water
10 speculation (/. 76) in the ocean
h opinion based on guessing
i someone who can see into the
future
person who swims underwater
2 Phrasal verbs
1 find out (/. 10) a find by accident

2 go along with (/. 16) b take possession again
3 blow up (/. 20) c agree with
4 get back (/. 50) d discover
5 come upon (/. 66) e explode
3 Grammar: noun clauses

What Plato wrote two centuries later was based on S olon’s findings.
Where Atlantis was located has been the subject o f many arguments.
A noun clause is a dependent clause that is used as a noun (subject or object
of the verb). It is usually found at the beginning or end of the sentence but can
also be elsewhere in the sentence. It is often introduced by one of the following
pronouns: who, what, which, whom, whose, whoever, whichever, whatever,
where, when, how, why, that.
Exercise
Use the appropriate pronoun (what, that, who, etc.) to fill the gaps in
these sentences, for example:
Most of the Greeks believed what Plato wrote about Atlantis.
1 Plato insiste d__________ the story of Atlantis was true.
2 Aristotle was one of the G re e ks__________ did not believe Plato’s story.
3 Authorities argue a b o u t__________ Atlantis is located.
4 _______ Aristotle did not believe the story of Atlantis is not clear.
5 No one really kn o w s__________ Atlantis sank into the sea; some people say
it w a s 9600 b c .
6 B u t__________ Atlantis was destroyed is not a mystery: it disappeared in a
terrible explosion.
7 David Zink discovered blocks of stone in the s e a __________ , he believes,
are man made.
8 __________ has been said about Atlantis up till now is only speculation.
Discussion
Your teacher will give you instructions on how do this part of the lesson.
Writing
You are a newspaper reporter. The town where you live is on a sea coast. A
deep-sea diver has discovered the ruins of an ancient city near the coast.
Archaeologists believe it could be Atlantis. Write a short article about the discovery,
beginning ‘Ruins of an ancient city were discovered yesterday near the coast
o f . . .’
3. T H E M A R Y C EL ESTE :
why did the people on board disappear
Does the name Mary Celeste mean anything to you?

One of the most unusual mysteries of the sea
is about this nineteenth-century sailing ship
that one day left New York for Genoa, Italy.
It never reached its destination.
What do you think happened?
The mystery
Who was the

A youngest person aboard the M ary Celeste?
T h e n a m e given to the ship w hen it was built in 1861 was The Amazon. B ad luck
seemed to be w ith The Amazon from the start. D u rin g its first voyage in 1862 it was
b adly d a m a g e d . T h e n , while it was being repaired, the ship c au g h t fire. M a n y
sim ilar accidents followed in the next several years. Finally The Amazon was sold
a n d its n a m e was chan ged to Mary Celeste.
T h e ow ners h ad difficulty finding m en to sail on the n ew ly-nam ed ship because,
the sailors said, it was unlucky. I n the end, how ever, enough sailors w ere found to
m ake up a crew. T h e m a ste r of the ship was B en jam in Briggs, an experienced
captain.
O n its first voyage as the M aiy Celeste, in ad d itio n to an e ig h t-m an crew, the ship
carried two passengers: the c a p ta in ’s wife S a ra h an d th eir tw o-year-old d a u g h te r
Sophia. O n the m o rn in g o f 4 N ovem ber, 1872, w ith a cargo o f 1700 barrels of
cru de alcohol, it left N ew York a n d h eaded for G enoa, Italy. T h e w e a th e r th a t day
was perfect.
U p to the tim e the Mary Celeste reached the Azores the trip was uneventful.
O n ce p ast the Azores, however, the w eath er changed. C a p ta in Briggs recorded in
his logbook th a t there was a heavy w ind storm , alth o u g h it was n o t stron g enough
to a larm such an experienced sailor as Briggs. O n 25 N o v em b er only the w eath er
conditions an d the s h ip ’s course across the A tlan tic w ere w ritten do w n in the log,
noth ing m ore. T h a t wras the last entry ever m ade.
How many people were aboard the

B M ary Celeste when the Dei Gratia discovered it?
T en days later, on 5 D ecem ber, C a p ta in M o reh o u se of the Dei Gratia, a n o th e r ship

sailing to E u rop e, observed a d a rk spot on the horizon. T h e y soon sawyth a t it was a
ship b u t so m eth ing a b o u t it was ra th e r strange.
W h en the Dei Gratia cam e n e a r enough, C a p ta in M o reh o u se b eg an to stu dy the
o ther ship th ro u g h his telescope. H e saw im m ediately th a t no one was steering the
ship. In fact, he saw no signs of life at all!
M oreh ou se sent three m en to discover w h a t was w rong. As they a p p ro a c h e d the
other ship the sailors were able to m ake o u t the n a m e p ain ted on the side: Mary
Celeste. T h e y realised im m ediately th a t the ship w as deserted. T h e re were no signs
o f any kind o f violence ab o ard , however. T h e y noticed, too, th a t the s h ip ’s one
lifeboat was gone.
W h a t they found below decks w as even m o re mystifying. I n the c a p ta in ’s cabin
everything was in perfect order. O n the c a p ta in ’s table was a breakfast tray, w ith
the top o f a boiled egg cut off, as tho ug h som eone was a b o u t to eat it. T h e crew ’s
section of the ship was equally in order.
T h e three sailors h urried back to their ow n ship to rep o rt to C a p ta in
M orehouse. H e quickly cam e to the conclusion th a t the eleven people a b o a rd the
Mary Celeste h ad a b a n d o n e d ship in a storm . T h e th ree sailors d o u b te d this was the
reason because, they said, they h a d seen no evidence o f a storm . T h e c ap tain then
th o u g h t th a t p erh ap s there h a d been a m utiny. I f th a t was true, said the sailors,
w hy w ould the m u tineers leave the ship w ith their captives? O t h e r suggestions
were m ad e b u t all o f th em were unconvincing. T h e m ystery grew.
p What was the most

u mystifying thing about the abandoned ship?
S o m eth ing h a d to be do n e w ith the deserted ship. C a p ta in M o reh o u se ord ered the
three sailors to sail it to n e a rb y G ib ra lta r. T h e Dei Gratia w en t a h e a d a n d was
a lready there w hen they arrived.
A t G ib r a lta r the British au tho rities took charge of the M ary Celeste a n d ordered
a public enquiry. T h e y qu estio n ed C a p ta in M o reh o u se a n d his crew closely.
W as it possible, they asked, th a t pirates h ad tak en over the ship? I f so, w here
were they? N ine barrels of the alcohol were em pty. H a d the crew been d rin kin g
this cru d e alcohol a n d gone crazy? P erh ap s they h a d forced everyone a b o a rd to
j u m p into the sea a n d then, in th eir m adn ess, ju m p e d in them selves. WTh a t ab o u t
the m issing lifeboat? W h ere was it? H a d C a p ta in Briggs, for som e reason, ordered
everyone to a b a n d o n ship? I f so, why? N o n e of the B ritish in v estig ato rs’ questions
found easy answers.
W h a t mystified th em m ore th a n a n y th in g was the fact th a t the Mary Celeste h ad
been able to rem ain on course for ten days w ith o u t any on e to steer it. T h e
investigators decided th a t possibly som eone h a d rem ain ed on b o ard , steering the
ship, after C a p ta in Briggs m a d e his final log en try on 25 N ovem ber. I f so, w ho was
it an d w here was th a t person now?
O n 10 M a rc h , 1873, the case of the Mary Celeste w as officially closed. T h e
missing lifeboat h a d not tu rn e d up anyw here. T h e eleven people w ho h ad
supposedly been in it were never found.
n What finally
v happened to the Mary Celeste?
A lthough the case was officially closed, interest in the Alary Celeste did n ot let up.
People con tinu ed to talk a b o u t w h at m ig h t have h ap p e n e d . As late as 1913, forty
years afterw ards, exp lan ation s were still being given. O n e e x tra o rd in a ry
e x plan atio n cam e in the form o f a d o c u m e n t discovered th a t year. I t was w ritten
by a m an n a m e d Abel Fosdyk, now d ead, a n d revealed w h a t he insisted h ad really
h app en ed .
A ccording to Fosdyk, he h ad been an unreg istered passeng er on the Mary
Celeste. D u rin g the voyage, he said, C a p ta in Briggs o rd ered the s h ip ’s c a rp e n te r to
con struct a platform at the back o f the ship for little S o ph ia to play on. For th a t
p urp ose the c a rp e n te r h ad tu rn e d a big table upside do w n an d fastened it to the
deck. O n e m o rn in g the c a p ta in h ad an a rg u m e n t w ith the first m ate a b o u t a m a n ’s
ability to swim w ith his clothes on. T o prove his p oin t h e ju m p e d fully clothed into
the sea an d began to swim. T h e others a b o a rd ship, in o rd e r to get a good view,
clim bed onto S o p h ia ’s platform . T h e w eight of so m a n y people caused the
platform to collapse; they were all th ro w n into the sea. S harks sud denly a p p e a re d
an d killed everyone except Fosdyk. H e was som ehow able to hold onto the rem ains
o f the collapsed platform an d escape from the sharks. E ven tu ally he w as w ashed
up on the shore som ew here in Africa.
F o sd yk ’s story was considered to be too fan tastic a n d left m a n y questions
u nansw ered. F or one thing, w hy h ad he kept silent all these years? T h a t in itself
was a mystery.
D u rin g the next eleven years the Mary Celeste was sold seventeen times. Finally,
after 23 years of u n fo rtu n a te existence, it w as w recked on som e rocks in the
C a rib b e a n Sea. T h e re it rem ain ed , slowly falling to pieces an d thus end ing its
unglorious life in an equally unglorious way.
Comprehension check
Some of these statements about the Mary Celeste are true, other are false. Decide
whether each statement is true or false and correct the false ones.
1 In 1861 a ship named The Amazon was built; later its name was changed to
Mary Celeste.
2 The Mary Celeste’s cargo was 1700 barrels of crude alcohol.
3 The weather between New York and the Azores was stormy.
4 Captain Morehouse was master of the Dei Gratia.
5 Everything aboard the Mary Celeste was in perfect order.
6 Captain Morehouse’s men sailed the Mary Celeste to the Azores.
7 British investigators thought maybe pirates had captured the people on the
Mary Celeste.
8 After the case was officially closed in 1873 the public forgot all about the
Mary Celeste.
9 According to Fosdyk the people aboard the Mary Celeste were killed by sharks.
10 During the last seventeen years of its life the Mary Celeste was sold eleven
times.
Language practice
1 Vocabulary
1 voyage (/. 2) k a large fish that attack people

2 crew (/. 8) b on a ship, train, plane
3 logbook (/. 17) c went away from, left
4 steering (/. 25) d rebellion of sailors on a ship
5 deserted (/. 29) e workers on a ship
6 aboard (/. 30) f guiding a ship, car, etc.
7 below decks (/. 32) g ship’s officer, second to captain
8 abandoned (/. 38) h record of a ship’s voyage
9 mutiny (/. 40) i without people
10 first mate (/. 73) j lower floors of a ship
11 sharks (/. 77) k sea journey
2 Phrasal verbs
1 make up (/. 8) a be able to see something

2 make out (/. 28) b get control of
3 take over (/. 48) c be brought to shore
4 turn up (/. 61) d stop
5 let up (/. 63) e form
6 wash up (/. 79) f appear, be found
3 Grammar: the past perfect tense of verbs

Capt Morehouse came to the conclusion that the eleven people aboard had
abandoned ship in a storm.
The past perfect tense of verbs is formed by had plus a past participle (had
talked, had said, etc.) and expresses an event that took place before another
event in the past, often expressed by the simple past.
Exercise
Complete the following sentences using the information in brackets,
for example:
Captain Morehouse believed that (people aboard/abandon/ship)
the people aboard had abandoned ship.
1 One investigator believed that (crew/drink/too much/alcohol) __________
2 With no one aboard, the Mary Celeste (able/continue/course)
3 The investigators decided that (someone/remain/on board)
4 Captain Briggs (jump fully clothed/into/water)

5 Everyone (climb onto/platform/watch/captain)
6 Sharks (kill/everyone/except Fosdyk) ______
Discussion
Writing
Pretend you are Abel Fosdyk writing the document that tells what, according to
you, really happened aboard the Mary Celeste in November, 1872.
19
4. S T O N E H E N G E :
what was its purpose
On Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, England,
there is a circle of enormous stones
that was already ancient when man began recording history
in the twelfth century.
W hat are these stones?
Who put them there?
How did they do it?
Most important, why?
The mystery
. How much of the information

A available on Stonehenge is reliable?
N o an cient m o n u m e n t, except p e rh a p s the G re a t P y ram id of Egypt, has been the

subject of as m u ch speculation as E n g la n d ’s Stonehenge. I t is such an am azin g
s tru ctu re th a t people com e from all over the w orld to see it.
In the early 1300s British historians began w riting do w n everything they could
learn ab o u t their land an d people. O f course they included the curious collection
o f big stones located on the plain n e a r the tow n of Salisbury. Even in the twelfth
cen tu ry Stonehenge was alread y so old th a t in form ation a b o u t it was vague. T h e re
is even d o u b t a b o u t the m ean in g of its nam e. O n e early historian said Stonehenge
m e a n t ‘h a n g in g sto n es’ because they seem to h a n g in the air. H e referred to the
h orizontal stones placed on top o f the vertical ones.
T h e re are m a n y theories a b o u t Stonehenge b u t everything is doubtful; n o th ing
is sure. O n e w riter has said, ‘W e d o n ’t know how it was built n o r why a n d we
pro b ab ly never will k n o w .’
R How did the bluestones

