新視野大學(xué)英語讀寫教程第三冊unit10-a The Bermuda Triangle Phenomenon

Section (A)

The Bermuda Triangle Phenomenon

At 2 PM on December 5, 1945, five Navy aircraft took off in perfect flying weather from a naval air installation in southeastern Florida, 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 without trace. Despite one of history's most extensive search efforts, involving more than 300 planes and dozens of ships, the Navy found nothing, not even an oil stain floating on the water.

This is just one of the many frightening stories told of "the Bermuda Triangle";, a mysterious area of the Atlantic Ocean roughly stretching southwest from Bermuda to the Florida coast and down to Puerto Rico. Among sailors, it is known as "the Graveyard of the Atlantic"; because of the strange weather found there. During the past 30 years, the triangle has claimed the lives of some 1,000 sailors and pilots.

When he entered this stretch of the Atlantic, Christopher Columbus noted curious glowing streaks of "white water". These mysterious patches of light are still visible today and so bright that they have been seen from U.S. spacecraft in orbit around the earth.

The triangle has aroused considerable public interest through three best-selling books, a television show and a special exhibition. 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 a place where beings from outer space hunt human specimens for their "zoos". Whatever the truth may be, planes and ships regularly disappear in the triangle. On July 3, 1947, a U.S. Army airplane disappeared 100 miles off Bermuda without broadcasting any word of difficulty.

An immediate search over 100,000 square miles of sea failed to turn up a single piece of the missing plane. On January 30, 1948, a British airliner vanished over the triangle with 31 passengers and crew aboard. A year later, the missing airliner's sister plane disappeared. Seventy-two search planes, plus dozens of ships, failed to turn up any sign of the missing aircraft.

One of the largest ships claimed by the mysterious triangle was a 500-foot coal ship that disappeared on March 4, 1918. Investigations revealed no evidence of bad weather, no messages for help, no wreckage and no sign of the 309 men aboard. Stranger yet are the numerous "ghost" ships that have been found floating crewless within the triangle. On one weird occasion in 1881, the cargo steamer Ellen Austin discovered a small sailing ship, sails waving uselessly in the wind.

A look through the captain's telescope showed no one on deck. The boat had a full cargo of timber, but there was no sign of human life. The captain of the Ellen Austin installed a new crew to sail it, but two days later, during a rough storm, the two ships temporarily lost sight of each other. When the captain again boarded the boat, he found his crew had disappeared. After a second crew was assigned, the ship was again lost in a fog bank. This time, no trace of the boat — or the crew — was ever found.

Officially, the U.S. Navy does not recognize the triangle as a danger zone and is convinced that "the majority of disappearances in the triangle can be attributed to the unique features of the area's environment." These include the swift Gulf Stream current, the unexplored submerged valleys of the Atlantic and the often violent weather within the mystery zone.

Then too, the triangle is one of only two places on earth where a compass needle points to true north rather than magnetic north, causing problems in navigation. "There are mysterious and strange things going on out there," admits Richard Winer, author of The Devil's Triangle, a book that has sold 500,000 copies since its publication three
months ago. "But I believe that all the answers lie in human error, mechanical problems, strange atmospheric events, or unusual magnetic phenomenon."

On the contrary, officials of another government bureau report, "no reasonable explanation to date has been made for the vanishings." Because of these uncertainties, private investigators have sought more fantastic explanations.

One author argues that beings from outer space have established a highly advanced civilization in the unexplored depths of the Atlantic inside the triangle. There, he believes, most of the missing vessels — and their crews — may still be on display for study by these higher intelligences. "It sounds weird," the author admits, "until you realize that it's the only explanation that covers all the facts."

These and other theories are all examined in Charles Berlitz's current volume The Bermuda Triangle. A man with an interest in Atlantis, the legendary lost island, Berlitz expands upon the theory that a giant solar crystal, which once was the power generator for Atlantis, lies on the ocean floor. From time to time, according to his theory, passing ships and planes set off the crystal, which confuses their instruments and sucks them into the ocean.

To test such theories, an institute is planning to take 300 psychics and scientists on a cruise into the triangle. The researchers hope to make contact with whatever "higher intelligence" may lie under the sea.

