Flying Objects

1
Flying Objects
1. Background Knowledge
2. Text Analysis
3. Exercises
4. Questions For Discussion
2
Background Knowledge

• UFOs UFO is the short form of Unidentified
  Flying Object, referring to something strange
  seen landing on earth or flying in the sky. Its
  popular name is Flying Saucer. UFOs have been
  reported for many years, but only caught the
  public imagination in the 1950s saucer scare.

3
Background Knowledge

• Sightings of UFOs are reported regularly in
  nearly all countries. In Great Britain alone,
  there are over 100 sightings every year, but most
  of them are erroneous. Many UFOs are only
  ordinary occurrences. Some are weather balloons
  sent up by scientists or aeroplanes flying very
  high or birds with the suns light on them
  others are shooting stars, mirages or reflected
  lights.

4
Background Knowledge

• One modern theory is that UFOs are really
  spacecrafts from other planets. The space
  visitors could come from planets next to distant
  stars. On some of these planets intelligent life
  is thought to exist. But scientists usually
  answer that UFOs are not necessarily spacecrafts.
  They say that people believe in space visitors
  because they like the idea that a wise advanced
  civilization far away is interested in the planet
  of earth. Someday this civilization will make
  contact with the people on the earth and help
  them solve their problems.

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1. True/False Questions 2. Multiple-choice
Questions
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6
True/False Questions

• 1. People use the word unidentified to describe
  the reported flying objects because what
  these objects are is still unknown.
• 2. According to the author many of the UFO
  reports are believable.
• 3. The author says that we must take notice of
  the UFOs and try to explain them in scientific
  ways.
• 4. The author claims that there are many people
  who often laugh at the idea that there are UFOs.
• 5. The author doubts that men can find answers to
  mystery of UFOs in the near future.

7
True/False Questions

• 1. People use the word unidentified to describe
  the reported flying objects because what
  these objects are is still unknown. (T)
• 2. According to the author many of the UFO
  reports are believable.
• 3. The author says that we must take notice of
  the UFOs and try to explain them in scientific
  ways.
• 4. The author claims that there are many people
  who often laugh at the idea that there are UFOs.
• 5. The author doubts that men can find answers to
  mystery of UFOs in the near future.

8
True/False Questions

• 1. People use the word unidentified to describe
  the reported flying objects because what
  these objects are is still unknown. (T)
• 2. According to the author many of the UFO
  reports are believable. (T)
• 3. The author says that we must take notice of
  the UFOs and try to explain them in scientific
  ways.
• 4. The author claims that there are many people
  who often laugh at the idea that there are UFOs.
• 5. The author doubts that men can find answers to
  mystery of UFOs in the near future.

9
True/False Questions

• 1. People use the word unidentified to describe
  the reported flying objects because what
  these objects are is still unknown. (T)
• 2. According to the author many of the UFO
  reports are believable. (T)
• 3. The author says that we must take notice of
  the UFOs and try to explain them in scientific
  ways. (T)
• 4. The author claims that there are many people
  who often laugh at the idea that there are UFOs.
• 5. The author doubts that men can find answers to
  mystery of UFOs in the near future.

10
True/False Questions

• 1. People use the word unidentified to describe
  the reported flying objects because what
  these objects are is still unknown. (T)
• 2. According to the author many of the UFO
  reports are believable. (T)
• 3. The author says that we must take notice of
  the UFOs and try to explain them in scientific
  ways. (T)
• 4. The author claims that there are many people
  who often laugh at the idea that there are UFOs.
  (F)
• 5. The author doubts that men can find answers to
  mystery of UFOs in the near future.

11
True/False Questions

• 1. People use the word unidentified to describe
  the reported flying objects because what
  these objects are is still unknown. (T)
• 2. According to the author many of the UFO
  reports are believable. (T)
• 3. The author says that we must take notice of
  the UFOs and try to explain them in scientific
  ways. (T)
• 4. The author claims that there are many people
  who often laugh at the idea that there are UFOs.
  (F)
• 5. The author doubts that men can find answers to
  mystery of UFOs in the near future. (T)

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Multiple-choice Questions

• 1. In 1954, while flying an aeroplane, Captain
  Howard saw a UFO which he described as
  .
• A)   rather like a very big plate when it flew
  away
• B)   three objects, all looking like telephone
  receivers
• C)   two balls moving in circular directions
• D)   bright smoke with its color changing
  quickly

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Multiple-choice Questions

• 1. In 1954, while flying an aeroplane, Captain
  Howard saw a UFO which he described as
  . (A)
• A)   rather like a very big plate when it flew
  away
• B)   three objects, all looking like telephone
  receivers
• C)   two balls moving in circular directions
• D)   bright smoke with its color changing
  quickly

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Multiple-choice Questions

• 2. The Sutton familys reactions to the
  little men at their farm was one of .
  