° get from Wales to Salisbury Plain?
T h e re were three phases in the con structio n o f the m o n u m en t. A rchaeologists

refer to th em as S tonehenge I, II an d I I I . All dates are ap p ro x im ate.
T h e first Stonehenge was co nstru cted over a period of 700 years, beginning
a b o u t 2800 b c an d finishing a b o u t 2100 b c . D u rin g th a t tim e the following p arts
were created: a circular ditch, 300 feet in diam eter; a six-foot-high bank; the ‘H eel
S to n e’, a big block o f stone j u s t outside the ditch; the ‘A u b rey H o les’, 56 sacred
holes in the e a rth n a m e d after J o h n A ubrey , w ho discovered th em in the
seventeenth century. I t is believed th a t people of the N ew Stone Age were
responsible for this initial phase.
S tonehenge I I was w orked on b etw een 2100 b c a n d 2000 b c . I t consisted of: a
d ouble circle of 82 bluestones, b ro u g h t from the Prescelly Hills in W ales, 215 miles
aw ay —p ro b ab ly on rafts dow n the rivers (the w heel was not yet know n); a wide
en tran ce w ay to the m o n u m e n t, now called ‘the A v en u e’; the Heel Stone ditch.
T h e B eaker people (called this because of a type o f p o ttery they m ade) w orked on
the second phase. T his was tow ard s the end of the N ew Stone Age.
T h e third Stonehenge was the w ork o f people o f the W essex C u ltu re of the E arly
Bronze Age, some tim e betw een 2000 b c a n d 1100 b c . A t th a t tim e 60 sarsen stones
were p u t up in a circle. T h e m e a n in g of sarsen is n o t know n. T h e se san d sto n e
blocks were b ro u g h t from an a re a tw enty miles away; they were so heavy th a t they
h a d to be tra n sp o rte d by sledge. T h e circle of vertical sarsens, w ith a horizontal
stone on top, is w h a t people refer to as ‘the tru e S to n eh en g e’.
r What do all
^ authorities agree about Stonehenge?
O n e o f the m a n y m ysteries of S tonehenge is the fact th a t n o t one of the three

phases was ever com pleted. As a m a tte r o f fact, the B eaker people u n d id p a rt of the
con struction do ne by the w orkers on S to n eh en ge I. T h e sam e was tru e of the
W essex people, w ho used som e o f the bluestones p u t u p by the Beaker people for
their ow n purposes.
T h e m o n u m e n t was u n d e r con struction for nearly 2000 years. W h a t caused
these prim itive people to devote so m u c h tim e a n d energy to this asto u n d in g
project th a t they h ad little tim e for a n y th in g else? Som e archaeologists say one
thing an d others insist on so m eth in g quite different. Everyone agrees on one point,
however: S tonehenge was a kind o f tem ple.
O n e belief is th a t this circle o f stones on S alisbury Plain was a cem etery for
im p o rta n t leaders. H u m a n bones have been found in the A u b rey Holes, w hich
seem to have been sacred.
A n o th e r belief is th a t S tonehenge was a centre o f religious w orship, possibly
th a t o f the D ru ids, w ho used it for their rituals. T h is has been a p o p u la r theory for
m an y years, alth o u g h the D ru id s usually w o rsh ip p ed in forests, not on the open
plains.
^ Why was the cycle of eclipses

u important to religious leaders?
In the late e ighteenth centu ry observers noted th a t a person s ta n d in g in the centre

o f S tonehenge at sunrise on 21 J u n e , the s u m m e r solstice, a n d looking dow n the
A venue w ould see the sun rise above the H eel Stone, one o f the oldest stones in the
m o n u m en t. In 1901 a B ritish astro n o m er, Sir N o rm a n Lockyer, m a d e such a
com plete stud y of this theory th a t he convinced m a n y people th a t the m o n u m e n t
was actually a calen d ar—co m p u ter. O th e rs have m a d e fu rth e r studies, con tin uin g
this ap p ro ach .
In 1963 a n o th e r astro n o m er, G erald H aw k ins, stated th a t each significant
stone in the m o n u m e n t lined u p with a t least one o th er stone to p o int to some
position o f the sun or m oon. I t seems so possible th a t this was an acc u ra te m eth o d
of d eterm in in g the leng th o f the y ear th a t tod ay it is the m ost p o p u la r theory of all.
In an ag ricu ltu ral society this was extrem ely useful inform ation to have. Also,
S tonehenge m ay have been used to calculate the cycle o f eclipses. T h is w ould be
im p o rta n t to the religious leaders; the ability to p red ict such an event as an eclipse
of the sun gave th em g reat po w er over th eir people.
T o d a y m a n y people feel th a t G erald H aw k in s m ay h ave discovered the real
p u rp o se o f Stonehenge. N o t all archaeologists accept the H aw kin s theory,
however. T h e y insist it is only a coincidence th a t w h a t h a p p e n s a t sunrise on 21
J u n e turns the m o n u m e n t into a huge c a le n d a r-c o m p u te r. P erh ap s one d ay the
real tru th will be know n. U n til th en the w ords o f the English w riter, Sam uel
Pepys, w ho visited Stonehenge in the seven teen th cen tury , persist: ‘O n ly G od
knows w h a t the sto n es’ use w a s ’.
Comprehension check
Complete these sentences by choosing the correct ending for each.

1 British history began to be recorded i n ___________
a the twelfth century a d
b the thirteenth century a d
c the fourteenth century a d
2 During Stonehenge II the Beaker people constructed
a a circular ditch
b the Heel Stone
c the Avenue
3 Bluestones were transported fro m ___________
a Wessex
b Salisbury Plain
c Wales
4 Work on the third Stonehenge was done during the _
a Early Bronze Age
b the New Stone Age
c the Ice Age
5 The Beaker people were known for th e ir__________
a rafts
b monuments
c pottery
6 Everyone agrees that Stonehenge was some kind of
a temple
b cemetery
c calendar
Language practice
1 Vocabulary
1 plain (/. 6) c a place of religious worship

2 phases (/. 14) b dishes made from baked earth
3 archaeologists (/. 14) c flat, low land
4 ditch (/. 18) d prayed to their gods
5 bank (/. 18) e periods of development
6 rafts (/. 25) f flat, wooden form used to carry
7 pottery (/. 27) things over land
8 sledge (/. 33) g some earth raised above ground level
9 temple (/. 44) h long, narrow cut in the earth; often
10 worshipped (/. 50) used for water
11 summer solstice (/. 53) i pieces of wood joined to make
12 eclipse (/. 64) simple, flat boats
j people who study ancient
monuments
k loss of sunlight when the moon
comes between the sun and the earth
I 21 June, when sun is farthest from the
equator
2 Phrasal verbs
1 name after (/. 20) a change a thing to something else

2 put up (/. 31) b arrange things in a row
3 line up (/. 60) c erected
4 turn into (/. 70) d give something the name of the
person who discovered it
Grammar: such a, an/so . . . that

Stonehenge is such an amazing structure that people come from all over the
world to see it. Even in the twelfth century, Stonehenge was already so old that
information about it was vague. ( The structure is so many centuries old that no
one can imagine what its true age is.)
Both such a, an . . . and so . . . that are patterns used with clauses expressing a
result.
Such a, an . . . is used before a noun + that.
So . . . is used before an adjective or adverb + that, or the words many, few,
much, little + noun + that.
Exercise
Complete the following sentences by filling the gaps with such or so.
1 The bluestones w e re __________ heavy that they had to be carried to
Stonehenge on rafts.
2 There a re __ ___ ____ many theories about the monument that we don’t
know what to believe.
3 It i s __________ a big structure that it can be seen from many miles away.
4 Stonehenge was b u ilt___________ a long time ago that the wheel was still
unknown.
5 __________ a great number of people said the Druids built Stonehenge that
this was a popular belief for many years.
6 The sarsen stones w e ig h e d __________ many tons that hundreds of men
were needed to put them up.
7 Stonehenge to o k __________ a long time to construct that no phase was
ever completed.
8 Some theories of Stonehenge a re __________ fantastic that it is hard to
believe them.
Discussion
Writing
It is sunrise, 21 June, this year. You are at Stonehenge. Describe in a short

paragraph what you see.
U N I D E N T I F I E D FL Y IN G OBJECTS
(UFOs) :
are there such things
Have you or someone you know
ever seen an Unidentified Flying Object (UFO)?
Do you believe that creatures from outer space
are visiting our planet?
If so, what do they want?
The mystery
a Are sightings
M of UFOs a recent thing?
O n 1J a n u a r y , 1254, some m onks a t St A lbans, in E n g lan d , stared up into the sky,

u n ab le to believe w h a t they were seeing: ‘a kind o f large ship, elegantly sh ap ed and
o f m arvellous co lo ur.’
In Basle, Sw itzerland, in 1566, a great n u m b e r of b right, sh in in g discs su dd en ly
filled the n ig ht sky.
In 1897, in the U n ite d States, from C alifornia east to V irginia, tens of
th o u san d s o f A m erican s w atch ed a m ysterious airsh ip w ith flashing lights move
across the country.
T h e se a n d o th e r incidents took place years before the W rig h t B rothers flew
their first aero p lan e in 1903.
D u rin g the Second W orld W a r, w ith so m u c h aerial activity, m an y U F O s were
seen b u t pilots were o rd ered to say n o th in g a b o u t them . W a rtim e security
m easures did n ot p e rm it it; therefore, no inform atio n a b o u t U F O s was available
to the pub lic until peace cam e in 1945.
C ertain ly U F O s are n o th in g new. W e are told they have been visiting our
p lan et for a t least 700 years, p ro b ab ly more.
p Why is former
United States President Jimmy Carter mentioned here?
T o d a y aircraft from o u ter space are p o pu larly know n as ‘flying s a u cers’. T his
n am e was given to th em in 1947 w h en an A m erican pilot, as he flew his p lan e n ear
M o u n t R ainier, W a sh in g to n S tate, observed nine shining objects m oving in
form ation a t incredible speed. H e described th em to be ‘like saucers skim m ing
over w a te r ’. F ro m th a t day on they have been called ‘flying sau cers’.
Since 1947 there have been sightings o f U F O s alm ost an n u ally , an d in all parts
o f the world. M a n y articles a n d books have been w ritte n a n d a n u m b e r o f films
m a d e on the subject. P ro m in en t world figures, inclu din g form er U n ite d States
P resident J im m y C a rte r, claim to have seen flying saucers. T h e re are others,
however, w ho insist th a t U F O s are n o th in g b u t the pro d u cts o f vivid
im aginations, m en tal d istu rb an ces an d m ass h allucinatio n. Some others believe
th a t U F O s are n a tu ra l p h e n o m e n a , such as m eteorites, w hich people m istake for
objects from o u ter space. Still others feel they are new, secret aircraft w hich are
being tested.
P W hat do visitors
^ from space seem to be interested in?
F or m a n y people the U F O s can be explained aw ay as im ag in atio n , n a tu ra l

p h e n o m e n a or new aircraft from o u r own p lanet. B ut w h a t a b o u t claim s by people
who insist th a t they have seen these ‘sau cers’ lan d a n d stran g e creatu res em erge
from them ? A n d w h a t a b o u t people w ho say th a t they have h ad p ersonal co ntact
w ith these aliens? Some claim even to have been taken inside a U F O an d
exam ined by these visitors from a n o th e r planet.
In M o n ta n a , U S A , a teenage boy claim ed to have seen a tall, green-eyed
creatu re step out of a flying saucer n e a r his hom e. L a te r the boy agreed to take a
test at a m en tal h ealth centre; u n d e r hypnosis he described how three aliens h ad
forced him to en ter th eir spacecraft an d exam in ed him . T h e y then let him go,
saying he w ould forget the incident, w hich he did — except w hen hypnotised.
T h e re have been various stories o f people in S ou th A m erica m akin g contact
w ith beings from o u ter space. O n e evening two m en w ere quietly fishing on the
shore o f a river, in V enezuela, w h en su d d en ly an u n u s u a l airsh ip a p p e a re d in the
sky above them . T h e y w atch ed it lan d in a field nearb y. Several little m en dressed
all in w hite cam e o ut an d beg an collecting grass, leaves a n d river w ater. T h e n , as
quickly as they h ad arrived, they d ep arted .
A n o th e r incident, this one in Brazil, was described by a farm er w ho said th a t a
big disc lan d ed on his p ro p e rty a n d th ree m en em erged. T h e y took sam ples of
earth an d plan ts from his garden. T h e n they m a d e him enter their airship, w here
they began to give him a physical ex am ination . H e w as inside the spaceship for
a b o u t four hours an d later was able to d escribe it in detail. J u s t as he was sure the
creatures were going to kill him they allowed him to leave. A team o f Brazilian
doctors looked him over from h ead to foot a n d d eclared him to be in excellent
physical an d m en tal health.
q The public seems

to have lost interest in UFOs. Why?
T h e re are m a n y theories a b o u t w h a t these visits by beings from o th er planets

signify. F or m a n y people they are n o th in g b u t the p ro d u cts of the im ag ination s of
u n b alan ced individuals. T h o se w ho do believe in the existence o f U F O s , however,
have a variety of ideas a b o u t them . O n e m an , back in 1936, insisted th a t the
visitors were friendly creatures w ho have been com ing to o u r e a rth for centuries.
T h e ir visits, he said, have been m ore freq u en t in recent years because of the
d ev elo pm en t of ato m ic w eapons; they are afraid we will not only do aw ay w ith
ourselves b u t will be a th re a t to their plan ets as well.
In te rest in U F O s rises a n d falls. In 1966 the U S Air Force a u tho rised a grou p of
scientists, the C o n d o n C o m m ittee, to m ak e a n investigation. T h re e years later the
C o m m ittee p resen ted a rep o rt w hich an alysed 91 U F O cases. T w o -th ird s o f these
cases were identified as know n objects, n a tu r a l p h e n o m e n a or pro d u cts of
im agination. F or o ne-third of the cases, how ever, no e x p lan atio n could be given;
the C o m m ittee said th a t not enough info rm ation was available to m ake definite
conclusions.
Since 1969 the public seems to have becom e bo red w ith the subject of U F O s .
T his is not because it accepts the C o n d o n rep o rt as conclusive b u t because there
have been no sensational new sightings recently.
W h o can say w h a t m ay h a p p e n tom orrow ? P erh ap s there will be m ore
fascinating sightings an d pub lic interest will rise once again. A ccording to one
w riter, flying saucers have becom e a p a r t o f o u r general cu ltu re a n d people are
m ore inclined to believe in th em th a n not. A s tro n a u t E d M itchell, the sixth m a n to
walk on the m oon, co m m en ted , ‘I am convinced th a t som e U F O sightings are
real. T h e q uestion is not a b o u t w h e th e r U F O s exist or n o t b u t w h a t they a re .’
Comprehension check
Some of these statements from the text are true; others are false. Decide whether
each statement is true or false, and correct the false ones.
1 Some monks in Switzerland, in 1254, saw a bright shining disc in the sky.
2 Many UFOs were seen during World War II but not reported at that time.
3 The name ‘flying saucer’ was created by an American pilot during World
War II.
4 Some people believe UFOs are meteorites.
5 A boy in Montana was hypnotised by a tall, green-eyed creature.
6 In Venezuela two men saw aliens fishing in the river.
7 The public has, for the moment, lost interest in UFOs.
8 Ed Mitchell, the astronaut, says that he believes some UFOsightings are real.
Language practice
1 Vocabulary
from the reading; on the right are their definitions. Match the words with their
1 monks (/. 1) j a referring to things in the air

2 aerial (/. 11) b unnatural happenings
3 aircraft (/. 17) c running over the surface
4 skimming (/. 20) d come out of
5 sightings (/. 22) e beings from another place/planet
6 phenomena (/. 28) f possible danger
7 meteorites (/. 28) g flying vehicles
8 emerge (/. 33) h rocks falling from space to the earth
9 aliens (/. 35) i occasions on which something is seen
10 threat (/. 63) j group of religious men living and working
together
2 Phrasal verbs
1 mistake for (/. 28) a remove objection with convincing

