Unit 9 History’s Mysteries

Objectives:

• Speculate about the out-of-the-ordinary

• Present a theory about a past event

• Discuss how believable a story is

• Evaluate the trustworthiness of news sources

Introduction

Throughout History, there have been unexplained events and misconceptions which can be interesting source of discussion. For example:

The hundred years’ war actually lasted 116 years.

Panama hats are actually made in Ecuador.

The October Revolution was celebrated in November.

The Canary Islands are named after the dogs.

Summit 1: Page 98

Sound Bites

Statements about Strange Stories:

Don’t tell me you buy that story!

(I cant believe you think that story is true!)

You're such a skeptic!

(You always doubt everything!)

There’s no question, that’s story is real!

(The story is definitely real!)

Get out of here!

(You’ve got to be kidding!)

You have such a wild imagination!

(You think up some crazy things)

Seeing is believing

(I have to see something with my own eyes to believe it)

Summit 1: Page 100

Vocabulary Ways to say “I don’t know”

Beats me!

I don’t have a clue

Your guess is as good as mine

You got me!

I can’t imagine!

I have no idea!

Who knows?

Ways to express certainty

Very certain: “Clearly /It’s

obvious / There’s no question…

he’s not coming”

Almost certain: Most likely, probably, I’ll bet… he’s not

coming”

Somewhat certain: “I guess

/I imagine / I suppose… he’s not coming”

Not certain: Maybe /It’s

possible /It could be… he’s not

coming”

“I wonder why he hasn’t arrived yet”

Grammar Snapshot: Reported Speech with Modals

When a reporting verb is in past form, the verb is the reported statement must also shift to a previous past tense:

◦ I went to the store → “She said that she had gone to the store”

You most also change pronouns and possessives to preserve the speaker’s point of view:

◦ My brother got me a gift → “She said that her brother had gotten her a gift”

SUMMIT 1: Pages 100-101

Grammar Snapshot: Reported Speech with Modals

• With → would

• Can → could

• May → might

• Must → had to

• Have to → had to

• Would → would

• Could → could

• Might → might

• Should → should

• Ought to → Ought to

When reporting

with modal verbs some

modals change to previous past and others don’t:

SUMMIT 1: Pages 102-103

Speculating About the Past Using Modals and Passive Voice

You can use: [May-could-must-had to] + [have been] + [past participle]

to speculate with different degrees of certainty:

Very Certain Almost Certain Not Certain

+ Had tp have been Must have been Might have been

May have been

Could have been

- Couldn’t have been Must not have been Might not have been

Cant have been May not have been

SUMMIT 1: Pages 102-103

Word Skill: Using adjectives with suffix -able

Provable:

I don’t think your theory is provable (that can be shown to be true).

Believable:

The story he told seems believable (can be accepted as true, seems possible).

Debatable:

The cause of the explosion is debatable (not easy to prove).

Questionable:

Her version of the story is questionable (uncertain, but most likely to be untrue).

Unsolvable:

The mystery may be unsolvable (impossible to prove).

SUMMIT 1: Page 104-105

Note: Provable /pruvebel/ is different from Probable /prabebel/

Reading: Evaluate trustworthiness of a hoax

Read the articles on your book and select the best answers for the questions below:

Questions Story 1 Story 2

The hoax is about

The news was published

The truth was revealed

The responsible was

Possible answers

1 A filmmaker and a surgeon

2 60 years later

3 diaries written by Hitler

4 As soon as experts examined the diaries

5 London's Daily Mail in 1933

6 a photo of Lock Ness Monster

7 German Magazine Der Stern IN 1983

8 A reporter and an art forger

summit 1: Pages 106-107

Writing: Avoiding sentence fragments

A sentence fragment is a group of words that does not express a complete thought.

A dependent clause: “Because the banker admitted to fraud” (this is a group of words that contains a subject and a verb but begins with a subordinating conjunction that makes it an incomplete thought).

A phrase: “With his help” “At the end of the year” (this is a group of words that does NOT contain a subject and a verb).

Writing: Avoiding sentence fragments

To connect a sentence fragment, we need to attach the fragment to an independent clause to complete the thought:

“Because the banker admitted to fraud, the bank was close down.”

We can also add a subject or a verb to make the fragment into a sentence:

“She graduated at the end of the year.”

Be sure to identify the subordinating conjunctions:

after – as soon as - because – since – unless – until – when – whenever - while.