3 Mysteries

WDYT? What makes a

good mystery?
(What do you think?)

Vocabulary: extreme
adjectives; descriptive
adjectives; adverbs of manner,
place and time
Grammar: modal verbs of
deduction and speculation;
past perfect
B
Reading: a magazine article
about modern-day mysteries
Listening: a podcast about
the Voynich manuscript
Speaking: expressing
certainty and doubt
Writing: a narrative
Project: write and act out a
film script

VIDEO SKILLS

Video skills p37

Extreme adjectives
1 Look at the words in the box. Which are used …
amazing ancient awful delighted exhausted
freezing huge tiny unforgettable

Real-world speaking p43 1 to describe how people feel? 2 to describe things?

2 Describe the photos using the words in exercise 1. What do you know
about them?
• a pyramid • Aztec sun stone • crop circles
• dark matter • Kryptos sculpture

Project pp46–47 Descriptive adjectives

3 Read the text and check the meaning of the adjectives in bold.

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C
Vocabulary 3
4 Match the words in the box to the definitions.
disappointing dramatic entertaining
puzzling unbelievable

1 not as good as you had hoped for or expected

2 too unlikely to be true
3 enjoyable or fun to do
4 exciting and impressive
5 confusing or difficult to understand or solve

5 Work in pairs. Talk about books or films

using the adjectives in exercises 3 and 4.
D
I loved A Spy in the House! It’s entertaining
and original.

One of my favourites is the last Harry

Potter book. It’s thrilling and frightening.

6 19Listen to four people talking. Which

of the photos are they describing? Which
adjectives do they use?

VIDEO SKILLS
E

7 Watch the video. What scenery and

nature do you see?
Teens recommend
Can you recommend a good mystery book or film? 8 Work in pairs. Discuss the questions.
1 What type of video is this?
Watch The Maze Runner. It’s about a boy who has to
a an advert for a travel agency
escape from a maze. There are frightening bits, but
it’s a really thrilling and original story. Very enjoyable! b a travel vlog
c a mini documentary
I loved Ingo! Sapphire and her brother Conor live 2 What makes the video interesting and
by the sea. One day, Sapphire follows Conor and attractive? Think about music, images and
discovers Ingo, a fascinating world under the sea. It’s colour.
a realistic story and there are some amusing bits too.
3 Who do you think the audience for the
video is?
Ink is an unforgettable book! It’s about a curious
world with two societies: people who tattoo their
life events on their skins and the ‘blanks’ who don’t.
They fear each other, but should they? It was really
inspiring and thought-provoking.

Pronunciation: Word stress in longer words p116 37

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3 Reading and critical thinking
A magazine article 4 Read and listen to the text. Are the
20

sentences true or false? Correct the false

1 Look at the photos and headlines. What do the sentences.
two stories have in common? 1 Blue dogs were seen in cities all over the world.
2 Some of the dogs had owners and others lived on
2 What do you think might be the explanation for the streets.
the two mysteries? Scan the texts and check
3 The dye factory was many kilometres away from
your guesses. the river.
Text A The dogs are blue because … 4 Ego Leonard is the real name of the Dutch artist.
a someone painted them. 5 It is not clear what the slogan on the figures means.
b they ate food which turned them blue.
c they are a new species of blue dog. 5 Choose the correct option.
d something else happened. (What?) 1 When a journalist posted photos of the blue dogs …
Text B The large figure on the beach is … a people from different countries became
a a trick photo. interested.
b advertising. b people were puzzled and worried.
c part of an environmental protest. 2 It was unlikely anything in the river made the dogs
blue because …
d something else. (What?)
a the river was too far from the dye factory.
b no dogs were ever seen in the river.
Subskill: Guessing meaning
3 Why did the dogs go in the puddles?
When you find a word you don’t know, try to guess
the meaning. a They were hot.
b They were thirsty.
• What part of speech is it?
4 Which is true about the figures?
• Do you recognise any part of the word?
a They were made to advertise a toy.
• Can the word/sentences before/after help you? b They are nearly two metres tall.
• Can the topic help you? 5 Ego Leonard …
a may be responsible for making the figures.
3 Word work Use the Subskill tips to guess b said that he had made the figures.
the meaning of the words in bold in the text.
1 locals 6 Work in pairs. Answer the questions.
a people who live nearby 1 Which story did you think was more interesting?
b places Why?
2 turned out 2 Have you heard of any similar mystery stories?
s
a arrived
b resulted / that had a particular result CRITICAL THINKING
3 dye
a substance used for changing the colour 1 Understand Read the second
of fabric or hair story and find the two different
ideas on why it might have happened.
b machine to produce electric parts
2 Analyse Explain the ideas and why they are/
4 puddles aren’t possible. Think of other possible solutions.
a strange things that happen 3 Evaluate Decide on a solution to the mystery
b small pools of liquid and justify your reasons for it.
5 advertising stunt
a ordinary advertising campaign
b unusual advertising done to get public attention
6 slogan
a short phrase that is easy to remember
b word puzzle that uses logic

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 3

Modern–Day Mysteries
Blue dogs and giant plastic figures.
Unbelievable or fascinating? It
seems everyone loves a good mystery
and solving them is fun – but do all
mysteries have a solution?