2 explain away (/. 31) information
3 look over (/. 54) b kill
4 do away with (/. 62) c examine someone/something
d confuse somebody/something with
somebody/something else
3 Grammar: verbs followed by infinitive with/without to
Certain verbs when followed by an infinitive include to; others do not.
The boy agreed to take a test.
Some of the verbs followed by the infinitive with to are: begin, want, decide,
plan, like, need, agree, forget, try, love, fail, intend, expect, offer.
The boy described how three aliens had forced him to enter their spacecraft.
Some verbs are followed by an object plus an infinitive: want, like, love, need,
ask, force, expect, permit, get, urge, invite, persuade, tell.
They watched the flying saucer land in a field nearby.
Verbs followed by an infinitive without to always have a subject of the infinitive.
Some of these verbs are: see, observe, let, have, hear, watch, make.
Exercise
Complete these sentences by choosing the correct form.
1 I saw a U F O __________ over our house. a fly b to fly
2 A newspaper editor asked m e __________ an article about it.
a write b to write
3 A reporter let m e __________ his typewriter. a use b to use
4 I intended__________ the article before lunch but it wasn’t possible.
a finish b to finish
5 I ne ede d__________ my time and write it well. a take b to take
6 I w an ted __________ a good job. a do b to do
7 I heard the e d ito r__________ one of the reporters to read my article.
a tell b to tell
8 When I finished it he invited m e __________ lunch with him.
a have b to have
Discussion
Writing
It is your custom to keep a diary of your activities and you write in it faithfully every
day. Today you saw a flying saucer. Record it in your diary with a description of
what you saw.
29
6. T H E A B O M IN A B L E SNOW M AN
man or animal
The people of Nepal and Tibet
say that something they call the Yeti
lives in the Himalayan Mountains.
Europeans call it the Abom inable Snowman.
In western Canada there is a
similar creature called Sasquatch,
and on the Pacific Coast of the United States,
Bigfoot inhabits the Cascade Mountains.
Are these creatures imaginary
or do they really exist?
If they do, what are they?
The mystery
« In what ways are

A the Yeti, Sasquatch and Bigfoot alike?
‘It was quite tall an d looked so m eth in g like a m a n ,’ said the frightened girl; then
she ad d ed , ‘b u t not com pletely like a m a n .’ T h e people of the little tow n in the
m o u n tain s o f N epal listened carefully to the girl d escribing the ‘th in g ’ th a t h ad
attacked her cows th a t afternoon as she was bring in g th em hom e from the p astu re.
‘It was covered w ith re d d ish -b ro w n h a ir a n d h ad a large m o u th w ith w hite teeth
like a h u m a n ’s. Its fingers w ere thick, w ith very long fingernails. Its feet were like a
m a n ’s feet, b u t they were very large an d covered w ith h a ir .’ T h e villagers no dd ed
to each o ther an d said, ‘T h e Y eti.’
A lbert O s tm a n n , on a cam p in g trip in w estern C a n a d a , h ad placed his sleeping
b ag out u n d e r the stars an d, being very tired, craw led in a n d d ro p p e d off alm ost
im m ediately. A short while later he woke to realise th a t som eone - or so m eth in g -
was carry ing him th ro u g h the woods. H e tried to get free b u t it was useless;
w hatever was carry ing him was extrem ely strong. Som e hours later the creatu re
stopped an d p u t him dow n. T h e ‘th in g ’ was a b o u t eight feet tall an d covered w ith
hair. A lth ou gh it was n ight there was eno ug h m o on ligh t for A lbert to see it quite
well. Soon others like it ap p e a re d out o f the woods. T h e y all show ed g reat interest
in A lbert, tou ching him an d m ak ing strang e sounds to each other. A few days later
A lbert was able to get away. H e was convinced th a t he h a d been a captive of
S asq uatch, a m an-like creatu re th a t is believed to in h a b it the m o u n ta in s of
w estern C a n a d a .
O n e m o rn in g in O cto b er, 1958, a con stru ctio n w orker n e a r Bluff Creek,
C alifornia, tu rn e d from his w ork an d found h im self looking into the eyes o f a
strang e being covered w ith hair. I t a p p a re n tly h a d no wish to h a rm the w orker b u t
was very curious a n d followed him w herever he w ent. T h e m a n finally got rid of
the creatu re by giving it a big piece of chocolate. In w estern U n ite d States this
relative o f C a n a d a ’s S asq u atc h an d N e p a l’s Yeti is called Bigfoot because he
leaves a footprint in the snow a b o u t fourteen inches long.
P How many
a Abominable Snowmen have been captured?
T h e local nam es for this strang e being are different b u t the descriptions are quite
similar. It does not look eno u gh like a m a n to be called h u m a n , b u t it is not
com pletely an im al either. It is taller th a n a m a n - a b o u t eight feet tall - a n d it is
covered w ith red d ish -b ro w n hair; it walks up rig h t, as a m a n does. Its head is long,
ra th e r cone-shaped, w ith facial features th a t are h a lf h u m a n , h a lf ape-like. E arly
explorers in the H im alay as referred to it as ‘one o f the wild, h airy m en w ho live in
the sno w .’
B ut is it a ‘wild, h airy m a n ’ or is it an anim al? Is it a bear, w alking on its hind
legs? C o uld it be some kind of ape? O r is it, p e rh a p s, a com pletely un kn ow n
species? All this, o f course, assu m in g th a t the A b o m in ab le S n o w m an exists at
all.
T h e re are too m a n y stories a b o u t people w ho say they have seen one o f these
beings, or at least its hu g e footprints, to dism iss it as p u re im ag inatio n. A t the
sam e time, no one has ever been able to b rin g one back to civilisation. In 1973 a
C a n a d ia n n e w sp a p e r offered $100,000 to an y on e w ho could c a p tu re a S asq u atc h
alive. So far no one has com e forw ard to collect the rew ard .
p How did this ‘wild, hairy man’

^ get the name of Abominable Snowman?
T h e people o f T ib e t have know n a b o u t the Yeti for centuries, b u t not until 1832
was its existence rep o rted to the W est. A t th a t tim e a n E n g lish m an , B H H u d so n ,
w ho was living in N epal, w rote a b o u t th e ‘ape-like c r e a tu re ’. His description,
however, was not good eno ug h to convince w esterners. T h e y said H u d s o n was
letting his im ag in atio n ru n aw ay w ith him. W h a t he saw, they said, was a m onkey
or a H im a la y a n red bear.
In 1887 a British d o cto r connected to the In d ia n A rm y M ed ical C orp s rep o rted
seeing quite large, h u m an-like footprints in Sikkam. T h e n , in the 1920s, a period
of g reat en th u siasm for m o u n tain eerin g , explorers b ro u g h t h om e details o f Yetis
in the H im alayas. T h e y referred to th em as Abominable Snowmen. T h is was an
incorrect tra n slatio n of Metch Kangmi, the T ib e ta n n am e, w hich really m eans
‘disgusting s n o w m a n ’. A w estern n ew sp ap er re p o rte r used Abominable Snowman
in an article a n d the n a m e c a u g h t on.
U n til 1921, w hen m em b ers o f a British expedition on M o u n t Everest ra n into a
g ro u p o f strang e creatures, m o st of the rep orts a b o u t the Yeti h a d com e from the
natives. Colonel H o w a rd -B u ry , leader of the expedition, was ra th e r sceptical
w hen he saw the u n u su al footprints in the snow b u t finally declared they were
m arks m a d e by the feet o f wolves.
0 How did the early settlers of

western America learn about Sasquatch and Bigfoot?
Some of the rem ote m onasteries in T ib e t possess Yeti relics, such as a d ried scalp
or a finger, b u t scientists refuse to accept th em as sufficient evidence until they can
be rem oved from the m o nasteries for ex am in atio n in a lab o rato ry . U n til now the
scientists have not been p e rm itte d to take them .
T h e re are m a n y anecdotes a b o u t people w ho have seen these stran ge
individuals, or a t least their footprints, in N epal, T ib e t, C a n a d a an d the U n ite d
States. P erh ap s they have seen som e big an im al, such as a bear, w alking u p rig h t
like a m an . M a y b e the footprints they saw w ere an im al tracks th a t h a d been
distorted by the h e a t o f the su n on the snow. T o the natives of N ep al the Yetis are
su p e rn a tu ra l beings a n d for th a t reason are placed in the sam e category as witches
an d ghosts. Legends a b o u t th em have been p a r t o f the folkore o f H im a la y a n
villages for centuries. As far as N o rth A m erica is concerned, the In d ia n s told early
settlers o f the W est eno u gh stories a b o u t big, h airy m en living in the m o u n tain s to
p u t them on the alert.
Do such creatures really exist? I f so, are they m en or an im als, a n d if anim als,
w h a t kind? C o u ld they be a species com pletely u n k n o w n to us? P erh ap s one d ay an
A b o m in ab le S n o w m an will be c a p tu re d a n d ex am in ed by scientists. T h e n w e’ll
know.
Comprehension check
Complete these sentences by filling the gap with the correct word.
1 Albert Ostmann was on a __________ trip in Canada.
a business b camping c fishing
2 The Yeti has a lo n g ,__________ head.
a human b ape-like c cone-shaped
3 The construction worker in California gave Bigfoot s o m e ___________
a chocolate b money c bread
4 I n __________ some mountain climbers saw a group of Yetis on Mount
Everest.
a 1832 b 1921 c 1887
5 Metch Kangmi, a Tibetan name, means __________
a explorer b European snowman c disgusting snowman
6 Until 1921,most reports about the Yeti had come fro m ___________
a explorers b natives c wolves
7 Yeti relics can be found i n ___________
a monasteries b laboratories c museums
8 The Nepalese belief in Yetis places them in the same category a s _________
a humans b ghosts c animals
Language practice
1 Vocabulary
1 nodded (/. 7) e a changed slightly

2 upright (/. 31) b skin of the head
3 cone-shaped (/. 32) c people living in a newly-developed place
4 features (/. 32) d parts of the face, eg eyes
5 hind (/. 35) e moved the head forward and back as
6 species (/. 37) sign of agreement
7 reward (/. 43) f back, rear (of an animal)
8 relics (/. 62) g round at the bottom, narrow at the top
9 scalp (/. 62) h group of beings with similar
10 anecdotes (/. 66) characteristics
11 distorted (/. 70) i standing on back legs
12 settlers (/. 74) j remains of someone, often in a
religious context
k stories
I money offered for information or
finding someone/something
2 Phrasal verbs
1 drop off (/. 10) a become popular

2 get away (/. 18) b present oneself
3 get rid of (/. 24) c meet unexpectedly
4 come forward (/. 43) d make someone/something leave
5 run away with (/. 48) e allow someone/something to take
6 catch on (/. 56) control (eg imagination)
7 run into (/. 57) f go to sleep
g escape
3 Grammar: very, quite, rather, enough

Alex: That film about the Abominable Snowman was very good. What did you
think, Tom?
Tom: I don’t usually like that kind of movie but I thought this one was rather
good. Did you like it, Helen?
Helen: I thought it was quite good, but not fantastic.
Alex: Well, I thought it was good enough to see again!
The adverbs very, quite, rather are used to intensify (ie make stronger) an
adjective or another adverb, which they precede. The difference between them
is one of degree of intensity in meaning. Very is the strongest, meaning m uch;
quite and rather are similar, both being less strong than very. The intensity of
both quite and rather can be changed by intonation.
Enough can be either an adjective or an adverb. It means as much/many as
needed-, as an adjective it precedes the noun it modifies (eg I haven’t got
enough money)-, as an adverb if follows the adjective it modifies (eg S he’s not
old enough).
Exercise
Answer these questions using very, quite, rather or enough.
1 Do you think Albert Ostmann was frightened when the Sasquatch carried him
away?
2 In your opinion, is Bigfoot ugly?
3 Is the Abominable Snowman timid, do you think?
4 How sceptical are scientists about the Yeti, Sasquatch and Bigfoot?
5 Is Abominable Snowman a good translation of Metch Kangmi?
6 How would feel if you were in Nepal and saw a Yeti?
Discussion
Writing
You have just returned from a holiday in the Cascade Mountains in Washington
State, USA, where you saw Bigfoot. Your local newspaper has asked you to write a
short article about your experience.
7. L IZ Z IE BORDEN
did she murder her parents
On Thursday, 4 August, 1892,
Andrew Borden and his wife were found dead
in their home in the quiet, provincial mill town of
Fall River, Massachusetts, USA.
Some people said their daughter Lizzie had murdered them.
Others believed it was someone else.
Was it Lizzie?
Or could it have been someone else?
W hat do you think?
The mystery
» W hat was one of the reasons

M Lizzie hated her stepmother?
A t 8.00 am , 4 A ugust, the d ay was already the hottest o f the year. In the d in in g
room o f their big w hite house on Second Street, m em bers of the B o rden family
w ere having breakfast. A t the table sat p ro m in e n t 70-year-old bu sin essm an
A n d re w Borden, his second wife, A b by a n d a b ro th e r-in -law of A n d re w ’s, J o h n
M orse. J o h n was m a n a g e r of one of the B o rd en farm s. A n d re w ’s two d a u g h te rs by
his first m arriag e, E m m a a n d Lizzie, were ab sent. E m m a was visiting friends in a
n e a rb y town.
Lizzie, a ra th e r u n a ttra c tiv e , inhibited, u n m a rrie d w o m a n of 32 h a d not yet
com e dow nstairs. Except for h er hobby, fishing, a n d h er p a rtic ip a tio n in chu rch
activities, Lizzie sp en t a lot of tim e alone, often up in h er room . A b o u t every four
m on ths she h ad w h a t h er family called ‘funny tu r n s ’. A t such times she did
peculiar, inexplicable things; she never re m e m b e re d these incidents afterw ards.
W e now realise th a t h er ‘funny tu r n s ’ w ere attack s o f epilepsy.
Lizzie disliked h er s te p m o th e r intensely, especially after A n d re w signed some
p ro p e rty over to his wife’s sister th a t his d a u g h te rs felt should be theirs.
A n d rew B orden was a person w ho enjoyed m ak in g m o ney b u t h a te d sp en din g
it. W h e n his d a u g h te rs asked him for m oney he alm o st alw ays tu rn e d th em down.
T h e B ordens were rich b u t they certainly did n o t live like people w ith money.
A n d re w also h ad the re p u ta tio n in Fall R iver o f being a very h a rd m a n in business
dealings; as a result, he h a d m a n y enemies.
P Why did the Bordens

B keep their doors locked?
T h e re was one o th er person in the house th a t torrid A u g u st m orning: Bridget, the

