Unit XVI. Mysteries of our planet

Vocabulary

1. aliens – пришельцы

2. bad habits – вредные привычки

3. buried alive in a coffin – заживо погребенная в гробу

4. combustion– горение, возгорание, сжигание

5. evidence– доказательство, свидетельство, факт

6. hypnosis– гипноз

7. investigate– исследовать, расследовать

8. mist- туман

9. mysterious– загадочный, мистический

10. mystery– загадка, тайна

11. ropetrick- трюк с веревкой

12. starvation – голод

13. subconscious mind

14. subconsciously - подсознательно

15. UFO - НЛО

16. unexplained - необъяснимый

17. unknown - неизвестный

18. unpredictable - непредсказуемый

19. untouched - нетронутый

20. vanish– раствориться, исчезнуть

21. victim- жертва

22. witness - свидетель, очевидец

Ex. 1. Read the texts and tell you opinion about these cases. Do you believe it or not?

Spontaneous Human Combustion

Spontaneous Human Combustion (SHC) is the complete burning of a person's body while surrounding objects and even the victim's clothing may remain mysteriously untouched. There is usually evidence of a brief, intense fire and selective burning of other objects in the room. The most famous case of SHC was the case of Beatrice Oczki of Bolingbrook, Illinois, USA. Mrs. Oczki had been watching TV with a friend on the night of November 24, 1979. The friend left after dinner but when she returned the following morning, she found her friend dead. Although her body was totally burned, the TV was still on, and a newspaper and a carpet foot from the body were undamaged. The paint on the ceiling above the body had peeled off because of the heat, a beer can had exploded, and a videotape on top of her videocassette recorder had melted. Mrs Oczki's two dogs had also died because the fire had consumed all the oxygen in the room

Mysterious Lights

One day, about lunchtime, Brian O'Nell was hiking with two student friends in the hills of the Peak District in England. They had left their car in the valley and were walking uphill, heading for one of the peaks. Halfway there, they saw a clear, bright light a few hundred yards in front of them, shining in their direction. There was no cloud or mist, and all three students saw the light clearly. At first they thought it must be other hikers on the moor, so they flashed their lamps in reply. Then, they decided to investigate, thinking it might be someone in trouble. They walked for about a quarter of an hour, but found that it was just as far away as when they had started. If it was someone in trouble, why would they run away?

The Indian Rope Trick

In the classic version of this trick, an Indian fakir throws a rope into the air. Before it can fall to the ground, the rope becomes rigid A small boy then climbs up the rope and disappears when he reaches the top. The fakir follows with a knife, vanishes, and then parts of the boy's body apparently fall to the ground. The fakir then comes down the rope again, puts the body parts into a basket, and brings the boy back to life. This trick has often been performed in India in open-air street shows but has never been observed under scientific conditions. There have been many eyewitness accounts, some of them dating back to the nineteenth century.