Unit 10

The Bermuda Triangle Phenomenon

The “Bermuda or Devil’s Triangle” is an imaginary area located off the southeastern Atlantic coast of the United States, which is noted for a high incidence of unexplained losses of ships, small boats, and aircraft. The apexes （顶点） of the triangle are generally accepted to be Bermuda, Miami, Fla., and San Juan, Puerto Rico.

The Bermuda Triangle     It should be pointed out that the U.S. Board of Geographic Names does not recognize the Bermuda Triangle as an official name.

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Backgroud Information:

The graveyard of the Atlantic: refers to the BermudBermud

a Trianglea Triangle. It is considered as a graveyard simply b

ecause many planes and ships have disappeared th

ere mysteriously.

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Bermuda   Bermuda was first settled in 1609 by shipwrecked English colonists headed for Virginia. Now Bermuda has developed into a highly successful offshore financial center.

Backgroud Information:

Christopher Columbus (1451-1506)

A Genoese navigator

and explorer for Spain,

Christopher Columbus

explored Caribbean

islands, coast of

Central America, South

America, etc. in the

15th and 16th

centuries.

Backgroud Information:

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Poseidon, god of the sea. When Poseidon fell in love with a mortal woman, Cleito, he created a dwelling at the top of a hill near the middle of the island and surrounded the dwelling with rings of water and land to protect her. The city of Atlantis sat just outside the outer ring of water and spread across the plain covering a circle of 11 miles (17 km).

Atlantis   It is said that over 11,000 years ago there existed an island nation located in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, which was the domain of

Backgroud Information:

Text Structure Analysis

The passage can be divided into 3 parts: Part I (Para. 1-3): The world-shaking disappearance of the planes h

as aroused considerable public interest in the Bermuda Triangle, but there are no convincing answers to this mystery.

Part II (Para. 4-8): On the basis of more mysteries recorded about t

he triangle, several theories are brought forth.

Part III (Para. 9): The Bermuda Triangle remains to be a mystery t

o us and further efforts need to be made.

summary:

More and more mysterious disappearances of ships and planes around Bermuda have given rise to people’s diverse and even fantastic explanations of the Bermuda Triangle phenomenon.

Words and Expressions

disappear without trace claim the life of go as far as turn up attribute sth to to date on display set up

disappear without trace: 消失得无影无踪 trace: n. & v. (L5)

n. A visible mark, such as a footprint, made or left by the passage of a person, an animal, or a thing 痕迹

Fianally and mysteriously, the plane disappeared without trace.

最后，神秘地消失得无影无踪了。

We’ve lost all trace of our daughter. 我们失去了女儿的音信。

v. 1) find or discover about … by examining the direction in which they have gone

She lost all hope of tracing her missing daughter. 她对找到失踪的女儿已不抱任何希望。

2) discover the cause or origin by examining the way of developing

She traced her family tree back to the 16th century.

她追溯自己的祖先至 16 世纪。

claim the life of: kill; deprive sb of his life (L12)

Heart disease is the biggest killer, claiming 180,000 lives a year.

心脏病是最大杀手，每年夺去 18 万人的生命。

A powerful bomb exploded outside the hotel in downtown Jakarta on Tuesday, claiming 16 lives and wounding 150.

星期二在雅加达市中心的一家宾馆外面发生了一起威力强大的爆炸，夺去 16 条生命，伤 150 人。

go as far as: make such a strong statement or take such strong action as to 说 / 做到 ··· 程度 (L23)

He went so far as to call him a fool. 他竟然叫他傻瓜。

We have gone so far as to collect some useful statistics.

我们甚至收集到了一些有用的统计资料。

They went so far as to break off a fruitful discussion on this crucial question.

他们竟然中断了对这个重要问题进行的富有成效的讨论。

(L23-24)译：有些科学家和通俗作家居然猜测此三角地带是外

星人为他们的动物园捕捉人类标本之地。

Whatever/Whoever/Wherever/Whichever/ However/Whenever clause, … 不管 / 不论 ······,······

• Whatever the truth may be, planes and ships regularly disappear in the triangle. (L. 25)

不论真相如何，飞机和船只仍常常消失在这个三角地带。

• Whatever we may think of Tom, we have to admit that he’s a highly competent man.

不管我们怎么看汤姆，我们必须承认他是个非常能干的人。

turn up: (L27)

1) discover1) discover

How do you turn up the necessary proof? 你打算如何去找必要的证据？ I think I can turn up his letter if I look through thes

e files. 如果我在这些文件中找，能找到他的信的。

2) happen

A serious mistake has turned up in the planning.

在规划方面出现了一个严重的错误。

attribute sth to: (L44)

1) regard sth as belonging to

He attributed his success to hard work. 他把自己的成功归于勤奋。

This poem is reportedly attributed to Shakespeare.

据说这首诗出自莎士比亚笔下。

2) be caused by or produced by

The majority of disappearances can be attributed to unique features of the area’s environment.

=… can be caused by the strange features of … ( 三角地带的 ) 大多数失踪事件都 应归咎于该地区的独特 的环境特征。

To date, he has done half the work. 到现在为止，他已完成一半的工作。

To date, we have spent 5 million dollars on the project.

迄今为止，我们在这个项目上投入了 500 万美元。

up to date: newest, modern We want our methods to be up to date. 我们希望我们的方法是最新的。

to date: so far, up to now (L54)

on display: being displayed (L58) Her paintings are on display at the art gallery. 她的绘画作品在美术馆展出。

On display are more than 40,000 samples of export commodities.

陈列的出口商品样品有四万多种。

set up: cause sth to take place; trigger (L35)

The politician’s speech set off violence in the crowd.

那个政治家的讲话引发了人群中的骚乱。

The careless handling of international relations can set off a war.

国际关系处理不慎可能引发战争。

Questions for discussion:

Share with your group-mates some mysterious phenomena you have come across.

Search on the internet for more information about the Bermuda Triangle phenomenon.

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What Enlightenment Can Be Gained from the World’s Mysteries

1) 人类社会面临着世界之谜的挑战。

2 ）分析该挑战给我们的启迪。

3 ）我们应怎样对待之？

Writing:

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1) While we watch man’s ability to tame the nature increase with each passing day, the human world is often at a loss what to do in the face of such challenges as the world’s mysteries. ( 议论的主题 ) 2) The mystery of black holes, for example, has cast much doubt on what we have long been proud of or firmly convinced of. 3) With a constant emergence of the unknown in the future, in fact, man will have to be faced with more and more of such challenges.

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4) If taken seriously, however, these challenges can shed new light on our ways of seeing and changing the world. 5) For one thing, they can help build up man’s curiosity for the world around him, as it is the nature of man to seek for the better explanation of something foreign to him.( 分析 I) 6） For another, they can remind man of his ignorance about the objective world, thus making him aware of the fact that man is still far from perfect in knowledge acquisition.( 分析 II)

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7) And best of all, they can prove man to be a part of the nature rather than the master of the nature.( 分析 III) 8) In this light, man has every reason to take account of all the important factors concerning the nature in the course of his struggle for a better survival and attach to each its due weight. ( 进一步阐述 )

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9) So most important for us now is how to respond to the challenges with positive action. 10) On the one hand, in my opinion, we must give full play to their strong incentive for our further exploration of the unknown world.( 建议 I) 11) But on the other, we must prevent them from becoming the breeding ground for pseudo-science or superstition. ( 建议 II) 12) As long as we see them in perspective, therefore, they will serve as an ever-increasing force behind the human progress. ( 结论句 )

The endThank you!