Irish m aid. Bridget was in the kitchen p re p a rin g to go o utsid e a n d w ash the
windows. She was q uite u n h a p p y a b o u t it. She did not feel well an d resented M rs
B o rd e n ’s orders to w ash the w indows. B ridget was not the only one w ho felt ill.
W ith the exception of Lizzie, everyone in the house h ad sto m ach trouble. T h e y
decided it was so m eth in g they h ad eaten the n igh t before.
T h e tim e was now 8.45 am J o h n M orse left the house to visit o th er relatives in
Fall River. A n d rew also d e p a rte d , h ead in g for the financial district.
Lizzie descended the stairs j u s t as her fath er w as going out of the front door. She
greeted B ridget b u t said n o th in g to h er step m o th er. A b b y clim bed the stairs to the
second floor bedro om s to m ak e the beds. B ridget w en t outside to w ash the
windows. She took the key to the kitchen d o o r w ith her. Since a ro b b ery two
m o n th s before the Bordens were extrem ely cautious a b o u t locking their doors.
Lizzie began ironing som e clothes. It was now 9.30 am .
According to Lizzie,
where was she when her father was killed?
A t 10.40 som eone knocked at the front door. B ridget, now w orking inside the
house, h u rried to see who it was. She h e a rd som eone lau g h b eh in d h er as she
struggled w ith the key. It was Lizzie, s ta n d in g on the stairs. A t last the m aid got
the d oo r open. T h e person on the o th er side was A n d re w Borden; he h a d forgotten
his keys.
As B ridget re tu rn e d to the kitchen, Lizzie cam e d ow n to the sitting room an d
told h er father, ‘Y o u r wife has gone out. She h ad a note from som eone w ho was
sick.’ A n d rew said th a t he, too, felt r a th e r weak a n d decided to stretch out on the
sofa an d take a n a p before lunch.
Lizzie w ent back to h er ironing. Bridget, w ho h a d finished w ash ing the
window s inside an d out, said she still felt ill. Lizzie told h er to go u p to h er room
an d rest until it was tim e to m ake lunch. As the girl clim bed to her small, hot,
third-floor room, she h e a rd the clock strike 11.00.
T e n m inutes later Lizzie called out from dow nstairs: ‘Bridget! C om e quick!
F a th e r ’s dead . Som ebody cam e in an d killed h im !’
T h e astonished m aid rushed dow n the stairs a n d found Lizzie s tan d in g by the
kitchen door. ‘Go across the street an d get D r B o w en ,’ she said. ‘R u n !’
pv Where was
Abby Borden?
W h en the do ctor arrived, Lizzie explained, ‘J u s t as I was re tu rn in g to the house

from the b a rn I h eard a loud groan. T h e kitchen d oo r was wide o p e n .’
T h e do cto r quickly exam ined A n d re w ’s body a n d discovered th a t the m a n had
been struck in the h ead eleven times w ith an axe. Being asleep, he never knew
w h at hit him.
Lizzie told Bridget to go to ask her friend Alice Russell to com e an d stay w ith
her. M eanw h ile, a n o th e r neig hb o ur, A d elaide C hurchill, h a d seen D r Bowen
en ter the house next do or a n d rushed over to find o u t w h a t h a d h a p p en ed . W h en
she asked w here A bb y was, Lizzie replied th a t she did not know. T h e n she ad d ed ,
‘B ut I believe I h eard h er com e in a sh o rt while ag o.’ She tu rn e d to Bridget, ‘Go
upstairs an d see.’
M rs C h urchill acco m p an ied the Irish girl. T h e y found A b b y B orden lying face
dow n on the guest room floor. She h a d been hit on the back of the h ead nineteen
times w ith an axe.
It was now 11.40, h a lf an h o u r after A n d re w B o rd e n ’s bloody, lifeless body h ad
been discovered in the sitting room. Policem en were alread y su rro u n d in g the
house and a crowd o f curious people h ad g a th e re d in the street. T h e news had
travelled fast.
p Why did Lizzie

t want to buy poison?
A b o u t this tim e J o h n M orse re tu rn e d from his visit across town. H e did a very
strang e th ing w hen he saw the crowd in the street: he w ent ro u n d to the back o f the
house an d b eg an eating pears from one o f the trees. As soon as he was told w h at
had h ap p e n e d , however, he w ent into the house. H e explained w here he h ad been
to the police, b u t they were not fully convinced. F or one thing, his m a n n e r was too
casual.
T h e police m a d e a com plete search of the house b u t found n o th in g suspicious.
N o r d id they find a note asking M rs B orden to go to a sick friend. L a te r someone
rep o rted th a t a s tra n g e r h a d been seen n e a r the house earlier th a t m orning; he was
never seen again.
Lizzie was able to a cco u n t for every move she h ad m a d e th a t m orning; however,
the police considered h er to be their n u m b e r one suspect. Lizzie’s calm cool
m a n n e r u n d e r the horrib le circu m stances caused th em to be suspicious. In
add ition, she kept c o n tra d ic tin g herself.
T h e re was a n o th e r m a tte r th a t caused the police to suspect Lizzie. T h e day
before the m u rd e r she h a d gone to several shops trying to buy prussic acid, a
d eadly poison. She w a n te d it, she said, to kill m oth s in her fur coat. T h e shop
owners refused to sell it to her.
A ccording to Lizzie, she h a d been in the house all m ornin g, except w hen,
shortly after her fa th e r’s re tu rn hom e, she w en t to the b a r n to get some things she
needed for a fishing trip. T h e n , w h en she r e tu rn e d to the house, she discovered h er
fa th e r’s body.
p How long did it take

the jury to reach a verdict?
O n e week later Lizzie was arrested. T h e re was, how ever, no real evidence against
her. W h a t m otive did she have? She h ated her s tep m o th er, it is true, b u t not
enough to kill her. She ad o re d her father, so w hy w ould she kill him? F or his
money? She a n d h er sister E m m a w ould becom e rich the m o m e n t he died. W h a t
a b o u t Bridget, the m aid, a n d J o h n M orse, A n d r e w ’s b rother-in-law ? C o u ld n ’t
one o f th em have co m m itted the m urder?
T h e trial began on 5 J u n e , 1892, an d lasted ten days. A t first the public an d
press were anti-Lizzie B orden, b u t little by little they cam e ro un d. H o w could a
quiet, respectable, m a tu re w o m a n like Lizzie co m m it such a h orrible crime?
Finally the j u r y left the co u rtro o m b u t was out only one hour. W h e n they
re tu rn e d they delivered a v erdict of n o t guilty. T h e c o u rtro o m sud denly becam e
wild w ith cheers an d app lau se.
O n ce m ore life in Fall River becam e no rm al. T h e two B orden sisters, now th a t
they h ad th eir fa th e r’s m oney, b o u g h t a lovely big new house in the m ost
fashionable section o f Fall River. T h e y lived tog eth er in this beautiful, spacious
m ansio n for several years. T h e n they q u arrelled a n d E m m a m oved out, leaving
Lizzie all by herself in the e m p ty house. In 1927, Lizzie passed aw ay at the age of
67, alone a n d unloved.
T o d a y visitors to Fall R iver alm ost alw ays ask to see the old B orden house on
Second Street. ‘Did Lizzie B orden really m u rd e r her p a re n ts? ’ they ask. T h e
people of Fall R iver sim ply shake their h eads a n d say, ‘N o one will ever k n o w .’
P ro bably not, b u t on the o th e r h a n d , if Lizzie did n o t co m m it the m u rd e r, who
did?
Comprehension check
Look back at the reading and find the information to fill the gaps in this paragraph.
Lizzie Borden’s father, a very rich man, h a te d __________ money. Lizzie thought
that h e r----------------- , Abby, had too much influence on Andrew Borden. That was
one of the reasons s h e _________ Abby. Once Lizzie asked her father for money
to entertain some church friends but A n d re w __________ her request. Lizzie
became furious when her fa th e r__________ some property to Abby’s sister; it
was supposed to go to Lizzie and her s is te r,___________ It is possible that when
this happened Lizzie had one of her attacks o f ___________ As a result, she may
have murdered her parents with a n ___________ T h e ___________ , during the trial,
brought in a __________ of not guilty, but was she really innocent? W e’ll never
know.
Language practice
1 Vocabulary
1 inhibited (/. 8) b a short sleep

2 stepmother (/. 14) b unable to express true feelings
3 torrid (/. 21) c sharp tool to cut wood
4 resented (/. 23) d twelve people who decide a law
5 nap (/. 43) case in court
6 barn (/. 53) e saying the opposite of something
7 groan (/. 53) said before
8 axe (/. 55) f decision made in a law case
9 contradicting (/. 83) g extremely hot
10 motive (/. 93) h deep sound made by someone in pain
11 jury (/. 101) i reason for committing a crime
12 verdict (/. 102) j later wife of one’s father
k farm building for storing things in
I disliked someone for something
he/she had done
2 Phrasal verbs
1 sign over (/. 14) a lie down

2 turned down (/. 17) b die
3 stretch out (/. 42) c refuse a request
4 come round (/. 99) d give rights with a formal document
5 pass away (/. 108) e agree after first refusing
3 Grammar: o rd e r of adjectives before a noun
Lizzie Borden was an unattractive, young, unmarried American woman.
Certain rules must be observed in placing adjectives in the correct order before a
noun. If there are determiners, such as as, the, that, my, etc., these will precede
other adjectives. Ordinal numbers (first, second, fifth.) come next, followed by
cardinal numbers (one, seven, fifty).
Then come all other adjectives. These, however, are the ones that cause
problems for students. A plan for these adjectives is helpful. With very few
exceptions, it is as follows:
(after 1, determiners: 2, ordinal numbers; 3, cardinal numbers)
4 quality words (of general description; they can go in any order in respect to
each other)
5 size (big, long)
6 age, temperature (old, hot)
7 shape (round, square)
8 colour (blue, green)
9 participle (spoken, running)
10 origin or location (Portuguese, western);
11 material (glass, metal)
12 noun used as an adjective (school, as in school teacher).
Luckily, not all categories are likely to be included in a sentence but those that
are usually follow this order, as in:
beautiful big old square grey repainted French stone school house
4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1112
Exercise
Put the adjectives in brackets in the correct order before the noun.
1 Abby Borden was a (grey-haired, round, short) woman.
2 John Morse was a (middle-aged, pleasant, tall) man.
3 Lizzie’s sister Emma was a (41-year-old, quiet, thin) woman.
4 Lizzie’s friend Alice was a (English, kind, little) lady.
5 George Robinson, who was Lizzie’s lawyer, was a (brilliant, persuasive,
likeable) man.
6 Bridget, the maid, was a (Irish, large, hard-working) girl.
Discussion
Writing
You are a neighbour of the Bordens, living opposite them on Second Street. It is
the afternoon of 4 August, 1892. You have been asked by the local newspaper to
write an article telling what you know about the crime.
8. T H E BERM U D A T R IA N G L E :
is it a triangle of death
What have you heard
about the Bermuda Triangle?
Perhaps you know that ships and planes have been disappearing
in this part of the Atlantic Ocean for many years.
But do you know why?
Is there a logical explanation?
The mystery
* What happened to
the Cyclops and the Deering?
F o r h u n d re d s of years w eird things have been h a p p e n in g in th a t p a r t o f the

A tlan tic O c e a n know n tod ay as the B e rm u d a T rian gle. U n til 1964 w hen an
A m erican w riter used the term ‘B e rm u d a T r ia n g le ’ in a m ag azin e article it was
called, a m o n g o th er things, the D evil’s T rian g le, the G ra v e y a rd of the A tlantic,
an d the T rian g le of D eath.
You will see on the m a p (page 41) th a t the region in qu estion is an alm ost
perfect triangle, w ith one point B erm u d a, a n o th e r the east coast o f Florida, and
the th ird one P uerto Rico. Since the beginning o f the tw en tieth centu ry m an y ships
an d planes have d isa p p e a re d there w itho ut a trace o f th em or w ith ou t their crews
ever being found.
In M a rc h 1918, a U S N avy su pply ship, the Cyclops, v an ish ed while sailing from
B arbado s to Norfolk, V irginia; there were 309 m en on b o ard . No rem ains of the
ship or its crew were ever found.
T h e sailing ship Deering w as discovered a b a n d o n e d n e a r C a p e H a tte ra s, N o rth
C arolin a, on 30 J a n u a r y , 1921. C a p e H a tte ra s is n ot in the B e rm u d a T ria n g le b u t
the Deering h a d passed th ro u g h th a t section o f the A tlantic an d it is supposed th a t
the crew d isap p e ared there.
R How many planes

disappeared on 5 December, 1945?
Since 1945 the B e rm u d a T ria n g le has a ttra c te d the a tten tio n o f the entire world.
O n 5 D ecem b er of th a t y ear so m eth in g h a p p e n e d th a t caused people everywhere
to take interest in the region. It was on th a t d ay th a t Flight 19, a g ro up o f five U S
N avy planes, took off from F o rt L a u d erd ale, Florida, on a rou tine tra in in g flight.
T h e w e a th e r was perfect. F or two hours everything w ent accord ing to plan. T h e n
the N aval A ir S tation at F o rt L a u d e rd a le beg an to receive u n u su al radio messages
from Flight 19. T h e five planes were lost an d their in stru m en ts were not
functioning properly. C o nv ersation s a m o n g the pilots o f the five planes seem ed
confused. A t 4 pm , after the leader of the flight tu rn e d over the co m m a n d to
a n o th e r pilot for no a p p a re n t reason, all c o m m u n icatio n w ith Flight 19 ended.
S om ething was definitely w rong w ith this g ro u p of five planes; search
operations were started im m ediately. For several days planes flew over the area
w here Flight 19 h ad last been h eard from. T h e n one o f the search planes, a M a rtin
M arin er, also d isap p e ared . N o trace o fit or o f the five planes th a t m ad e u p Flight
19 was ever found.
T h e ru m o u rs started . O n e was th a t d u rin g the final co m m u n icatio n w ith Flight
19 the hysterical description o f a gigantic flying sau cer was heard. A n o th er
ru m o u r claim ed th a t one of the airm e n on the flight was later found floating in a
ru b b e r life raft; he was talking wildly a b o u t a ‘weird a irs h ip ’ th a t h ad c a p tu re d the
o th er m en on Flight 19. N o ne o f the rum o u rs was confirm ed. In fact, there was no
official ex plan atio n a t all concerning the tragedy. Some people insisted th a t the
authorities knew som ethin g they were not m ak in g public b u t th a t they were
h u sh in g up the incident.
What caused the public
to start doubting reports about the Bermuda Triangle?
After 5 D ecem ber, 1945, the world b ecam e aw are o f the strang e things h a p p e n in g
in the ‘T ria n g le of D e a th ’. R ep orts began to a p p e a r in the n ew sp ap ers a n d on the
radio a b o u t o th er u n u su al happ en in gs. Betw een 1947 a n d 1973 over 140 ships an d
planes, w ith m ore th a n 1000 people a b o a rd in total, vanished, leaving no evidence
to show w h a t h a d h a p p e n e d to them . M a n y exp lan ation s were given; few people
were convinced by them . T h e m ost accep tab le theory was th a t U F O s were
collecting h u m a n specim ens to exam ine. F o r som e reason the B e rm u d a T rian g le
was w here they entered the e a r t h ’s a tm o sp h e re to do this.
Since 1960 m an y articles, even full-length books, h ave been w ritten a b o u t the
B e rm u d a T riang le. F or a n u m b e r of years the public was fascinated a n d read
everything available on the subject. T h e n , in the late 1970s, people began to grow
sceptical a b o u t the various things rep orted; they found th em too fantastic to be
true.
Q What was Kusche’s final comment

