Uncovered secrets. a. contemporary d. watch over g. massive b. mystical e. separately h. room c. valuable f. typically i.

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1 Unit 8 Uncovered secrets Vocabulary skills: Synonyms Read these texts. Match each word or phrase in italics with word or phrase that has a similar meaning. The Terracotta Army Thousands of clay soldiers were found near the tomb of Qin Shi Huang, the first Emperor of China who lived over 2,200 years ago. Each clay soldier was 1 individually carved in great detail. The warriors each stand up to two meters tall and weigh up to 300 kilograms. They were put near the tomb to 2 guard the emperor in the afterlife. It is believed that 700,000 workers were involved. As for the Emperor s tomb itself, ancient historians have written that his 3 burial chamber was filled with 4 precious stones, treasure, and models of palaces and ships, and it had rivers of mercury flowing through it. It has never been opened. Easter Island Easer Island, in the South Pacific, is famous for its 5 giant stone statues. Made around A.D they are each 6 on average almost four meters high and weigh nearly 14 tons. They were probably made to show political and 7 spiritual power. But how these hugs stones were lifted up the hills is a mystery. Some 8 modern research suggests that islanders might have moved the statues using logs and ropes. The problem with this idea is that there are no trees on the island. One 9 theory is that over time, islanders made so many statues that they destroyed all the trees. a. contemporary d. watch over g. massive b. mystical e. separately h. room c. valuable f. typically i. explanation Predicting You re going to read three letters giving details of more mysteries. With a partner, guess T (true) or F (false) for each statement. a. Stonehenge is over 5,000 years old. b. In the past, tourists took many pieces of stone as souvenirs. c. Bigfoot is only thought to exist in North American. d. Several museums around the world have crystal skulls. e. Tests show the skulls are thousands of years old. 1

Dear Steve, It s week three of my trip around Europe now, and I m in the U.K. I know you re interested in stories about the mysterious and unexplained well, I have one for you.

2 Dear Steve, It s week three of my trip around Europe now, and I m in the U.K. I know you re interested in stories about the mysterious and unexplained well, I have one for you. Yesterday a dream I ve had for many years came true I visited Stonehenge! It s an amazing place over 5,000 years old and still nobody really know why it was built. The guide told us some of the theories; it might have been a place of worship, like a temple. Perhaps great warriors and rings were brought there for burial. A few people even think it was built by aliens as a place for their spaceships to land! The latest explanation is that it was a place of healing, where people went to be cured of illness and disease. Pretty interesting, eh? Only about half the stones are left, though. The rest were used to build houses, or broken up by visitors and taken away as souvenirs. Can you believe that? Anyway, I m back next month. Let s meet up so I can show you the photos! Love, Beth 2

3 Dear Steve, Greeting from the Rockies! The scenery s fantastic, but it s really cold. I promised I d find out some info for you about Bigfoot while I m in Canada. So, It turns out there are a lot of stories about it here, and in fact, there have been many sightings in British Columbia going back a long time. The native Indians have a name for it-chiye-tanka-which think means big elder brother. It s sometimes called Sasquatch here, too. People say it s supposed to be around six to ten feet tall, like a gorilla but walking on two legs. Just last month, someone said they had seen one up in the mountains near here, so it was all over the news. Did you know that there are stories of a similar creature in other parts of the world, too? It s called Yeti in Tibet, Yeren in China, Yowie in Australia, and Hibagon in Japan. Why do so many people claim to see the same thing? I guess it must exist! Some scientists think it s an ancient ape-like creature, called Gigantopithecus, which was thought to be extinct. I guess it s possible-but why isn t here more evidence? 3

4 Dear Steve, Hope your assignment on the mysterious world is going well. I ve come across another story for you. I don t know if you ve heard of the crystal skulls, but apparently there are about a dozen of them scattered around museums and private collections throughout the world. They re beautiful carving from blocks of crystal in the shape of human skulls. Some say they have special magic powers, and they could have been made thousands of years ago, by accident Aztec civilization her in Mexico, or maybe by aliens (or even by the residents of the lost city of Atlantis!). The guy who told me about them is a bartender at this hotel, and he said they might be a kind of computer which was made to share ancient wisdom. The most famous skull is called the Skull of Doom. He said tests on a skull by the British Museum found the one they have must have been made in the late 19 th century, so it s a fraud, for sure, But he thinks others might be real. Do you remember that movie that came out in 2008 Indiana jones and the kingdom of the Crystal Skull? Great, wasn t it? But I m not sure if believe the story! See you soon, Lauren extinct adj * an extinct animal, plant, or language no longer exists Scattered adj * Spread over a large area Fraud noun ** Something that is not what people claim it is, and is designed to trick people Understanding the text 1. Answer these questions a. Why have Steve s friends sent him this information? b. How long ago did someone report seeing Bigfoot? c. How did Beth know so much about Stonehenge? d. How many stories involve aliens? 4

e. How old do some people think the crystal skulls are? 2. Write T (true), F (false), or N (not in the text) for each statement. a. You can see the Skull of Doom at the British Museum. b.

5 e. How old do some people think the crystal skulls are? 2. Write T (true), F (false), or N (not in the text) for each statement. a. You can see the Skull of Doom at the British Museum. b. Stonehenge used to have twice the number of stones it now has. c. Every crystal skull is exactly the same size and weight. d. There have been recent sightings of Hibagon in Japan. e. Recent research has solved the mystery of Stonehenge. 3. With a partner, write three questions about the text. Then ask your questions to your classmates. 4. Now close your book and tell a partner everything you can remember about these three mysteries. Reading skills: Scanning Read these questions. Then scan the text below and underline the answers. You have two minutes. 1. Where are the Nasca lines? 2. What are they? 3. How big an area do they cover? 4. How many animal figures are there? 5. How many patterns are there? 6. How long are the biggest shapes? 7. When were they found? 8. What is the best way to view the figures? 9. Who made the lines and when? 10. How many explanations for the Nasca lines are mentioned? Nasca lines One of the most amazing mysteries on Earth can be found in the desert of southwest Peru. Here, enormous shapes, complex patterns, and thousands of perfectly straight lines are cut into the desert s surface. They are known as the Nasca lines, and the four sites where they can be found cover 500 square kilometers. Discovered in 1927, there are about 50 huge figures of birds, animals, and insects between 25 to 275 meters long, including the hummingbird, a dog, a monkey, a spider, a condor, and an owl man. There are also 5

6 around 300 very precise geometric patterns. This is the extraordinary legacy of a culture that stretched from 300 B.C. to around 800 A.D. More amazing is the fact that these figures can only be viewed from the air, at an altitude of at least 457 meters. Nobody knows why the lines were made or how. Some people believe the Nasca Indians were somehow able to fly. perhaps in balloons. Of course, there are many theories as to why they were made. German researcher Maria Reiche spent 50 years studying the area and concluded that it was an enormous map of the stars that was used as a calendar. Others say maybe the lines were to carry water for farming, or they might have been sacred roads to walk along on a religious journey. Predictably, a few have also claimed that the lines were landing areas for alien spaceships. The only thing that is certain is that the Nasca lines remain one of the world s most fascinating, unsolved mysteries. 6

Looking for Bigfoot A Reading A Z Level O Leveled Book Word Count: 714

Looking for Bigfoot A Reading A Z Level O Leveled Book Word Count: 714 LEVELED BOOK O Looking for Bigfoot Written by Torran Anderson Illustrated by Norm Grock Visit www.readinga-z.com for thousands of