• A)   hate and unfriendliness
• B)   excitement and delight
• C)   surprise and fear
• D)   tiredness and disinterest

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Multiple-choice Questions

• 2. The Sutton familys reactions to the
  little men at their farm was one of .
  (C)
• A)   hate and unfriendliness
• B)   excitement and delight
• C)   surprise and fear
• D)   tiredness and disinterest

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Multiple-choice Questions

• 3.The authors attitude toward UFOs can be
  described as follows He believes UFO reports
  .
• A)   can all be explained scientifically
• B)   are mostly the result of peoples
  imagination
• C)   are already proven true, because so many
  people have seen UFOs
• D) mostly remain a mystery, because many
  happenings have not been explained scientifically

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Multiple-choice Questions

• 3.The authors attitude toward UFOs can be
  described as follows He believes UFO reports
  . (D)
• A)   can all be explained scientifically
• B)   are mostly the result of peoples
  imagination
• C)   are already proven true, because so many
  people have seen UFOs
• D) mostly remain a mystery, because many
  happenings have not been explained scientifically

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Multiple-choice Questions

• 4.  A man of sense and experience is
  .
• A)   one who refuses to believe the reports
  about UFOs
• B)   one who would explain a UFO as a result
  of a persons imagination
• C)   one who has the power to understand and
  make a good judgment
• D)   one who never makes a mistake

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Multiple-choice Questions

• 4.  A man of sense and experience is
  . (C)
• A)   one who refuses to believe the reports
  about UFOs
• B)   one who would explain a UFO as a result
  of a persons imagination
• C)   one who has the power to understand and
  make a good judgment
• D)   one who never makes a mistake

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Multiple-choice Questions

• 5. Which of the following is not mentioned as
  an explanation of a UFO?
• A)   Something formed long ago and far away.
• B)   Lights of cars on the roads.
• C)   New space machines built by governments.
• D) Objects sent up in space to study the
  weather.

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Multiple-choice Questions

• 5. Which of the following is not mentioned as
  an explanation of a UFO? (A)
• A)   Something formed long ago and far away.
• B)   Lights of cars on the roads.
• C)   New space machines built by governments.
• D) Objects sent up in space to study the
  weather.

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Questions for discussion

• 1. What is your opinion of UFOs after reading
  the text?
• 2.  If a scientist reported seeing a UFO
  himself, would you then be more likely to believe
  him? Why?
• 3. If there are hundreds of reports each year
  of UFOs, why do you think people generally still
  do not believe in their existence?

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Text Analysis

• Many things in the world are still unknown to
  human beings. UFOs may exist and may be one of
  those unknown things. Here are some reports about
  sightings of mysterious UFOs.
• It is sometimes reported that strange
  objects have been seen high up in the air. These
  Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs) have caused a
  lot of interest. Some of the reports about them
  are difficult to believe. Some have been
  explained in scientific ways. Others have never
  been explained.

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Text Analysis

• It is not easy to decide whether a report
  is true or not. One report of an unidentified
  object came from a British aeroplane on its way
  from New York to London in 1954. The

British machine was flying over an island at
19,000 feet when the captain and others on board
noticed something on the left and rather lower
than their aeroplane. It was about five miles
away.
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Text Analysis

• It became clear, the captain said, that it
  was not one object but several. We saw one large
  object and six smaller objects. I sent out a
  radio report about it, and I received the answer
  that fighter planes were coming out to meet us.
  Before the fighters were in sight, the smaller
  objects entered the big object. The big object
  then became smaller and moved away fast
• unbelievably fast.

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Text Analysis

• The captain later answered a lot of questions
  from newspapermen.
• How long did you have for studying the
  objects, Captain Howard?
• They stayed with us for about six minutes.
• What shape were the objects?
• The large one was continually changing its
  shape, but each of the smaller ones was round
  like a ball.

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Text Analysis

• What do you mean by changing its shape,
  Captain?
• Well at one time the big one had the shape
  of a telephone receiver, but sometimes it was
  round. When it flew away it seemed to be rather
  like a very big plate in shape.
• Tell us, Captain Howard er were you
  afraid? I can truthfully say that I wasnt.
  None of the people in the plane felt any fear. We
  talked about that, and we all agreed that in fact
  we felt friendly towards the objects.

28
Text Analysis

• There are other accounts of flying objects
  which have been seen from the air or from the
  ground. And many of those who have told us about
  them are men like Captain Howard
• men of sense and experience, men whose word can
  be trusted.

29
Text Analysis

• Dennis Bardens, who wrote the book
  Mysterious Worlds, tells us that he once saw a
  UFO himself. He had dinner one night with a
  friend near Tripoli, Libya, and after dinner the
  two men walked across to his room to look at some
  papers. Bardens noticed a light high up over the
  sea. It was a red light.