in his book about the Bermuda Triangle?
I n 1975 a lib rarian , L aw rence 1) K u sche, w ho was also an experienced pilot, wrote
a book entitled The Bermuda Triangle Mystery Solved. In p re p a rin g his book K usche
w ent to the original records to learn wLtat h ad actually h a p p en ed . U nlike o ther
writers on the subject he was n o t con ten t to d e p e n d on the legends th a t h a d been
repo rted for m an y years. H e discovered to his ow n satisfaction th a t there were
quite logical ex planations for alm ost every one of the B e rm u d a T ria n g le
m ysteries.
A ccording to K u sche, p oo r ju d g e m e n t on the p a r t o f the lead er o f F light 19 an d
the F o rt L a u d e rd a le N aval A ir Station h a d caused the tragedy. W h e n the five
planes took off from F o rt L a u d e rd a le the w e a th e r h a d been beautiful; w ithin a
short tim e it changed. T h u s, the flight did n ot d is a p p e a r on a su n n y day, as m ost
people tho ug ht, b u t on a storm y day. In the storm the planes ra n out of fuel an d
d ro p p e d into the sea. As far as the search p lan e w as concerned, the M a rtin
M a rin e rs h a d exploded in the air. I t was n o t u n u su al, said K usch e, for these
‘flying gas ta n k s ’, as the M a rtin M a rin e rs w ere som etim es called, to explode.
In a n o th e r m ysterious case the Marine Sulphur Queen, a large ship carrying
su lp h u r from B ea u m o n t, T exas, to Norfolk, V irgin ia, d isa p p e a re d in F eb ru ary ,
1963. It was, according to K usche, b ad ly designed a n d its cargo h ad been
im p ro perly loaded. V ery possibly it broke u p in a storm y sea a n d w ent dow n so
quickly th a t there was no tim e even to send a rad io message.
K u s c h e ’s list o f cases was long b u t he stu died each one carefully an d found w h at
he considered to be logical explanatio ns for all of them . H e concluded his book
w ith the sta te m e n t th a t there is a g reat a m o u n t o f sea an d air traffic in this p a r t of
the A tlantic O cean ; for th a t reason the n u m b e r of d isa p p e a ra n c e s over the years
has not, in K u s c h e ’s estim ation, been excessive.
N ot everyone accepts K u s c h e ’s theories, however, especially those w ho are
convinced th a t ex traterrestrial beings are responsible for the d isa p p e a ra n c e of the
m issing ships a n d planes. In any case, the B e rm u d a T ria n g le continues to be a
m ystery an d will p ro b ab ly rem ain so for m a n y years to come.
Comprehension check
Look back at the reading and find information to complete these sentences.
1 The three points of the Bermuda Triangle a re ___________
2 The Cyclops disappeared while sailing fro m ___________
3 On 5 December, 1945, Flight 19 took off on a ___________
4 No traces of Flight 19 w e re ___________
5 Between 1947 and 1973 ________ __
6 The most popular belief about the Bermuda Triangle w a s ___________
7 Lawrence D Kusche was a librarian as well a s ___________
8 Kusche studied the disappearances carefully and concluded th a t_____
Language practice
1 Vocabulary
1 weird {1.1) b a energy-producing material such as

2 graveyard (/. 4) gas and oil
3 trace (/. 9) b very strange and unusual
4 remains (/. 12) c from another planet
5 routine (1. 21) d ordinary, everyday
6 became aware (/. 41) e too much
7 fuel (/. 65) f something left behind after, for example,
8 sulphur (/. 70) an accident
9 excessive (/. 78) g yellow strong-smelling substance
10 extraterrestrial (/. 80) used in industry and medicine
h cemetery, where the dead are buried
i gained knowledge of something
j evidence showing the presence of
something
2 Phrasal verbs
1 take off (/. 21) a give control to another person

2 turn over (/. 26) b possess no more of something
3 hush up (/. 40) c sink to the bottom of the sea
4 run out of (/. 65) d keep information from the public
5 go down (/. 72) e rise into the air
3 Grammar: fo r/s in c e
Ships and planes have been disappearing in this part o f the Atlantic Ocean for
many years.
Since 1945 the Bermuda Triangle has attracted the attention of the entire world.
The word for introduces a phrase of duration in which the length of time is
stated: for an hour, for six weeks.
The word since indicates the beginning of a period of time; the end of the
period is the moment of speaking: since 3 July, since I arrived, since John’s
birthday.
Both words are often used with the present perfect tense, simple or continuous,
which refers to an action begun in the past and continuing to the present.
Exercise
Fill in the gaps in these sentences with for or since.
1 The area has been called the Bermuda Triangle__________ 1964.
2 Strange things have occurred in that part of the A tla n tic__________ the early
1900s.
3 Many ships and planes have vanished__________ that time.
4 Flight 19 had been g o n e __________ two hours.
5 Search planes flew over the a re a __________ several days.
6 __________ 1960 many books and articles have been written about the
‘Triangle of Death’.
7 People have been more sceptical__________ the late 1970s.
8 The Bermuda Triangle will probably continue to be a m yste ry__________
many years.
Discussion
Writing
According to one rumour about Flight 19 a member of the crew was found floating
in the water in a rubber life raft. He talked about a ‘weird airship’ that captured his
companions and took them away. You, as a newspaper reporter, have an
opportunity to talk to this man. Write your interview with him as a dialogue.
45
9. A M BROSE B IE RC E :
what happened to him
Imagine that you are a famous writer.
You think that after you die
no one will remember you or your writings.
What can you do about it?
Gregory Peck as
Ambrose Bierce in
Columbia Pictures’
OLD GRINGO
The mystery
* W hy was Ambrose Bierce

A called ‘Bitter Bierce’?
O n e o f the m ost successful A m erican sh ort story w riters a t the tu rn of the centu ry
was A m b rose Bierce. In D ecem b er 1913 he d isa p p e a re d , n ev er to be seen or h eard
from again. Because o f things he said shortly before he v an ish e d it is possible th a t
he p lan n ed the final days of his life th a t way. H e w as afraid th a t once he died both
he an d his writings w ould be forgotten. H e did not w a n t th a t to h ap p en .
In 1861, at the age of nineteen, Bierce found his p u rp o se in life: the m ilitary.
T h e Civil W a r betw een the n o rth e rn a n d s o u th ern states broke out a t th a t time,
a n d shortly afterw ards Bierce jo in e d the n o rth e rn arm y. H e loved m ilitary life an d
fought in m a n y im p o rta n t battles. H e was w o u n d e d twice, once q uite seriously in
the head. Bierce was never the sam e after this head injury; be becam e bitter,
suspicious o f people a n d concerned a b o u t death.
W h e n peace cam e in 1865 Bierce travelled w est to San Francisco. T h e re he m et
an d m arried a socially-prom inent y o u n g w o m an , M a ry Ellen D ay, an d becam e
the father of two sons a n d a d a u g h te r. H ow ever, in 1871, because his m arriag e was
no longer h ap p y , he left San F rancisco an d w7en t to E n g lan d , settling dow n in
L o n d o n to becom e a writer. T w o years later a collection of his stories was
published. Because of his s h a rp tongue a n d the pessim istic n a tu re of his stories, he
earn ed the nick nam e o f ‘B itter B ierce’.
R Bierce’s stories were well liked

^ but he as a person was not. Why not?
W h e n Bierce re tu rn e d to San Francisco in 1876 he was a lread y a celebrity because

of his success in E n g lan d . H e becam e a m ag azin e editor a n d was soon recognised
as the literary lead er o f the city. U n fo rtu n a te ly , it was also a t this tim e he
developed a severe case of asth m a, w hich stayed w ith him for the rest of his life.
O n e of the leading n e w sp a p e rm e n in S an F rancisco a t th a t tim e was W illiam
R an d o lp h H earst. H e a rs t asked Bierce to w rite a colum n for his pap er, The
Examiner. Bierce accepted the position a n d w ro te a b o u t everybody an d
everything, expressing his observations in his usual sarcastic m an n er. Because of
his sarcasm he h a d very few friends b u t m a n y enemies.
T e n years after going to w ork for H e a rst, A m b ro se Bierce was tran sferred to
W ash in g to n , D C . H e liked the cap ital city because, he said, the clim ate was good
for his asth m a. H e re m a in e d there until 1909, a t w hich tim e he retired from
n ew sp ap er w ork to edit the stories a n d articles he h a d w ritten over the years. His
secretary, C arrie C h ristian sen , worked closely w ith him on this project. W fien
they finished in 1912, Bierce was seventy years old. WTh a t was he going to do now?
p What did Bierce write

^ to a friend in San Francisco?
I n the years following the Civil W a r Bierce read all he could find on m ilitary
m atters. Because of his w ar experience a n d extensive reading, he becam e a
m ilitary expert. H e felt sure th a t he could secure a position as adviser to m ilitary
leaders in some p a r t of the world. T h a t, he decided, was w h a t he w ould do w ith the
rest of his life.
T h e n a revolution broke o u t in M exico. P an ch o V illa an d V en u stia n o C a r r a n z a
were the leaders o f the rebels fighting the official forces. O n e s u m m e r ’s d ay in 1913
Bierce told his secretary his plan: he was going to to u r the Civil W a r battlefields;
then he w ould go to Mexico. H e carried o u t the first p a r t o f his p lan as proposed.
F ro m the m o m e n t he left W a s h in g to n D C Bierce w rote to his secretary alm ost
daily. H e also wrote, th o u g h less frequently, to his d a u g h te r H elen. T o one o f his
friends in San F rancisco he said he w ished to end his career in a m o re glorious way
th a n j u s t dying in bed. ‘I ’ve decided to go to M exico to find a soldier’s g ra v e ,’ he
wrote.
D How was
Bierce’s wish fulfilled?
Bierce’s last letter to his secretary, d ated 16 D ecem b er, 1913, was from L aredo,
T exas. ‘I go to M exico w ith a definite p u rp o se w hich I c a n n o t yet disclose,’ he
said. H e sent th a t letter from L aredo; the next day, as far as anyone knows, he
entered Mexico.
Some people believe th a t Bierce never actually crossed the bo rder, however,
b u t wrent to som e isolated place in the U n ite d States w here he could end his days
peacefully a n d alone, possibly a place in the m o u n ta in s t h a t w ould be good for his
asth m a. O th e rs believe he w en t to E u ro p e as an adviser to the British m ilitary
leader, L ord K itch en er, d u rin g W orld W a r I.
Several m on ths passed a n d w h en no one h eard from Bierce his d a u g h te r asked
the U S State D e p a r tm e n t to locate her father. A search w as m a d e b u t the only
result was an u n confirm ed rep o rt th a t Bierce h ad actu ally reach ed P an ch o V illa ’s
h e a d q u a rte rs. E x cept for two or three sim ilar ru m o u rs, Bierce was never h eard
from again. Nevertheless, his w'ish to be re m e m b e re d w as fulfilled because tw enty
years later ru m o u rs a b o u t him were still going a ro u n d . Even to d ay the subject of
w h a t h a p p e n e d to A m b ro se Bierce fascinates people.
Comprehension check
Some of these statements about Ambrose Bierce are true; others are false. Decide
1 Ambrose Bierce was a well-known novelist.
2 During the Civil War he was a soldier in the armyof the north.
3 He hated army life.
4 He did not like being a husband.
5 William Randolph Hearst invited Bierce to write a column for his newspaper.
6 Bierce liked the climate of Washington DC.
7 He wanted to be a military adviser but was sure no one would want to use
his services.
8 A revolution broke out in Mexico between Pancho Villa and Venustiano
Carranza.
9 Bierce wrote to his secretary almost every day.
10 We know for certain that Bierce entered Mexico on 17 December, 1913.
Language practice
1 Vocabulary
1 turn of the century a hurt, injured
(/. 1) c b make something known/public
2 vanished (/. 3) c start of a new hundred-year period,
3 wounded (/. 9) eg 1900
4 bitter (/. 10) d illness which affects breathing
5 pessimistic (/. 17) e happened as promised
6 celebrity (/. 19) f disappeared
7 asthma (/. 22) g sharp and cruel humour
8 sarcasm (/. 27) h someone who affects/acts against authority
9 rebel (/. 40) i always looking at the negative side
10 disclose (/. 49) j filled with resentment
11 fulfilled (/. 61) k famous person
2 Phrasal verbs
1 hear from (/. 2) a start suddenly (war, epidemic)

2 break out (/. 7) b receive news from someone
3 settle down (/. 15) c establish oneself in a place
4 carry out (/. 42) d circulate
5 go around (/. 62) e perform or complete
3 Grammar: because/because of
Bierce liked Washington DC because the climate was good for his asthma.
When Bierce returned to San Francisco he was already a celebrity because of
his success in England.
Because is followed by a clause. Because o f is followed by a noun or noun phrase.
Exercise
Fill in the gaps in these sentences with because or because of.
1 Bierce made many en em ie s__________ his sarcasm.
2 Hearst invited Bierce to do a column for his new spaper__________ he liked
his style of writing.
3 __________ a head injury in the war, he became bitter and suspicious.
4 Bierce had asthma attacks each y e a r___________ he didn’t look after himself.
5 __________ his love for military life Bierce read everything he could about it.
6 Bierce said he was going to M e xico __________ he wanted to work with
Pancho Villa.
Discussion
Writing
Pretend you are Bierce’s daughter, Helen. Write a letter to the US State
Department, explaining the situation and requesting help in locating your father.
10. ANASTASIA
was she really the Tsar’s daughter
In 1918, during the Russian Revolution,
Tsar Nicholas II and members of his family
were shot by the Bolsheviks.
There were rumours, however,
that one of the daughters, Anastasia, escaped.
Some people say she did not get away
but died with the rest of the family.
Do you know anything about this mystery?
50
The mystery
* Why was the

^ mysterious woman called ‘Miss Unknown’?
It was a cold w in te r’s n i g h t - 2 2 F eb ru ary , 1920, to be exact. A policem an, w alking

along B erlin’s L a n d w e h r C an a l, h eard a loud splash an d quickly ju m p e d in an d
pulled out a y oung w o m an. W ith this event beg an a story th a t initiated the longest
lawsuit in legal history.
T h e young w o m an was taken to a m en tal hospital. She carried no identification
an d refused to give her nam e; it was obvious th a t she was not used to doing
a n y th in g th a t she did not w an t to do.
T h e people at the hospital began to call her ‘M iss U n k n o w n ’. A physical
ex am in ation o f the y ou ng w o m an, w ho a p p e a re d to be a b o u t tw enty years old,
showed th a t her body was covered w ith scars. She spoke very little an d w hen she
did it was in G e rm a n , alth o u g h w ith a foreign accent. She was usually polite,
som etim es even pleasant. After a tim e she seem ed to get used to hospital life.
O n e of the o th er patients at the hospital h ad read an article a b o u t the R ussian
T sar, Nicholas II, an d his family. A p h o to g ra p h acco m p an ied the article. T h e
w om an decided th a t the m ysterious new p a tie n t looked very m u ch like one of the
T s a r ’s dau g h ters. In addition, ‘M iss U n k n o w n ’ becam e depressed w hen she saw
the photo. O n e d ay in the a u tu m n o f 1921, however, she a d m itte d th a t she was the
G ra n d D uchess A n astasia N icholaievna o f Russia.
□ Why did Anastasia

want to go to Berlin?
H e r story cam e out slowly an d painfully. R ussia w as in the m iddle o f a revolution.

