Edgar Mitchell, who is one of only 12 men to have walked on the moon, told a British radio station recently that the Earth has definitely been visited by beings from other planets.
“It’s been well covered up by all our governments for the last 60 years or so, but slowly it’s leaked out* and some of us have been briefed on* some of it,” he said.
He specifically mentioned* the Roswell incident, and said that the common portrayal* of aliens* as short beings with big heads and big eyes is correct. “As far as I know from my contacts who have had contact, that looks pretty accurate,” he said.
Many UFOlogists believe that
the dead body of an extraterrestrial* was recovered* from a crashed* spacecraft in Roswell, New Mexico, USA, in 1947.
Mitchell’s moon walk took place in 1971. The last manned moon landing was in 1972, and all of the surviving astronauts who have been to the moon are over 70 years old. Dr. Mitchell is 77.
The American space agency, NASA, denied* being involved in* a cover up. “Dr. Mitchell is a great American, but we do not share* his opinions on this issue,*” a spokesman said.
Vocabulary:
claim
coverup
leak out
be briefed on
mention
portrayal
alien
extraterrestrial
be recovered
crashed
deny
be involved in
share
issue
Question for discussion:
Do you believe that we have been visited by extraterrestrials?

He Believes Aliens Are Real

A 9 year old girl in New Zealand, Talula Does The Hula From Hawaii, took her parents to court and won the right to change her name. Judge Rob Murfitt ruled* that the girl had been left with an “unnecessary social disability and handicap.” He said: “The court is profoundly* concerned about* the very poor judgment* which this child’s parents have shown in choosing this name.”
The girl has been made a ward* of the court and has been given a new name, which has not been publicly revealed* due to privacy concerns.
Other parents in New Zealand have recently given their children such strange names as Number 16 Bus Shelter, Midnight Chardonnay and Violence, but courts have prevented* other parents from naming their babies Sex Fruit, Yeah Detroit and Cinderella Beauty Blossom.
Vocabulary:
hula
rule
profoundly
be concerned about
judgment
be made a ward of
be revealed
prevent
Questions for discussion:
How strange is too strange?

British blues singer (Rehab, Valerie) Amy Winehouse may have a new career, if the music business doesn’t work out.
Marlon Brooks, a sugar beet* farmer in Norfolk, England, has modeled a scarecrow* after her, and he says it works brilliantly!
“The pigeons* are terrified, they’re sitting up on the telephone wires* too scared to come into the field.” he said.
He got the idea when he was discussing scarecrows with his friends in a pub and one said “There’s nothing scarier than Amy Winehouse.”
Vocabulary:
scare
sugar beet
scarecrow
pigeon
wire
Question for dis­cussion:
Are you a fan of Amy Winehouse?

Brooks and Winehouse

Everywhere you look, you see advertising. It’s on cars, buildings and athlete’s uniforms. It’s on TV and the internet. It’s on cups and caps, bags and T-shirts.
Now, deodorant manufacturer Right-Guard has found a new place. They have found a way to install small digital TV screens* in the armpits* of shirts. They recently sent a group of “pitvertisers” out into the streets of London to test public reaction. The screens can be seen clearly especially when someone has their arm raised* to hold on while on the bus or the metro.
Public reaction has been mixed. Some people were fascinated by the technology, while others found the concept disgusting.*
Vocabulary:
advertising - ankündigend
screen - Bildschirm
armpit - achselhöhle
raised - erhoben
disgusting - eckelhaft, übel
catch on - Anklang finden
Question for discussion:
Will this catch on?*

Is This Cool or Gross?

Prince Charles of England is trying to do his part to help fight air pollution.* He has converted* one of his cars, a 38 year old Aston Martin, to run on wine!
It’s mostly a symbolic gesture.
“Charles only traveled two or three hundred miles a year in the Aston but he wanted it to be environmentally friendly,*” Sir Michael Peate, Prince Charles’ chief aide* said. “It just happened that our ethanol supplier* makes the fuel* from surplus* English wine.
Vocabulary:
run on - fortfahren
pollution - Umweltverschmutzung
convert - Konvertit
environmentally friendly - klima-, umweltfreundlich
aide - Hilfskraft
supplier - Lieferant
fuel - Brennstoff
surplus - überschüssig
Question for discussion:
Why don’t all cars run on wine?

