Activity One
Sherlock Holmes is probably the greatest detective ever known –well, at least he’s one of the most famous.But he never actually existed…he’s an imaginary detective who appears in sixty stories created by the Scottish author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
Doyle was not always a writer.He started his career as a doctor.Fortunately for us, he did not have many patients.He needed money and so he started to write stories .
The first Sherlock Holmes story was pubished in 1887, and was called A study in Scarlet.Later, a magazine published The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and readers loved it!
What makes Sherlock Holmes so special? Well, he was very intelligent and succeful.He always arrested the criminal-every single time –with the help of his partner, Dr.Watson.
In the stories, Holmes lived at 221B Baker Street in London, England.Thousands of people visit that addre every year.There’s also a Sherlock Holmes Museum in London.
Activity TwoMike: …So, we can look forward to warmer temperature.It’ll be a good weekend for the beach.Over to you, Alexa.
Alexa: Thank you for that weather report, Mike.And finally, this story just in.… We have a report that a local man, Nick Brown, saw some strange lights.He was driving home at about 10 p.m.He said the lights were bright and they moved acro the sky.He stopped at a gas station and talked to a police officer about the lights.The police officer had seen the lights, too.
M: Hmmm, … that’s strange story.What happened next?
A: Well, Mr.Brown took some pictures, but there was no film in his camera.Finally, he called his wife on his cell phone.But by that time, the lights were gone.
M: Well, I know that there is a legend around here about mysterious lights … a lot of local people have seen the lights.It’s starting to seem like those lights really exist..What do you think, Alexa?
A: I don’t believe it.I think it’s some kind of hoax!
Activity Three
It was raining heavily.I couldn’t see clearly.I drove slowly.Suddenly, I saw a young girl.She was dreed neatly and standing in the middle of the road.I was surprised! Somehow, I stopped the car quickly.“What are
you doing?” I asked.She looked at me strangely but didn’t answer.“Are you OK?” I asked.“I’m fine,” she answered.Then she smiled happily and walked away quietly.Nervously, I drove to my hotel and checked in.I told the clerk about the little girl.“Do you know her?” I asked.“Oh yes,” he said calmly.“That’s Mary Anne.She died five years ago on that road.It was a car accident during a rainstorm.”
Activity FourIt was early morning, June 30, 1908, in eastern Ruia.Suddenly, a terrible explosion rocked the forest in Tunguska.People fell to the ground, and all the trees for 2000 square kilometers were down.People heard the explosion 800 kilometers away, and the fire burned for many weeks.
A century later, scientists are still trying to find the answer.Here are some poible explanations.
1.An asteroid: Asteroids are very large pieces of rock that goes around in space and sometimes hit the planet.They can cause lots of damage.Some of them weigh as much as 100,00 tons.If an asteroid hit the earth, it would cause a huge explosion.
2.A comet: Comets are giant balls of gas, ice., and rock with long tails.They travel through space in a regular pattern.Encke’s Comet was near Earth in1908, and it’s poible that a part of it broke off and hit the earth.
3.An UFO accident: Some people believe that a spaceship crashed into the ground in Siberia and its engine exploded.
4.An extraterrestrials might have wanted to destroy the earth, so they aimed their weapons at Earth and set fire to the forest.
5.A scientific experiment: Another idea is that scientists made a mistake during an experiment with electricity.A man named Nikola Tesla tried to build a “supergun” that used electricity.Maybe it was a test of his gun and it didn’t work correctly.
Activity Five
Q (question).Where is Marfa and what exactly is it famous for?
A(answer).Marfa is a small town in west Texas in the United States.It’s famous for the “Marfa mystery lights”.
Q.What are the mystery lights exactly?
A.No one knows for sure.There are many different ideas about that.Q.Can you describe them?
A.That’s a difficult question.Different people see different lights.They are not always the same.I can say that they appear after sunset in the sky.They dance mysteriously in air and vanish.Then they suddenly reappear.
Q.Some people say they are car headlights.Do you think so?
A.No.I don’t.A man first saw the mystery lights over 100 years ago.The man was Robert Ellison and the year was 1883.Of course we didn’t have cars in 1883.
Q.What do you think causes the lights?
A.There are many theories.The Native Americans thought the lights were stars falling to Earth.Some people think uranium gas causes the lights.Other people suggest that ball lightning does it.Ball lightning is lightning in the shape of circle.It often appears just after a rainstorm.Q What are some of the weirdest ideas about the lights?
A.Well, some people call them “ghost lights”.They think ghosts do it.That’s the strangest idea.Some say they are UFOs.I don’t think so.
Q.What do the experts say?
A.They can’t figure it out.Some engineers even came from Japan one time.They studied the lights, but couldn’t solve the mystery.Q.Are the local people scared?
A.No, actually, they aren’t.They like the lights.And every year in early September there is a big town festival to celebrate the mystery lights.