T h e Bolsheviks h ad c a p tu re d the Im p e ria l family an d were holding them
prisoners in a house in the town of E k a te rin b u rg . O n the evening o f 16 J u ly , 1918,
the family was led to a b asem en t room a n d shot. T h e bodies were tak en out to an
old m ine an d bu rn ed.
A ccording to the y ou ng w o m a n ’s story, she, A n a sta sia (as we shall now call
her), fainted j u s t as the soldiers fired th eir guns. H e r sister T a ta n ia fell on top of
her, protecting A n astasia an d thus saving h er life. T h e next th ing A n astasia
rem em b ered, she was in a farm cart being sm uggled o ut o f R ussia by one of the
g u ard s at E k a te rin b u rg , A lex an d er Tschaikovsky, w ho was secretly loyal to the
T sar. W h en he saw th a t A n astasia was alive he took her to his fam ily’s farm. T h e n ,
with the T schaikovskys a c co m p an y in g her, A n a sta sia began a long, h a rd jo u rn e y
to R o m ania.
Finally they reached B ucharest. A n astasia rem ain ed there for a year, d u rin g
which tim e she h ad A lex an d er T sch aik o v sk y ’s son, then m arried the father. Not
long after th a t A lex an d er was m u rd e re d by Bolsheviks who h ad discovered how
he had helped the T s a r ’s d a u g h te r to escape.
T a k in g her brother-in-law , Sergei Tschaikovsky, w ith her, A n astasia headed
for G erm an y , leaving her son w ith the Tschaikovsky family. She was anxious to
get to Berlin, w here m em b ers o f her m o th e r ’s family lived.
What was possibly
c the reason for Anastasia’s bad moods?
At last she a n d Sergei reached Berlin. T h e y checked in a t a hotel an d m a d e plans

to try to find A n a s ta s ia ’s g ra n d m o th e r the next day. T h e following m orning, w hen
she w ent to Sergei’s room , A n astasia discovered th a t he h a d d isap p e ared .
All d ay she w alked the streets of Berlin, not know ing w h a t to do; she was not
used to being alone an d m akin g her own decisions. She h ad com e to Berlin to find
her m o th e r’s relatives b u t now, w ith no thing to identify her, she was afraid to go to
them . N ight fell an d as she walked beside the L a n d w e h r C a n a l she becam e so
discouraged th a t she ju m p e d into the water.
L ater, w hen m em b ers of the R ussian colony read an article a b o u t ‘A n a s ta sia ’ in
the n ew spapers som e of them cam e to the hospital to see her. A few were convinced
th a t yes, she was the d a u g h te r of the T sar. O th e rs, however, called her an
imposter.
W h en the y o un g w o m an becam e well eno ug h she was invited to go to live w ith
B aron von Kleist an d his wife in their hom e. T h e y were R ussian aristocrats; if this
really was A n astasia it w ould be very useful to them to have her as th eir guest.
T his was to be the first o f a long series o f hom es for her. S om ehow she got used to
m oving from house to house; she had little choice.
A n astasia was a m oody person. She could be very p leasan t an d c h a rm in g an d
often was. H ow ever, w hen she was in a bad m ood she could be ju s t the opposite. At
some tim e in the past (the n ight o f the assassination?) she h ad suffered a severe
head injury an d this could easily account for h er difficult moods.
p. At what times
u did Anastasia speak Russian?
T h ro u g h the years A n astasia w as questioned m a n y times, m ost frequently by

m em bers of the R ussian colony. She disliked these interrogations; however, she
realised th a t they were necessary if she w a n te d to prove w ho she was an d tried to
get used to their m an y questions.
It was the sincere belief of a n u m b e r o f these aristocrats th a t the y ou ng w om an
was indeed the G ra n d D uchess A nastasia. A m o n g their reasons for th inking so
were these:
— after j u s t one look into her eyes people wrho used to be w ith A n astasia alm ost
daily as a girl were convinced she was the G r a n d Duchess;
— her h an d w ritin g , acco rdin g to an expert, was exactly like th a t o f the true
A nastasia;
— her m a n n e r was th a t o f a person who was used to living in an im perial court;
— w hen talking to R ussian aristocrats she b ro u g h t u p m an y incidents th a t
only the real A n astasia w ould know about;
— it was tru e th a t w hen she was aw ake she spoke only G e rm a n b u t she was
often h eard speaking R ussian in her sleep;
— m a n y anecdotes d e m o n stra te d her validity, such as the day T a tia n a ,
d a u g h te r o f the T s a r ’s personal physician, visited her; A n astasia rem ind ed
T a tia n a of the tim e she, as a child, h ad measles a n d T a ti a n a helped p u t her
to bed - only the doctor, T a tia n a a n d A n astasia w ould know ab o u t th at
incident.
People w ho insisted th a t the w o m an was an im p o ster claimed:
— she spoke only G e rm a n because she did not know Russian;
— she looked n o thin g like A n astasia — for one thing, she was too short;
— she was really a Polish girl w ho h ad d isa p p e a re d three days before ‘Miss
U n k n o w n ’ was rescued from the canal;
— at times this w o m an was u n ab le to a n sw er questions th a t the real A nastasia
w ould be able to reply to autom atically;
— Princess Iren e of Prussia, a u n t of the G r a n d D uchess A nastasia, said after
visiting the y oung w o m an th a t this was not her niece;
— ‘Miss U n k n o w n ’ h ad no d o cu m en ts or o th er p ro o f o f h er identity.
P What was Professor Manahan’s reason for

b inviting Anastasia to Charlottesville, Virginia?
In 1928 Princess X enia, a niece o f the T s a r, invited A n astasia to her hom e in the
U n ited States. H e r stay w ith the R ussian princess was a h a p p y one. In o rd er to be
left alone, u n b o th e re d by n ew sp ap er reporters, A n a sta sia took the n a m e o f A n n a
A nderson.
O n ce ag ain A n astasia becam e ill an d , preferring to be in a G e rm a n hospital,
she re tu rn e d to E urope. T h is was in 1931. E ventually she got over her illness,
w hich was tuberculosis, an d w ent to the B av a rian Black Forest to live. H e r stay
there was a q uiet one; she received only those people she w ished to see.
In 1933 she began a legal b attle involving w h a t she felt was her inheritance. T h e
law suit co ntin u ed for 37 years an d becam e the longest in legal history. Finally, in
1970, it was settled, alth o u g h not in A n a s ta s ia ’s favour. In the end the T s a r ’s
w ealth was d istrib u ted am o n g secondary heirs.
In 1968 A n astasia w ent back to the U n ite d States, this tim e at the invitation of
D r J o h n M a n a h a n , a history professor at the U niv ersity of V irginia in
Charlottesville. H e invited her, he said, because he w an ted ‘to get A n a s ta s ia ’s
story w ritten s tra ig h t.’
O n 23 D ecem ber, 1968, A n astasia becam e M rs J o h n M a n a h a n . She spent her
rem ain in g years in C harlottesville an d , in general, they were not u n p leasan t
years.
By 1970, w hen she m a d e her last a tte m p t to o b tain the T s a r ’s property,
A n astasia was old, tired an d ill. A gain she failed. ‘It no longer m a tte rs ’, she said.
‘After all these years I am used to being d isap p o in ted . Besides, I know w ho I a m .’
She died peacefully on 12 F eb ru ary , 1984. W h e th e r or not she was the G ra n d
Duchess A nastasia, d a u g h te r o f T s a r N icholas II, she herself sincerely believed
th at she was.
Comprehension check
Some of these statements about Anastasia are true, others are false. Decide
1 The Russian colony in Berlin called the young woman ‘Miss Unknown’.
2 The doctors found scars all over her body.
3 The Tsar and his family were killed in Ekaterinburg.
4 Anastasia married a soldier named Sergei Tschaikovsky.
5 Not everyone was convinced that ‘ Miss Unknown’ was the daughter of the
Tsar.
6 Anastasia was always pleasant and courteous to everyone.
7 She changed her name when she went to America because she wanted to be
left alone.
8 Princess Irene of Prussia was one of the people who believed this was the
real Anastasia.
9 Anastasia lost her legal battle to obtain the Tsar’s wealth.
Language practice
1 Vocabulary
1 splash (/. 2) i a shot

2 initiated (/. 3) b those who get property when
3 lawsuit (/. 4) someone dies
4 scars (/. 10) c children’s disease resulting in fever
5 fainted (/. 25) and red spots on the skin
6 fired (/. 25) d lost consciousness
7 smuggled (/. 27) e having changes of feelings, eg,
8 imposter (/. 50) sad to happy, happy to sad
9 moody (/. 56) f made an agreement about
10 interrogation (/. 61) g someone pretending to be
11 measles (/. 78) someone/thing he/she is not
12 inheritance (/. 99) h took in or out secretly
13 settled (/. 101) i sound made when something falls
14 heirs (/. 102) into water
j marks left on the skin by an injury
k began
I money/property received after
someone’s death
m dispute taken to court
n questioning
2 Phrasal verbs
1 come out (/. 19) a recover from an illness