30
Text Analysis

• He turned to his friend, and mentioned that
  the moon looked strange that night.
• It isnt the moon, was the replay.
• They watched the light and saw that is was
  moving. It seemed to be an object rather like a
  big plate. In some ways it looked like smoke with
  a light on it but it was not smoke because it
  did not change its shape. It was moving in a
  regular way. That is to say, it did not go
  suddenly faster or more slowly, and it did not go
  higher or lower. So the two men decided that
  there must be men in it.

31
Text Analysis

• When it came nearer to Libya, Bardens says
  that he felt eyes looking at him. He was being
  watched in the darkness.
• When it was nearer, they noticed that the
  bottom parts were brighter than the top. The
  bottom was yellow and the top red. Then the
  object suddenly turned away and left Libya,
  moving very fast.
• On a later day Bardens talked to other people
  about it, and he found some who had seen it. They
  all described it in the same way. Could they all
  be mistaken?

32
Text Analysis

• Other people in different parts of the world
  believe that they have seen UFOs. Those who used
  to laugh at the idea do not laugh so often now. A
  lot of reports and books have been written on
  this subject, and it seems impossible to take no
  notice of them. Few people really believe in
  UFOs, but perhaps they will in the future. Let us
  consider another of the reports. Let us describe
  the landing at Kelly.
• Kelly is a small town north of Hopkinsville
  in Kentucky, North America. The event was seen by
  several people, and was reported in the
  newspapers. The police and the Air Force were
  also interested in it.

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Text Analysis

• It happened on the night of Sunday 21 August
  1955. Three children and eight grown-ups were
  present at the time. At seven oclock in the
  evening Billy Ray Sutton, young son of the
  family, went out of his fathers farmhouse to get
  some water for a drink. When he came back, he
  told the family that he had seen a UFO. He added
  that it had landed behind the farmhouse.

34
Text Analysis

• Nobody in the house
  was very surprised. They all
  thought that Billy had seen a falling star. But
  about an hour later, a moving light was noticed
  outside the windows. It was coming towards the
  farmhouse. Soon, when the light was nearer, the
  family could see a little man. His hands were
  held high up as he came towards them.

35
Text Analysis

• 
  The people in the farmhouse were now really
  surprised they did not understand this at all.
  The men got out their guns, and two of them fired
  shots at the unknown man. He was hit by the shots
  and fell down. Then he disappeared in the
  darkness.

36
Text Analysis

• The two men went back into the house, but
  then they saw another little man or perhaps it
  was the same one. He appeared at the window, and
  they fired at him again. He disappeared again (if
  he was the same one). The two men went outside
  and saw another little man on the top of the
  house. They fired at him and also at another who
  was up a tree. They hit the man in the tree, but
  he did not fall to the ground like a man who has
  been shot. He fell gently and slowly like a piece
  of paper falling through the air.

37
Text Analysis

• It appears that shooting these little men
  did not kill them. Taylor, one of the men in the
  farmhouse, saw another and shot him too. He heard
  the shot strike him and then fly off his body.
  The little man fell down. Taylor continued to
  shoot at these men. Everyone was now rather
  afraid and soon they all left the farmhouse and
  drove in their car to the Hopkinsville police
  station.

38
Text Analysis

• In our world, any story of this kind makes
  people think of drink. Perhaps the Sutton family
  had been drinking rather too much and were not
  telling the truth. But everyone who was there
  said that the Suttons had not drunk anything, and
  indeed did not often drink. They were not a
  drinking family, as someone said. It was also
  generally agreed that the Suttons, when they
  reached the police station, were very much afraid
  of something.

39
Text Analysis

• The police acted at once. Policemen and
  officers drove towards the farmhouse, and one of
  them noticed moving lights up in the air. These
  were coming towards the farmhouse from the
  southwest, and two of them could be heard above,
  making a strange sound.

40
Text Analysis

• The family naturally did not want to go back
  into the farmhouse. They only did so when the
  officers had gone inside and found nothing
  unusual there. The officers asked a lot of
  questions about the little men and learned a
  few facts. The eyes of the little men were very
  big and could not bear a strong light. They
  always arrived from a dark corner. Indeed, one
  way of stopping them from coming to the house was
  to turn on all the lights. Then they stayed away.
  They did not seem to walk as we walk, but to move
  through the air above the ground. They stood
  about four feet high and had pointed ears. They
  wore some kind of metal clothes.

41
Text Analysis

• There are hundreds of reports of this kind.
  Must we believe them? If these things are not
  objects from other worlds, what are they?

42
Text Analysis

• The lights of cars on the roads may
  sometimes have strange effects up in the air, and
  people may notice these. Scientists do send
  objects up so that they may study the weather.
  Perhaps some governments build new space machines
  and send them up to find out if they work well.
  Perhaps people think they see things when there
  are none but this cannot explain anything if a
  lot of people report the same thing.
• Time may tell us the answer to this mystery,
  but it may be a long time.

