新视野大学英语读写教程第三册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. 飞行器
　naval a. 海军的，战舰的
　installation n. 1.设施；(军事)基地 2.安装
　commander n. 指挥官，司令官
　trace n. 痕迹，踪迹 vt. 1.找到，查出 2.追究，追溯，探索
　stain n. 污点，污迹 vt. 沾污，染污
　southwest ad. 向西南 a. 西南方的，西南部的，来自西南的 n. 西南方，西南部
■graveyard n. 墓地
▲streak n. 1.条纹，条痕 2.个性，特征
　patch n. 1.与周围不同的斑片 2.补丁，补片 v. 补，修补
　visible a. 看得见的，可见的
　spacecraft n. 宇宙飞船
　orbit n. （天体运行的）轨道 v. 环绕轨道运行
　investigate vt. 调查（研究），审查
　investigation n. 调查，研究
　outer a. 1.距里面或中心较远的 2.外的，外边的，外部的
　hunt v. 1.寻找，搜寻 2.打猎，狩猎 n. 1.捕猎，追捕 2.搜寻，寻找
　specimen n. 标本；样本
　airline n. 航空公司
　airliner n. 班机，客机
　vanish vi. 1.突然不见，消失 2.不复存在，绝迹
　crew n. 1.船上或飞机上的全体工作人员 2.一组（或一队、一班）工作人员
◆crewless a. 没有工作人员的
　aboard ad. 在（船、飞机、公共汽车或火车）上
prep. 在（船、飞机、公共汽车或火车）上
　missing a. 失踪的，下落不明的，找不到的
　cargo n. 货物
　steamer n. 汽船，汽艇, 轮船
　telescope n. 望远镜
　deck n. 甲板；层面
　timber n. 木材
　install vt. 1.任命，使就职 2.安装
　fog n. 雾
　gulf n. 1.海湾 2.巨大的差距，鸿沟
　submerge v. (使)浸没，(使)淹没
　magnetic a. 1.有磁性的，磁的 2.有魅力的，吸引人的
　navigation n. 航行，导航
　error n. 错误
　mechanical a. 1.与机械有关的，机械的 2.机械的，呆板的，习惯性的
　atmosphere n. 1.大气（层） 2.气氛，氛围
　atmospheric a. 大气(层)的
　bureau n. 局，办事处
　solar a. 太阳的，来自太阳的，太阳能的
　generator n. 发电机；发生器
　suck v. 1.吞没，拉进 2.吸，吮，啜
■psychic n. 通灵的人，对超自然力敏感的人 a. （指人）有超自然力的
　cruise n. 航行 v. 旅游航行

Phrases and Expressions

　take off （飞机等）起飞
　search for 搜寻，探求，寻觅
　without trace 无影无踪地，了无痕迹地
　tell of 讲述，述说，告诉
　go so far as to 说或做到……强烈程度
　turn up 发现，挖掘 发生，出现，到来
　attribute sth. to 把... ...归因于，把... ...归咎于
　go on 发生
　on the contrary 恰恰相反，相反地
　to date 到目前为止，迄今
　on display 展览，陈列
　expand on/upon （对故事、论据等进行）补充
　from time to time 不时，有时
　set off 引起，启动
　make contact with 接触，联系，结识，会晤

Proper Names

　Florida 佛罗里达
　the Atlantic Ocean 大西洋
　the Bermuda Triangle 百慕大三角
　Bermuda 百慕大群岛
　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·哥伦布（意大利航海家，新大陆的发现者）
◆Ellen Austin "艾伦·奥斯丁"号
　U.S. Navy 美国海军
　Richard Winer 理查德·文纳
◆The Devil's Triangle 《魔鬼三角》
　Charles Berlitz 查尔斯·伯利茨
　Atlantis 亚特兰蒂斯（传说中的岛屿，据说位于大西洋直布罗陀海峡以西，后沉于海底）