2 head for (/. 36) b register (in a hotel, etc.)
3 check in (/. 39) c introduce a topic of conversation
4 account for {/. 59) d give an explanation for
5 bring up (/. 72) e become known
6 get over (/. 96) f go in the direction of
3 Grammar: used to/be used to/get used to
After just one look into her eyes people who used to be with Anastasia almost
daily were convinced she was the Grand Duchess.
Used to + a simple verb expresses a past state which is no longer true, or a
repeated action in the past that no longer happens. The interrogatives and
negatives are formed with did/didn’t + use to.
Her manner was that of a person who was used to living in an imperial court.
Be used to + a noun form, including gerunds, expresses be accustomed to,
have the habit of.
After a time she seemed to get used to hospital life.
Get used to + a noun form, including gerunds, means become accustomed to,
get the habit of.
Exercise
Complete the answers to the following questions with a form of used to, be
used to, or get used to.
1 Was Anastasia accustomed to speaking German? No, s h e ___________
2 Did it take her long to become accustomed to hospital life? No, it didn’t take
her lo n g ___________
3 Was she pretty when she was a girl? Yes, she ________ __
4 Was she accustomed to being with aristocrats? Yes, s h e ___________
5 Did she become accustomed to living in different people’s homes? Yes,
s h e ___________
6 As a child did Anastasia live in the Imperial Palace in Moscow? Yes,
s h e ___________
Discussion
Writing
In a short paragraph say why you think ‘Miss Unknown’ was/was not the Tsar’s
daughter.
Index of vocabulary and phrasal verbs
Below are all the words and phrasal verbs that appear in the ten lessons of
Unsolved Mysteries as new vocabulary. The number following each is that
of the unit in which it first appears.
Vocabulary
abandoned 3 excessive 8 measles 10 sightings 5
aboard 3 extraterrestrial 8 m eteorites 5 skimm ing 5
aerial 5 eye witness 1 monks 5 sledge 4
aircraft 5 m oody 10 smuggled 10
fainted 10
aliens 5 motive 7 species 6
features 6
anecdotes 6 mutiny 3 speculation 2
fired 10
archaeologists 4 splash 10
first mate 3 nap 7
asthma 9 stared 1
fled 2 nickname 9
authentic 2 steering 3
flippers 1 nodded 6
axe 7 stepm other 7
foam 1
bank 4 fuel 8 otters 1 straits 2
barn 7 fulfilled 9 struggled 7
pessim istic 9 sulphur 8
become aware 8
glaciers 1 phases 4 sum m er solstice
below decks 3
graveyard 8 phenom ena 5
beneath 2
groan 7 plain 4 tem ple 4
bitter 9
pottery 4 threat 5
blasted 1 heirs 10
tidal wave 2
hind 6 rafts 4
celebrity 9 torrid 7
huge 1 rebel 9
claim 1 trace 8
relics 6
cone-shaped 6 im poster 10 turn of the
remains 8
contradicting 7 inheritance 10 century 9
resented 7
crew 3 inhibited 7
reward 6 upright 6
initiated 10
deserted 3 routine 8
interrogation 10 vanished 9
disclose 9
dispute 2 sank 2 verdict 7
jury 7
distorted 6 sarcasm 9 visionary 2
lawsuit 10 scalp 6 voyage 3
ditch 4
logbook 3 scars 10
diver 2
logs 1 settled 10 weird 8
eclipse 4 mass settlers 6 wounded 9
emerge 5 hallucination 1 sharks 3 worshipped 4
Phrasal verbs
account for 10 explain away 5 laugh off 1 run into 6
let up 3 run out of 8
blow up 2 find out 2
line up 4
break out 9 settle down 9
get away 6 look over 5
bring up 10 sign over 7
get back 2
make out 3 stretch out 7
carry out 9 get over 10
make up 3
catch on 6 get rid of 6 take off 8
mistake for 5
check in 10 go along with 2 take over 3
come round 7 go around 9 name after 4
touch up 1
come forward 6 go down 8 pass away 7 turn down 7
come out 10 go on 1 pop up 1 turn into 4
come upon 2 put out 1 turn over 8
head for 10
put up 4 turn up 3
do away with 5 hear from 9
drop off 6 hush up 8 run away with 6 wash up 3
T E A C H E R ’S NOTES
Introduction
Unsolved Mysteries is an interm ediate-level Comprehension check. This is presented as
book for students of English which is a series of true/false statements, multiple
intended as a supplem ent to a course. Its choice questions, open-ended sentences,
purpose is to provide students with thought- etc. The purpose, as ‘check’ implies, is to
provoking material for practice in the four review the reading passage and allow the
basic skills of reading, writing, listening and students to assure them selves that they
speaking, with emphasis on reading and have understood the main points.
speaking. Language practice. This section
As the title suggests, this is a book of concentrates on vocabulary, phrasal verbs
mysteries - all taken from real life - for and a grammar point taken from the reading.
which solutions have never been found. The All three areas are reviewed in a few brief
material is such that students become so exercises. A key to the exercises is included
involved in the ten mysteries and the various in the teacher’s edition.
solutions open to them that they forget their Discussion. The first three sections of the
inhibitions about talking in English and enter lesson all lead to this section, the
into lively discussion. There are suggestions discussion. A variety of ideas for conducting
later in this introduction for ways to conduct each discussion are given in Suggestions for
these discussions and you can decide which using Unsolved Mysteries (page 58). The
is more appropriate for your class. size of the class, the topic to be discussed
One advantage for the teacher is that in all and the ability of the students will help you
probability motivation will be high. Students decide which method is most appropriate for
usually have definite opinions about whether your situation. You will probably want to use
or not there could be a monster in Loch one type of discussion one time and another
Ness, what the Abominable Snowman really type later on. You may even want to do
is, and why so many planes and ships have something entirely different from any of the
disappeared in the Bermuda Triangle. It is suggestions given here.
doubtful that many students will sit back and Writing. The final section of the lesson is an
say nothing. W hether or not they make optional writing activity. Students are asked
grammatical errors or mispronounce words to compose a letter, newspaper article or
during the discussion is relatively some other type of writing task based on their
unimportant; they are communicating their own personal thoughts about the mystery.
ideas in English. Errors can be corrected The ten lessons in this text are
later. independent of one another and need not be
The format of Unsolved Mysteries is a used in sequence; and you may work
simple one. Lessons are relatively short and through the book in any order you wish.
are organised as follows: Keep in mind, however, that the vocabulary
The mystery. Each lesson begins with a and phrasal verbs are introduced only once;
short reading giving only the essentials of therefore, if a word is defined in the second
the mystery necessary to promote a good lesson and appears again in the fifth it will
discussion. It is purposely short so that not be listed a second time. An index of
students will not have to spend much tim e in vocabulary items and phrasal verbs is on
class reading but can use that tim e for page 56 of the students’ material so that
discussion. Ideally the students will read the they may check on words they have doubts
m ystery the previous day as a hom ework about.
exercise. The suggested solutions to each m ystery
As there are hundreds of unsolved are found only in the Teacher’s Edition.
mysteries to choose from ten have been Students will not have access to these until
selected which are felt to be of interest to the teacher distributes them. The Teacher’s
teenagers and adults. At the same time, the Edition consists of all the students’ material,
topics are varied so that the mysteries will the solutions (to be copied and distributed)
not be too similar. and a key to the exercises.
Suggestions for using Unsolved Mysteries
As has already been mentioned, the way one solution to the mystery, anything
you incorporate this book will depend on the students add to strengthen their
what seems best for your situation - age, position is good.
ability and interest of students, class size, Ideally, the class should be divided
the time alloted to English, as well as other into as many groups as there are
materials that must be covered. solutions but, unfortunately, with a large
The ideal way to use Unsolved Mysteries class this could also mean large
would involve more than one normal class groups. In such a case it is better to
period of 4 0 -5 0 minutes. It requires good have more than one group defending
organisation of tim e in the class but no the same solution, though working
special preparation on the part of the separately. The rest of this lesson
teacher. should be devoted to each group
preparing its defence.
Lesson plan 3 Second lesson
1 If possible, give the reading and the The discussion during this lesson should
comprehension check as homework. take as long as necessary. (However, do
2 First lesson not force discussion when the students
a If the reading has been done for have nothing more to say.) The
homework, go over it briefly with the discussion can be done in several ways
students, then do the com prehension but probably the sim plest and most
check. If it has not been done for effective is a debate.
homework, allow the students tim e to Each group chooses a representative to
read the mystery and do the speak for them. Once the first solution
comprehension check, has been presented by the
b Do the vocabulary and phrasal verb representatives of each group supporting
exercises quite quickly. Allow students that solution, the second solution should
to do the exercise silently, then check be presented and then, if there is one, the
their answers and allow a few minutes third solution. When all the solutions have
for questions, been presented to the class allow some
c The grammar practice is generally a discussion to support or refute points, and
review of a language point; it can then decide which group has been the
therefore be checked briefly and the most convincing. The decision should not
exercise done orally, be based on the solution itself but on the
d All the previous work is preparation for g roup’s presentation of it. Alternatively,
the discussion of the reading passage. the students can decide at the end which
At this point the class should be was the most convincing argument.
divided into groups, the size of which During the presentation and discussion
depends on the num ber of students in phases take notes of students’ errors for
the class. The ideal group would corrections later.
consist of about six students. If tim e remains after all presentations
Give each group a different solution have been made and a decision taken,
to the mystery. This information is not there can be a general discussion with
to be discussed outside the group. For students telling what they personally feel
three of the mysteries there are two about the mystery.
possible solutions; for the remaining
seven there are three solutions. Forming the groups
The task of each group is to prepare 1 Announce the tw o/three solutions, without
as strong a defence as possible, using giving details, and the students could
the points listed in the solution, the choose the one that appeals to them
points in the reading and other ideas most. The problem here is the possibility
that may occur to them. As there is no of groups of unequal numbers forming. If
this happens, urge some students to join English should not be a primary
a different group. consideration here.
2 It is possibly better to assign students to Som etim es it is interesting to record the
groups. This would require some planning class presentation on tape so that it can be
before class because the following two played back and the students can take note
points would have to be considered: of their errors in grammar and pronunciation
a as much as possible, have a mix of the
quicker and slower students;
Alternative discussion ideas
b a combination of extroverts and
introverts is also important. 1 If it is not possible to give two lessons to
3 One way to divide the class is to prepare a discussion of Unsolved Mysteries, the
slips of paper with numbers on, according students could do the first three sections
to the groups to be formed, and place of the lesson as hom ework and devote
them in a container for students to select the following lesson to discussion of the
from. The num ber on the paper is the mystery, each student giving his/her own
num ber of the group. views of the situation.
4 For the class discussion of the m ystery 2 Reading jigsaw method
each group should have a representative a Divide the class into groups, as
who will argue their case before the class described before, and give each a
as a whole. You could select the person solution.
to do this or the group could choose the b When they have discussed their
person they feel best equipped to solution, regroup the students so that
represent them. Students often do a each group contains at least one
surprisingly good job of this. student representing each solution.
They discuss the solution,
c The groups decide among them selves
Group-presentation which is the best solution,
As soon as the groups are formed - and this d Discuss as a class.
should take a minimum of time - they 3 Group discussions based on pair work
should sit apart from each other. Place a a Form small groups with the num ber of
tim e limit on the group meeting, but be quite students in each depending on the
generous, as this is the most important num ber of solutions and the size of the
aspect of the lesson, where everyone is class. Where there are two solutions
involved and participating in his/her group. the group could be comprised of four
Later, during the class discussion, only the students; where there are three
group representatives will be talking. The solutions the group could consist of six
group representative should ensure that, as students.
time is limited, a good defence for their b Two students in each group take one
position is prepared and a convincing position and prepare a defence. As in
presentation planned. There is no time to go the debate, the m ystery and the
off on tangents. It may be useful for each comprehension check would be done
group to appoint a secretary to make notes outside of class as homework,
of the preparatory work for the c Set a time for each pair to prepare its
representative to refer to when he/she defence.
makes the class presentation. Monitor and d Each pair defends its solution. As only
help all groups during this part of the lesson. two people are involved they could
present their case to the other
members of the group together, first
The presentation one speaking, then the other.
When the groups have assembled, explain 4 Role play
the procedure for the debate, as described This can be an enjoyable, stimulating
on page 58. There should be a definite time activity but will require more tim e and
limit for each presentation. preparation than the various types of
When all solutions have been given and discussion already described. It could be
discussed, declare a winner, giving the used for a special occasion, such as a
reasons for the decision taken. The use of presentation to the school. The following
points should be taken into account when — The m ystery should be read as
planning this activity: homework, with only a few minutes of
— For those mysteries which have three class tim e taken for clarification of any
solutions choose two; otherwise the points of doubt.
presentation could go on too long. — Form two groups; each studies its
— The mystery will dictate the num ber of solution, then selects a defence lawyer
roles to be included. and witnesses; the remaining students
— The class should be divided into two in each group act as secretaries.
groups, one for each solution. — In order to prepare com m ents and
— For the presentation the classroom or questions, the prosecutor or panel of
auditorium can be set up very simply experts has access to both solutions.
as a courtroom, with a desk for the — Each group, with all members
judge and tables and chairs for the participating, prepares its defence,
prosecutor/panel of experts, defence although nothing should be
lawyers and witnesses. memorised; all discussion must be
— As this will be a form of courtroom spontaneous.
drama, there should be: — There should be little concern for
a judge to direct the proceedings and errors in English until after the
keep order presentation, at which time you can
a prosecutor or panel of experts to bring these to the students’ attention.
cross-exam ine the witnesses — Each defence lawyer will present his/
a defence lawyer for each group her solution, calling on witnesses for
several witnesses supportive evidence. The prosecutor,
the remaining students in each group or panel of experts, may question
can act as secretaries and take notes witnesses after they have given their
which can serve as reminders to the evidence.
defence lawyer and witnesses during — Once each group has presented its
the trial case and been cross-exam ined, the
the jury will consist of the audience - jury (the audience) gives its verdict.
all those present who are not These are just a few of some of the ways
otherwise involved in the trial. that Unsolved Mysteries can be used in an
Procedure intermediate English class. Perhaps you will
— Decide how much time to give for find some of them useful or they will inspire
preparation. Most of the lesson should you to create situations of your own.
be allowed for the presentation in Whatever you do, I hope that you and your
court; some tim e ought to be left at students will find this book fruitful and
the end for a general discussion. entertaining.
1. T H E L O C H NESS M O N S T E R
Solutions
Solution 1
There is a prehistoric creature in Loch Ness
1 Since 1933 more than 3000 people have seen it.
2 Eye witnesses give very similar descriptions.
3 Some remarkable photographs have been taken of it.
4 Other prehistoric animals - the coelacanth and the tuatara - survived. Why not
the plesiosaur?
5 People whose honesty cannot be questioned have seen Nessie.
Solution 2
There is no monster in Loch Ness
1 People have seen other things in the lake: logs, shadows, other animals.
2 Many people are easily convinced by others that they have actually seen or
heard something when there is no real basis for it.
3 Some of the pictures taken are the result of touching up, some so cleverly done
that they cannot be disproved.
4 Publicity seekers will do anything to get their names in the newspapers.
5 Scotland has had thousands of visitors since the first mention of a Loch Ness
monster appeared. The Tourist Bureau is probably promoting this.
A NELSON COPY MASTER © GEORGE P M c C A L L U M 1990

2. A T L A N T IS
Solutions
Solution 1
Atlantis is located beneath the Azores
1 The Azores are the tops of the highest mountains on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge,
which runs from north to south in the Atlantic Ocean. They are located on the
island of Atlantis.
2 Certain birds and animals have an instinctive memory of Atlantis. When there is
a lack of food the Norwegian lemming, for example, enters the sea and swims
west until it drowns. It is searching for food and is swimming to a land that used
to be located somewhere west of Norway.
3 During World War II American army pilots flying from Brazil to Dakar often saw
underwater buildings in the vicinity of the Azores.
4 Of 270 authorities on Atlantis over 40% said that it was a sunken island in the
Atlantic Ocean.
Solution 2
Atlantis is the island of Santorini in the Aegean Sea
1 The civilisation described by Plato is much like the Bronze Age Minoan culture,
which ended with a volcanic eruption.
2 Plato placed Atlantis in the waters beyond the ‘Pillars of Hercules’, but he was
confused; the Straits of Gibraltar are not the only ‘Pillars of Hercules’. There are
two high points of land extending out into the Aegean Sea on the coast of
Greece that have the same name.
3 Jacques-Yves Cousteau, the French diver, on an underwater expedition, found a
paved road on the bottom of the Aegean Sea.
Solution 3
Atlantis does not exist
1 Oceanographers say there is no major land mass on the bottom of the Atlantic
Ocean.
2 Stone buildings seen underwater are not man made but are formed by nature.
3 Before Plato’s time no mention was made of Atlantis in Greek literature. Solon’s
story was not thought to be of sufficient importance to write about.
4 Important Greeks, such as Aristotle, regarded the Atlantis story as fiction.
A NELSON COPY MASTER © GEORGE P Mc C A L L U M 1990

3. M A R Y CE LE S TE
Solutions
Solution 1
Fosdyk’s description of what happened was true
1 The carpenter built a platform for Sophia; marks were found on the deck where
he fastened it.
2 The Captain and First Mate had an argument about swimming fully-clothed; the
Captain jumped into the water to prove his point.
3 In order to watch, everyone climbed onto the platform, which collapsed; they
were all thrown into the sea.
4 Sharks suddenly appeared and killed everyone but Fosdyk.
5 Fosdyk was able to avoid the sharks and, holding onto a part of the collapsed
platform, eventually reached the shores of North Africa.
Solution 2
Captain Briggs ordered everyone to abandon ship
1 There was a small explosion among the barrels of alcohol. It was not serious but
there could be more explosions, followed by a fire. The captain was taking no
chances.
2 Everyone got into the lifeboat and moved some distance from the ship.
3 When the danger passed the Captain planned to return to the ship.
4 A big wave came and overturned the lifeboat; everyone drowned.
Solution 3
Pirates captured the Mary Celeste
1 One night, when everyone was asleep, a pirate ship approached the Mary
Celeste.
2 The pirates came aboard, overpowered the man on guard, surprised the others
and took control of the ship.
3 When they discovered nothing of value on the ship they took everyone onto
their own ship.
4 The pirates then sailed to North Africa where they sold their captives as slaves.

4. S T O N E H E N G E
Solutions
Solution 1
it was a cemetery for important leaders
1 It was the tomb of the ancient queen, Boadicea.
2 Other kings, queens and important leaders were buried there.
3 It was a memorial for the war dead.
4 Humans bones have been found in the sacred Aubrey Holes.
Solution 2
It was a place to worship the gods
1 It was a centre for religious life.
2 It was a place of worship for all three phases of Stonehenge.
3 Druids held human sacrifices there.
4 When the Romans arrived they used it for a place to worship their gods.
5 The monument was used by sun worshippers.
Solution 3
It had practical value; it was a big calendar-computer
1 It was used to calculate the length of the year; this was important information,
especially for farmers and sailors.
2 It was used to calculate the eclipse of the sun, which was very important
information for religious leaders. It allowed them to predict the eclipses and thus
gave them great power over their followers.
3 There was no roof on the monument. This was a good indication that early
astronomers used it to make their calculations of the sun, moon and stars.
4 The stones were obviously arranged in a way that made it possible to get
valuable information from the sky.

5. U N I D E N T I F I E D F L Y I N G O B J E C T S
Solutions
Solution 1
There are no UFOs; they are imaginary
1 US Air Force investigators have made exhaustive studies and discovered
nothing concrete.
2 Power of suggestion seems to start a chain of sightings.
3 There is no proof that ‘saucers’ exist outside people’s imaginations.
4 Many stories are purely imaginative, without one word of truth to them.
5 There is no physical evidence to prove the existence of UFOs.
Solution 2
There is definitive proof that UFOs exist
1 Too many prominent people, such as former US President Jimmy Carter, claim
to have seen them.
2 Under hypnosis people have described remarkable encounters with visitors from
outer space.
3 Records of sightings go back at least to the thirteenth century.
4 There is little doubt that authorities are keeping information from us because
they fear mass hysteria.
5 Too often there are unidentifiable objects on radar screens.
Solution 3
The ‘flying saucers’ people see are really from the earth’s atmosphere,
not outer space
1 They are natural phenomena, such as meteorites, space debris, or northern
lights.
2 New, unfamiliar aircraft are being tested; the public is not informed of these
experiments.
3 People see conventional aircraft and mistake them for UFOs.
4 People trying to be funny sometimes release huge balloons into the air as jokes,
saying they are flying saucers; others seeing them are convinced.

