新综合教程 第三册 教学课件 熊选琴 刘重霄Unit 7 3 U7.pptVIP

Unit 7 Text A: Graveyard of the Atlantic At 2 P.M. on Dec. 5, 1945, five U.S. Navy bombers from a naval air station in Florida took off in perfect flying weather, on a routine training mission over the Atlantic Ocean. Less than two hours later, the flight commander radioed that he was “completely lost”. Then there was silence. A rescue plane was sent to search for the missing aircraft and it, too, disappeared. In all, 6 planes and 27 men vanished that day without a trace. Despite one of history’s most extensive search efforts, involving more than 300 planes and dozens of ships, the Navy was unable to discover anything, not even floating wreckage. This is just one of the many chilling stories told about “The Bermuda Triangle”, a mysterious area of the Atlantic Ocean extending roughly south from Bermuda to Puerto Rico then across to the Florida coast. During the past 30 years, the triangle has claimed the lives of some 1,000 seafarers and pilots. Among sailors, it is known variously as “The Triangle of Death” and “The Graveyard of the Atlantic” because of the mysterious calms, waterspouts, and sudden storms that occur unpredictably in its water. When Christopher Columbus entered this area of the Atlantic, he noted curious glowing streaks of “white water”. The mysterious patch of light and foam are still visible today and so bright that they have been seen by U.S. astronauts from outer space. In recent months, the triangle has aroused considerable public interest through three hot-selling books, a television documentary (narrated by a horror master) and a special exposition at the Library of Congress. None of these investigations has produced convincing answers to the mystery of the triangle, but there is no shortage of interesting theories. Some scientists and popular authors go so far as to suggest that the triangle is the hunting ground of extraterrestrial beings in search of human specimens for their “cosmic zoos”. Whatever the truth may be, plan