A Mystery blue dogs

It’s not every day you see bright blue dogs. When they started appearing in Mumbai in India, locals
found it puzzling, then worrying. A journalist posted photos on social media and the story quickly
went viral. Soon, people from all over the world wanted to know what had happened. Could someone
have painted them? Was it a joke? Were they a new species? It turned out that all the dogs were ‘street
dogs’ without owners. At first, people thought that the dogs could have been in a polluted river and
this somehow turned them blue. However, nobody had ever seen dogs there. Then locals noticed dogs
on the land outside a dye factory a few kilometres away from the river. The dogs had managed to get
inside the fences. There were puddles of blue dye all around. It was very hot and the dogs must have
rolled in the water to cool off, leaving their fur blue. Luckily, the colour wasn’t permanent and the dogs
were fine!

B Giant man found

on beach
Finding a plastic figure on a beach might not sound
particularly curious, but when it’s 1.8 metres high, it is!
When people first saw the photos, they thought they
weren’t real – but the figure, which looks like a giant
Lego man, is real. It was found on a beach in Japan,
and similar figures have appeared on beaches around
the world, including the Netherlands and the UK. It
can’t be a dramatic advertising stunt, as some people
thought, because Lego have said they didn’t create the
figures. So, who is making them and why? One theory
is that they might be the work of a Dutch artist who
calls himself ‘Ego Leonard’. He might have made the
figures to protest about the amount of plastic in our
oceans. Leonard hasn’t confirmed if this is true. All the
figures have the curious slogan ‘No Real Than You Are’
on them. What does it mean? Did Leonard make the
figures? Why? Nobody is sure – perhaps you will solve
the mystery!
A girl plays near a giant smiling Lego man in Zandvoort.
REUTERS/Marco de Swart (NETHERLANDS)

The longer read Resource centre 39

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3 Grammar

Modal verbs of deduction couldn’t

and speculation We can use both couldn’t and can’t to speculate and
make deductions about the past.
1 Read the examples and choose the correct He can’t/couldn’t have had bad news.
option to complete the rules.
3 Look at the photo and complete the
Present Past sentences. Use a modal and past form of the
It must be a joke. It must have been verbs in brackets.
a joke.
1 He (…) (have) bad news.
It might be the artist’s It might have been the
work. artist’s work. 2 He (…) (win) something.
The figures could be a The figures could have 3 He (…) (get) a new job.
protest. been a protest. 4 He (…) (hear) something
It can’t be an advertising It couldn’t/can’t have been wonderful.
stunt. an advertising stunt. 5 He (…) (ask) his girlfriend
to get married. If so, she
1 We use must when we think that something is (…) (say) ‘yes’!
definitely/possibly true.
2 We use could and might when we think 4 Complete the text with present or past modals
something is definitely/possibly true. and the correct form of the verbs in brackets.
3 We use can’t when we think something is It 1 (…) (be) in a museum, or it 2 (…) (be) in an art
definitely not/possibly not true. gallery. It isn’t clear. He 3 (…) (like) the sculpture
4 To talk about the present/past we use the modal because he is taking a photo of it. Also, there
verb + infinitive, and to talk about the present/ 4 (…) (be) any rules about taking photos there.
past we use modal verb + have + past participle. The photographer 5 (…) (take) the photo recently
because the camera looks quite old. I suppose he
2 Look at the photo and read what people said 6 (…) (be) a history or art student. I’m not sure, but
about it. Complete the sentences with must, he 7 (…) (do) a project about this sculpture recently,
could, might or can’t. Do you agree? and that’s why he’s there.
1 The photo (…) be in Britain or it (…) be in another
country. I’m not sure.
2 It (…) be in a town because there aren’t any
tunnels like this in villages.
3 She ‘s wearing a dress, so she (…) be a runner.
Definitely not.
4 She (…) know the photographer, or he (…) be a
stranger.
5 She (…) want to go through the tunnel, or she
wouldn’t be there. I’m sure of that.
6 It (…) be night time because I can see daylight at
the end of the tunnel.
5 Answer the question to solve the Brain teaser.

B R I N
A TEASER

A man lived on the tenth floor of a block of

flats. Every morning, he used to get in the lift
and go all the way down to the ground. Every
evening, he got out on the fifth floor and
walked the rest of the way.

Why?

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