6. A B O M I N A B L E S N O W M A N
Solutions
Solution 1
The Abominable Snowman does not exist
1 People with vivid imaginations see bears, apes or some other animal that walks
upright.
2 The footprints are those of some large animal; the heat of the sun shining on the
snow distorts them, making them seem larger.
3 The relics in Tibetan monasteries are those of other animals.
4 No one has been able to capture one of these creatures because the truth is
that they do not exist.
5 These are legendary beings that have lived in the folklore of the people of the
Himalayas and the American Indians for many centuries.
Solution 2
The Abominable Snowman does exist
1 It is not a man. It is not an animal. It is a species completely unknown to us.
2 It probably came out of the Himalayan Mountains originally and, over the
centuries, travelled west, across the Bering Strait to Alaska, down the west coast
of North America. The Yeti, Sasquatch and Bigfoot are all the same creature.
3 Many people have seen these creatures and some, like Albert Ostmann, have
had face-to-face contact with them.
4 The description of the Abominable Snowman, no matter what his local name is,
is always the same.
5 The Abominable Snowman so far has been impossible to capture. One day it will
be caught and scientists will discover that it is not a man or animal but an
unknown species.
66
7. L IZ Z I E B O R D E N
Solutions
Solution 1
Lizzie murdered her parents; it was a planned crime
1 Lizzie told a friend that her father had many enemies. She was afraid something
terrible was going to happen to him soon.
2 The day before the murder she tried to buy prussic acid, a poison.
3 The morning of the murder everyone in the family was sick except Lizzie. No
one knew why.
4 Lizzie said a boy brought a note to the house asking Abby to go to a sick friend.
No note was ever found and no friends of Mrs Borden were sick.
5 Lizzie hated her stepmother and she resented the way her father refused to
spend money.
Solution 2
Lizzie killed her parents during one of her epileptic attacks
1 Three times a year Lizzie had attacks of epilepsy. At such times she didn’t know
what she was doing and later remembered nothing.
2 Lizzie adored her father and would never knowingly have done anything to harm
him.
3 She disliked her stepmother but not enough to murder her.
4 A note brought to the house that morning told of the transfer of Bordenproperty
to Abby’s sister, something originally meant for Andrew’s daughters. When
Lizzie saw the note she had one of her attacks.
Solution 3
Someone else, not Lizzie, murdered the Bordens
One of the following persons could have been the murderer:
1 Bridget - She was in the house and she was angry with Mrs Borden, not only
for making her wash the windows when she felt ill but for many previous things
Abby had done to make her life miserable.
2 John Morse - He hired someone to commit the crime. As manager of one of
Andrew’s farms he had made some dishonest busness deals; if Andrew had
discovered them he would surely have Morse put in prison.
3 Various businessmen in Fall River had strong motives for wanting to see Andrew
Borden dead. It could have been one of them.
4 A suspicious-looking stranger had been seen in the neighbourhood that
morning. A maniac with no motive at all could have entered the house and killed
the Bordens.

8. T H E B E R M U D A T R IA N G L E
Solutions
Solution 1
UFOs captured the ships and planes and their crews
1 Extraterrestrial beings are interested in studying the inhabitants of the earth.
2 Evidently the Bermuda Triangle is a good area to enter the earth’s atmosphere.
3 The leader of Flight 19 mentioned a gigantic flying saucer.
4 The man in the life raft spoke of a ‘weird airship’ that captured his companions.
5 Between 1947 and 1973 more than 140 ships and planes, with a total of 1000
persons aboard, disappeared.
Solution 2
Natural manifestations are responsible for the disappearance
of ships and planes
1 A tornado could have destroyed some of the ships and planes. Violent tornadoes
are common in this area.
2 An underwater volcano could have erupted, destroying the ships and even some
of the low-flying planes.
3 In all cases of some natural cause there would undoubtedly be stormy seas;
therefore, no remains of the ships and fallen planes would be found.
Solution 3
The explanations given by Kusche for the strange disappearances
are all logical
1 Kusche studied the original records of each case with great care; his
conclusions made good sense.
2 The five planes of Flight 19 ran out of fuel and fell into a stormy sea.
3 The Martin Mariner exploded in the sky.
4 The Marine Sulphur Queen broke up in a stormy sea and sank.
5 The number of disasters in such a busy area is not excessive.

9. A M B R O S E B IE R C E
Solutions
Solution 1
Bierce remained in the United States
1 In January, 1914, a man about 70 years old, arrived in Central City, a small
mining town in the Rocky Mountains.
2 He obviously preferred to be left alone in his cabin at the edge of the town. He
seemed to have asthma.
3 When he rented the cabin he signed the contract ‘Albert Billings’.
4 In November, 1915, Billings was found dead in his cabin, probably of a serious
asthma attack.
5 There was nothing in the cabin to identify him except a book about the Civil War
with his initials AB written inside.
Solution 2
Bierce went to Mexico to work for Pancho Villa
1 Ambrose Bierceentered Mexico on 17 December, 1913.
2 He met Pancho Villa and convinced the rebel leaderthat he couldbe useful as a
military adviser. Villa told him that he and Carranza, the other rebel leader, had
quarrelled and Carranza had left. They were now enemies.
3 One evening Bierce and Villa had an argument. Bierce called Villa a cheap bandit
and said he was going to join Carranza. He left.
4 Villa was furious and sent some men to stop Bierce. Bierce was never seen
again.
Solution 3
Bierce went to England to work for Lord Kitchener
1 Ambrose Bierce entered Mexico on 17 December, 1913, and went to Villa’s
headquarters. Villa did not need a miltary adviser.
2 In July, 1914, Bierce got on a ship sailing to England.
3 He wanted to work with the British Secretary of State for War, Lord Kitchener.
Kitchener hired him.
4 Bierce did not remain long because the London weather was bad for his asthma.
5 Italy was now in the war so Bierce went there as a military observer.
6 He was in Italy only a week when a bomb destroyed the hotel where he was
staying. He may not have been in the building at the time but he was never
seen again.

10. ANASTASIA
Solutions
Solution 1
Anastasia was the daughter of Tsar Nicholas II
In addition to those given in the reading there are various other reasons to believe
that ‘Miss Unknown’ was the Grand Duchess Anastasia.
1 It was in the interest of the Russian colony in Berlin to say that all the Imperial
family had been shot; it exposed the Bolsheviks as murderers. Some of these
people first said ‘Miss Unknown’ was Anastasia; then, influenced by leaders of
the colony, denied they had said it.
2 After the murder of the Imperial family the Bolsheviks made a search for
Anastasia. Why did they do it if they were sure she had been killed with the
others?
3 A criminologist examined ‘Miss Unknown’s ’ face and compared it carefully with
many photos of the Grand Duchess. The two faces matched perfectly. This is
not possible unless they are the same person or twins.
Solution 2
‘Miss Unknown’ was an imposter
In addition to those in the reading here are more reasons to believe that ‘Miss
Unknown’ was not the Grand Duchess Anastasia.
1 No records of the young woman’s year in Bucharest, including documents of her
marriage or the birth of her son, could be found.
2 A Polish factory worker, Franziska Schanzkowska, who had disappeared, looked
very much like Anastasia. When the Polish girl’s sister saw ‘ Miss Unknown’ she
insisted it was Franziska.
3 She was a clever imposter. The information she had about the real Anastasia
was public knowledge, taken from books, documents, photos, etc.

Key to exercises
1. T H E L O C H N E S S M O N S T E R
Comprehension check 1 Loch Ness 2 1933 3 Nessie 4 3000 5 bringing Christianity
to Scotland 6 a prehistoric creature 7 glaciers 8 touched-up photographs 9 could not
move in the water as Nessie does 10 they want to see their names in the newspapers
Vocabulary 1k 2g 3 f 4a 5 h 6b 7 i 8c 9d 10 e 11 j
Phrasal verbs 1 d 2a 3b 4e 5c
Grammar A variety of possible answers.
2. A T L A N T I S
Comprehension check 1 Solon 2 Aristotle 3 Azores 4 Sahara Desert 5 Russians 6
bible 7 Thera 8 Crete 9 North Bimini 10 blocks
Vocabulary 1c 2g 3d 4f 5b 6a 7i 8j 9e 10 h
Phrasal verbs 1 d 2c 3e 4b 5a
Grammar 1 that 2 who 3 where 4 why 5 when 6 how 7 which 8 What
3. M A R Y C E L E S T E
Comprehension check 1 T 2 T 3 F The weather was fine until they reached the
Azores 4 T 5 T 6 F They sailed it to Gibraltar. 7 T 8 F Public interest did not let
up. 9 T 10 F During the last eleven years of itslife it was sold seventeen times.
Vocabulary 1k 2e 3 h 4 f 5 i 6b 7 j 8c 9d 10 g 11a
Phrasal verbs 1 e 2a 3b 4 f 5d 6c
Grammar 1 the crew had drunk too much alcohol 2 had been able to continue its course
3 som eone had remained on board 4 had jum ped fully clothed into the water 5 had
climbed onto the platform to watch the captain 6 had killed everyone except Fosdyk
4. STONEHENGE
Comprehension check 1b 2c 3c 4a 5c 6a
Vocabulary 1c 2e 3j 4h 5g 6i 7b 8 f 9a 10 d 111 12 k
Phrasal verbs 1 d 2 c 3 b 4 a
Grammar 1 so 2 so 3 such 4 such 5 such 6 so 7 such 8 so
5. U N I D E N T I F I E D F L Y I N G O B J E C T S
Comprehension check 1 F The monks were in Britain. 2 T 3 F It was created by an
American pilot in 1947. 4 T 5 F He was hypnotised later at a mental health centre.
6 F The men saw the aliens while they (the men) were fishing. 7 T 8 T
Vocabulary 1j 2a 3g 4c 5i 6b 7h 8d 9c 10 f
Phrasal verbs 1d 2 a 3 c 4 b
Grammar 1a 2b 3a 4b 5b 6b 7a 8b
6. T H E A B O M IN A B L E SN O W M A N
Comprehension check 1b 2c 3a 4b 5c 6b 7a 8b
Vocabulary 1 e 2i 3g 4d 5f 6 h 71 8j 9b 10k 11a 12c
Phrasal verbs 1 f 2g 3d4b 5e 6a 7c
Grammar A variety of possible answers.
7. L I Z Z I E B O R D E N
Comprehension check spending/stepm other/disliked/turned dow n/signed over/E m m a/
epilepsy/axe/jury/verdict
Vocabulary 1b 2j 3g 4I 5a 6k 7h 8c 9e 10 i 11 d 12 f
Phrasal verbs 1 d 2c 3a 4e 5b
Grammar 1 short, round, grey-haired 2 pleasant, tall, middle-aged 3 quiet, thin, 41-
year-old 4 kind, little, English 5 (any order - all quality words) 6 large, hardworking, Irish
8. B E R M U D A T R I A N G L E
Comprehension check 1 Bermuda, Puerto Rico, east coast of Florida 2 Barbados to
Norfolk, Virginia 3 routine training flight 4 ever found 5 over 140 planes and ships, with
more than 1000 people aboard, vanished 6 that UFOs were collecting human specim ens to
examine 7 an experienced pilot 8 there were logical explanations for the Bermuda
Triangle mysteries
Vocabulary 1b 2 h 3 j 4 f 5d 6 i 7a 8g 9 e 10c
Phrasal verbs 1 e2a 3d 4b 5c
Grammar 1 since 2 since 3 since 4 for 5 for 6 since 7 since 8 for
9. A M B R O S E B I E R C E
Comprehension check 1 T 2 T 3 F He loved it. 4 T 5 T 6 T 7 F He was sure he
could find a position. 8 F Pancho Villa and Venustiano Carranza were both rebels.
9 T 10 F We don’t know if he entered Mexico.
Vocabulary 1c 2 f 3a 4k 5 j 6 h 7 1 8d 9 g 10 i1 1 b 12 e
Phrasal verbs 1b 2a 3c 4e 5 d
Grammar 1 because of 2 because 3 because of 4 because 5 because of

6 because
10. A N A S T A S I A
Comprehension check 1 F The people at the hospital called her ‘ Miss U nknown’ . 2 T
3 T 4 F Alexander Tschaikovsky 5 T 6 F She was often unpleasant. 7 T
8 F Princess Irene did not believe she was the real Anastasia. 9 T
Vocabulary 1i 2k 3m 4 j 5 d 6a 7 h 8g 9 e 10 n1 1 c 121 13 f 14b
Phrasal verbs 1 f 2e 3b 4d 5 c 6a
Grammar 1 wasn’t used to speaking German 2 to get used to hospital life 3 used to be
pretty 4 was used to being with aristocrats 5 got used to living in different people’s
homes 6 used to live in the Imperial Palace in Moscow.
72

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Nelson English Language Teaching

100 Avenue Road

An International Thomson Publishing Company

© Author George P. McCallum 1990

A cknow ledgem ents

In d ex o f v o cab u lary an d p h rasal verbs 56

* According to the descriptions,

O n e afternoon in A pril 1933, as J o h n M ack ay a n d his wife drove along the

p> What explanation is there for

p What do scientists think

1 foam (/. 6) k a say that something is true

1 pop up (/. 8) a dismiss something as a joke

3 Grammar; the passive

* Where did Plato

R Why are the

Since P lato ’s tim e millions of w ords have been w ritten a b o u t A tlantis. T h e re is a

p What caused the

Early in the tw entieth c en tu ry atten tio n tu rn e d to yet a n o th e r ex p lan atio n of

M o re recently a n A m erican visionary, E d g a r C ayce, looked into the p ast a n d said

8 The Minoan civilisation was centred at Knossos, on the island of

9 Edgar Cayce believed Atlantis was located n e a r__________ , in the Bahama

1 straits (/. 4) c a ran away

1 find out (/. 10) a find by accident

3 Grammar: noun clauses

Does the name Mary Celeste mean anything to you?

Who was the

How many people were aboard the

T en days later, on 5 D ecem ber, C a p ta in M o reh o u se of the Dei Gratia, a n o th e r ship

p What was the most

1 voyage (/. 2) k a large fish that attack people

1 make up (/. 8) a be able to see something

3 Grammar: the past perfect tense of verbs

2 With no one aboard, the Mary Celeste (able/continue/course)

3 The investigators decided that (someone/remain/on board)

4 Captain Briggs (jump fully clothed/into/water)

. How much of the information

N o an cient m o n u m e n t, except p e rh a p s the G re a t P y ram id of Egypt, has been the

R How did the bluestones

T h e re were three phases in the con structio n o f the m o n u m en t. A rchaeologists

O n e o f the m a n y m ysteries of S tonehenge is the fact th a t n o t one of the three

^ Why was the cycle of eclipses

In the late e ighteenth centu ry observers noted th a t a person s ta n d in g in the centre

Complete these sentences by choosing the correct ending for each.

1 plain (/. 6) c a place of religious worship

1 name after (/. 20) a change a thing to something else

Grammar: such a, an/so . . . that

It is sunrise, 21 June, this year. You are at Stonehenge. Describe in a short

O n 1J a n u a r y , 1254, some m onks a t St A lbans, in E n g lan d , stared up into the sky,

F or m a n y people the U F O s can be explained aw ay as im ag in atio n , n a tu ra l

q The public seems

T h e re are m a n y theories a b o u t w h a t these visits by beings from o th er planets

1 monks (/. 1) j a referring to things in the air

1 mistake for (/. 28) a remove objection with convincing

« In what ways are

p How did this ‘wild, hairy man’

0 How did the early settlers of

1 nodded (/. 7) e a changed slightly

1 drop off (/. 10) a become popular