Words: 896

New Words

　aircraft n. 飛行器
　naval a. 海軍的，戰(zhàn)艦的
　installation n. 1.設(shè)施；(軍事)基地 2.安裝
　commander n. 指揮官，司令官
　trace n. 痕跡，蹤跡 vt. 1.找到，查出 2.追究，追溯，探索
　stain n. 污點(diǎn)，污跡 vt. 沾污，染污
　southwest ad. 向西南 a. 西南方的，西南部的，來自西南的 n. 西南方，西南部
■graveyard n. 墓地
▲streak n. 1.條紋，條痕 2.個性，特征
　patch n. 1.與周圍不同的斑片 2.補(bǔ)丁，補(bǔ)片 v. 補(bǔ)，修補(bǔ)
　visible a. 看得見的，可見的
　spacecraft n. 宇宙飛船
　orbit n. （天體運(yùn)行的）軌道 v. 環(huán)繞軌道運(yùn)行
　investigate vt. 調(diào)查（研究），審查
　investigation n. 調(diào)查，研究
　outer a. 1.距里面或中心較遠(yuǎn)的 2.外的，外邊的，外部的
　hunt v. 1.尋找，搜尋 2.打獵，狩獵 n. 1.捕獵，追捕 2.搜尋，尋找
　specimen n. 標(biāo)本；樣本
　airline n. 航空公司
　airliner n. 班機(jī)，客機(jī)
　vanish vi. 1.突然不見，消失 2.不復(fù)存在，絕跡
　crew n. 1.船上或飛機(jī)上的全體工作人員 2.一組（或一隊(duì)、一班）工作人員
◆crewless a. 沒有工作人員的
　aboard ad. 在（船、飛機(jī)、公共汽車或火車）上
prep. 在（船、飛機(jī)、公共汽車或火車）上
　missing a. 失蹤的，下落不明的，找不到的
　cargo n. 貨物
　steamer n. 汽船，汽艇, 輪船
　telescope n. 望遠(yuǎn)鏡
　deck n. 甲板；層面
　timber n. 木材
　install vt. 1.任命，使就職 2.安裝
　fog n. 霧
　gulf n. 1.海灣 2.巨大的差距，鴻溝
　submerge v. (使)浸沒，(使)淹沒
　magnetic a. 1.有磁性的，磁的 2.有魅力的，吸引人的
　navigation n. 航行，導(dǎo)航
　error n. 錯誤
　mechanical a. 1.與機(jī)械有關(guān)的，機(jī)械的 2.機(jī)械的，呆板的，習(xí)慣性的
　atmosphere n. 1.大氣（層） 2.氣氛，氛圍
　atmospheric a. 大氣(層)的
　bureau n. 局，辦事處
　solar a. 太陽的，來自太陽的，太陽能的
　generator n. 發(fā)電機(jī)；發(fā)生器
　suck v. 1.吞沒，拉進(jìn) 2.吸，吮，啜
■psychic n. 通靈的人，對超自然力敏感的人 a. （指人）有超自然力的
　cruise n. 航行 v. 旅游航行

Phrases and Expressions

　take off （飛機(jī)等）起飛
　search for 搜尋，探求，尋覓
　without trace 無影無蹤地，了無痕跡地
　tell of 講述，述說，告訴
　go so far as to 說或做到……強(qiáng)烈程度
　turn up 發(fā)現(xiàn)，挖掘 發(fā)生，出現(xiàn)，到來
　attribute sth. to 把... ...歸因于，把... ...歸咎于
　go on 發(fā)生
　on the contrary 恰恰相反，相反地
　to date 到目前為止，迄今
　on display 展覽，陳列
　expand on/upon （對故事、論據(jù)等進(jìn)行）補(bǔ)充
　from time to time 不時，有時
　set off 引起，啟動
　make contact with 接觸，聯(lián)系，結(jié)識，會晤

Proper Names

　Florida 佛羅里達(dá)
　the Atlantic Ocean 大西洋
　the Bermuda Triangle 百慕大三角
　Bermuda 百慕大群島
　Puerto Rico 波多黎各
　the Graveyard of the Atlantic 大西洋中的墓地
　Christopher Columbus 克里斯托弗·哥倫布（意大利航海家，新大陸的發(fā)現(xiàn)者）
◆Ellen Austin "艾倫·奧斯丁"號
　U.S. Navy 美國海軍
　Richard Winer 理查德·文納
◆The Devil's Triangle 《魔鬼三角》
　Charles Berlitz 查爾斯·伯利茨
　Atlantis 亞特蘭蒂斯（傳說中的島嶼，據(jù)說位于大西洋直布羅陀海峽以西，后沉于海底）