The Green Prince

Chinese people have a reputation for being hard working, and westerners are often amazed at* how long they can work without a break. But at a restaurant in Yiwu, China, even the locals were amazed. They nicknamed* it “The Robot Couple Restaurant” because it seemed as if the couple who owned* it were working constantly from 6 a.m. to 3 a.m.
Now, the mystery has been solved.
A journalist went to interview them to find out* how they did it, and the answer was very simple. They were not one couple but two. Mao Zhanghua, 32, and his identical twin brother married identical twin sisters 3 years ago. They both have sons, about the same age, who also look similar.
“Many diners thought we worked too hard and are like robots, but they don’t know that we are actually 4 people,” Mao said.
All 4 say they are happy running their restaurant, because it allows* them to live together like a big family. They also like the robot nickname because they say it accurately describes* their busy lives.
Vocabulary:
mystery - geheimnisvoll
solved - gelöst
be amazed at - erstaunt sein über
nickname - Spitzname
own - eigen
find out - herausfinden
allow - erlauben
describe - beschreiben
Question for discussion:
Do you like Chinese food?

The Robot Family

Dixon and Willoughby, two radio hosts* in Florida, USA, recently had a contest.* They offered $100 worth of* gasoline* to the listener who offered the most interesting trade.*
David Partin, a 26 year old landscaper,* offered them the right to name his first born son.
Dixon and Willoughby (that’s one name) Partin will be born in December. His mother, Partin’s girlfriend Samantha, said. “Well, it was his choice.* I’d told him that if it was a girl, I’d name her, and if it was a boy, he’d get to choose.”
She admitted* that her son might hate his name, but said “After he grows up some, he’ll always have a story about his name.”
Vocabulary:
host - Wirt, Gastgeber
contest - Wettkampf
worth of -
gasoline - Benzin
trade - gewerblich
landscaper - Landschaftsgärtner
choice - Auswahl
admit - zugeben, erlauben
Question for discussion:
Is this bad parenting?

An unemployed truck driver in the United States has been arrested for* impersonating* a police officer, among other things.
Bill Jakob, 37, arrived in the small town of Gerald, Missouri, USA, (population 1,200) and identified himself as an FBI agent from the multijurisdictional* division. There is no such division, but it was mentioned* in the Eddie Murphy film “Beverly Hills Cop.”
While in Gerald, he led armed raids,* made arrests and interrogated* suspects.* One elderly woman said she was forced* into a psychiatric ward* when she refused* to cooperate with him and another man said that Jakob held a gun to his head and threatened* to shoot him in front of his children.
After numerous complaints* about his behavior,* his fraud was uncovered* by a local newspaper. Jakob said that he “purely* wanted to help fight crime.”
He could be sentenced to* as long as 105 years in jail.
Vocabulary:
fraudulent - betrügerisch
be arrested for - verhaftet worden für
impersonate - verkörpern, darstellen
multijurisdictional -
be mentioned - erwähnt werden
armed raid - bewaffneter Ueberfall
interrogate - verhöhren
suspect - fragwürdig
be force -
ward - abhalten
refuse
threaten
complaint
behavior
be uncovered
purely
be sentenced to
Question for discussion:
Why would someone do this?

Bill Jakob

Getting a pedicure is nothing unusual. But a new type of pedicure is becoming very popular in the United States. Customers* dip* their feet in a tub of warm water and a school of about 100 small fish nibble away* the dead skin.
One satisfied customer, Tracy Roberts, said “It was the best pedicure I’ve ever had.” She added: “I’ve been an athlete all my life so I’ve always had calluses* on my feet. This was the first time anyone has gotten rid of* them completely.”
The fish, which are native to* Turkey, are named Garra Rufa, but are also commonly known as Doctor Fish. They only eat the dead skin because they do not have teeth and cannot bite away* live skin.
John Ho, who manages a hair and nails salon in Northern Virginia, was not certain at first if customers would like the idea. “I know people were a little intimidated* at first,” he said, “but I just said let’s give it a shot.*”
Vocabulary:
fad
customer
dip
nibble away
callus
get rid of
be native to
bite away
intimidated
give a shot - to try
tickle
Question for dis­cussion:
Would you like to try this?