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43
unidentified QnaI5dentIfaId adj. ??????????
which can not be identifiede.g. The dead man is
still unidentified. ??????????
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44
scientific saIEn5tIfIk adj. ??? guided by
the rules of sciencee.g. Scientific farming can
greatly increase the production.
????????????
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aeroplane 5ZErEplein (AmE)airplane
heavier-than-air flying machine with one or more
enginese.g. The aeroplane finally landed
safely. ?????????
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46
captain 5kAptIn n. ??,?? leader or
commandere.g. The captain told us there is
nothing to worry about. ??????????????
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47
newspaperman njUs9peIpEmAn n. ??
journaliste.g. Newspapermen enjoy certain
privileges. ?????????
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48
continually kEn5tInjJElI adv. ???,??? again
and again without stoppinge.g. Language is a
living and continually changing thing.
????????????????
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49
receiver rI5sivE n. (??)?? part of a
telephone that is held to the eare.g. From the
receiver came out her beautiful voice.
????????????
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50
truthfully 5truWfulI adv. ?????? honestly,
franklye.g. He admitted truthfully that it was
all his fault. ??????????????
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51
account E5kaJnt n. ?????? report,
description, narration, statement of money paid
or receivede.g. Dont always believe newspaper
accounts of events. ????????????
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mysterious mI5stIErIEs adj. ???????? full
of, suggesting, covered in, mysterye.g. No one
could tell us anything about the mysterious
stranger. ??????????,???????
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grown-up rEJn-Qp n. ??? adult, an mature
mane.g. Now you are a grown-up, so you should be
responsible for your behavior.
??????????,????????????
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54
shot FRt n. ???? firing of a gune.g. At
each shot he got nearer to the center of the
target. ?????????????
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55
naturally 5nAtFErElI adv. ????? of course,
as might be expectede.g. I naturally answered
her letter immediately. ???????????
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56
pointed 5pCIntId adj. ?? sharp, not
rounde.g. We can see the pointed roof of the
church from here. ???????????????
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mystery 5mIstErI n. ?????,? sth of which the
cause or origin is hidden or impossible to
understande.g. The murder remained an unsolved
mystery. ???????????????
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58
in sight near, able to be seen?????e.g. There
was no one anywhere in sight. ????????
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at one time ???????,??e.g. At one time I used to
play a lot of sport, but I seem to have lost
interest now. ??????????,?????????????
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60
turn away ????,??e.g. She turned away in horror
at the sight of so much blood.
???????????????
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61
take no notice of ????e.g. They took no notice
of his success. ?????????
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not at all ???e.g. He wasnt tired at all.
????????
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turn on ?(?)e.g. Ted turned on the light in his
room. ??????????
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stay away ???,??e.g. Stay away from dangerous
electrical things. ??????????
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65
????????????????,?????????,?????????????????????,?
????????????,?????,???,???????????
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He was being watched in the darkness.???????????
?
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67
Those who used to laugh at the idea do not laugh
so often now.???????????????????????????
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68
They hit the man in the tree, but he did not fall
to the ground like a man who has been shot. He
fell gently and slowly like a piece of paper
falling through the air.?????????????,???????????
???,????????????????????
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69
In our world, any story of this kind makes people
think of drink.??????????????????????makes
people think of drinkmakes people think that
the family might be drunk
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70
They were not a drinking family, as someone
said.????????????
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71
They did not seem to walk as we walk, but to move
through the air above the ground. They stood
about four feet high and had pointed
ears.??????????,??????,?????????,?????????????
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72
The lights of cars on the roads may sometimes
have strange effects up in the air, and people
may notice these.???????????????????????????,????
??????????
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73
It is sometimes reported that strange objects
have been seen high up in the air.?????,?????????
?????
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74
Before the fighters were in sight, the smaller
objects entered the big object. The big object
became smaller and moved away fast unbelievably
fast.??????????,??????????????????????????,?????
???????????
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75
When it flew away it seemed to be rather like a
very big plate in shape.???,??????????????
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76
In some ways it looked like smoke with a light on
it but it was not smoke because it did not
change its shape.??????,???????????????????,?????
???
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77
A lot of reports and books have been written on
this subject, and it seems impossible to take no
notice of them.??????????,??????????,???????,????
??????????
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78
It appears that shooting these little men did
not kill them.?????????????????
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79
the British machine the British aeroplane
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80
Tripoli, Libya (trIpElI 5lIbIE) capital
of Libya which is a country in North Africa
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81
Have you heard of UFOs before?Do you believe in
their existence?
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82
Whats the authors attitude towards these
reports?
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83
Do you think that the mystery of UFOs will remain
unsolved for ever?
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