Report: A paranormal incident
2. The Pterosaurs.
Read the information about the Pterosaurs and mark the statements true or false.
Pterosaurs. Early in the 20th century, a British colonial official in what is now Zambia collected descriptions from natives of "birds" with two-metre bat-like wings. Since then there have been a surprising number of reports describing what appear to be flying dinosaurs. These ought to have become extinct 65 million years ago. In 1933 two naturalists encountered an enormous, bat-like flying animal that swooped along a river in Cameroon. Pterosaur reports have also come from, of all places, Texas. One would expect that such large flying animals would be too visible to escape scientific detection.
3. Referring back in a general way.
There are also hundreds of cases of people finding Sasquatch tracks. Scientists who have studied the issue conclude ....
Some have speculated that mokele-mbembe is a small dinosaur from the Cretaceous period, about 65 million years ago. This possibility is dismissed ....
Note how words like issue and possibility refer to topics and opinions mentioned previously in the text.
Other words that can be used to refer back to topics in a general way are:
| affair | situation |
| case | state of affairs |
| event | subject |
| incident | topic |
| matter |
Other words that can be used to refer back to opinions in a general way are:
| belief | opinion |
| conclusion | position |
| finding | theory |
| idea | viewpoint |
| notion |
Choose the best word to complete each space.
5. Write.
1. A report.
You have been asked to write a short report (150 words) for the International Society of Cryptozoology about an assumed (not confirmed) sighting of a pterosaur.
Use the pictures to help you. Write up your report, but remember – it is an assumed sighting.
Useful language:
reporting verbs: People report seeing / the man described hearing / he mentioned seeing...
noun + -size / -like
must / might / could / may / couldn’t have + participle
phrases expressing certainty and doubt: I’m absolutely sure / Definitely / Without a doubt…