It Tickles!*

Residents* of the Greek island of Lesbos, who wanted to ban* the use of the word “lesbian” to mean homosexual women, lost their case in a Greek court.
“This is a good decision for lesbians everywhere,” Vasilis Chirdaris, the lawyer for the Gay and Lesbian Union of Greece, said.
Homosexual females adopted the word lesbian in honor of the poet Sappho, a female lesbian islander* who lived around 600 B.C. She wrote love poems about both men and women.
Dimitris Lambrou, the publisher* from Lesbos who brought the case to court, said that the use of the word in its sexual context disgraces* the islanders around the world.
Even if he had won, such a ban would have been very difficult to enforce.*
Vocabulary:
resident
ban
islander
publisher
disgrace
enforce
Question for discussion:
Do the Lesbian islanders have a valid complaint?

One of the most immediate effects of global warming will be rising* sea levels, which will cause homelessness among many people living in coastal areas. Belgian architect Vincent Callebaut has a solution to the problem. He has designed a floating* city.
“Some countries spend billions of pounds working on making their beaches and dams* bigger and stronger,” he said. “But the Lilypad project is actually a long term solution to the problem of the ocean rising, and it has the other objective* of providing housing for refugees from islands that have been submerged.*”
Callebaut’s floating city, whose design was inspired by the Great Amazonia Lily Pad, will have a lake in the middle to collect and purify* rain water. Power will be provided by several different clean sources,* including solar, thermal, wind, hydraulic and tidal.*
Vocabulary:
lily pad
provide
refuge
rising
floating
dam
objective
be submerged
purify
source
tidal
Question for discussion:
Will this solve the problem?

The Ultimate Cruise Ship

Every year since 1979, on the 2nd Saturday in July, crowds* have gathered* in Orange County, California to “moon”* the passing trains.
The tradition apparently* started one night in a nearby pub, the “Mugs Away Saloon,” when someone offered free drinks to anyone who would do it.
Since then, the crowds have gotten larger every year, and now it is an all day event.* This year, however, there were 8,000 people, and police said that many of them were showing other body parts.
Although the crowd was broken up* at about 3 p.m., many participants* returned later and continued to moon trains into the night.
Vocabulary:
shine on
crowd
gather
moon - to show your butt
apparently
event
be broken up
participant
Question for discussion:
Would you participate in this event?

Cheeky People

It is not unusual for brothers to look different. Even fraternal* twins might not look exactly the same. But the case of Ryan and Leo Gerth is a bit extreme.
Their father, Stephan, is a white German. Their mother, Florence Addo-Gerth, is from Ghana.
When the children were born July 11th in a German hospital, doctors were amazed.* Ryan is fair skinned* with blue eyes. Leo has dark brown skin and brown eyes.
However, Dr. Birgit Weber said, “Both babies definitely have the same father.”
The two children also have markedly* different personalities.* Ryan cries much more.
“I imagine sitting in a playground where the other mothers will call me crazy when I tell them the boys are twins,” Florence said.
But she is happy with the way her sons look. “God has decided that my children should have different skin colors,” she said.
Vocabulary:
bi-racial
fraternal
be amazed
fair skinned
markedly
personality
Question for discussion:
What problems will these children have?

Mixed Doubles

Louise Brown was born in England on July 25, 1978. She was the first baby ever to be fertilized* outside of her mother’s womb.*
Although In Vitro* Fertilization, or IVF, is a common technique in today’s world, at the time it was extremely controversial. Some people felt it was unnatural, and others worried that such children might have abnormalities.
Louise Brown recently had a child of her own, by natural means.*
Science has come a long way since 1978, but some of the ethical debates remain.* For example, a 70 year od woman in India recently gave birth using IVF. She had had two daughters by natural means, but wanted a son.
Vocabulary:
test tube
be fertilized
womb
in vitro
by natural means
remain
Questions for discussion:
Do you know anyone who has gotten pregnant this way?

Louise Brown