Unit 2. The Unexplained.

Discussion point.

In our life we often encounter some phenomena difficult to explain, they are often called paranormal.

- What are they?

- Can any of them be explained logically?

- What is the sixth sense?

Vocabulary development. The Six Senses

A. Our basic five senses are sight, hearing, taste, touch and smell. What is sometimes referred as a ‘sixth sense’ is a power to be aware of things independently of the five physical senses, a kind of supernatural sense. The five basic verbs referring to the senses are modified by an adjective rather than an adverb.

He looks dreadful. The trip sounds marvelous. The cake tastes good.

It felt strange. The soup smelt delicious.

B. Sight.

Look at the verbs of seeing in the text below.

Yesterday I glanced out of the window and noticed a man observing a house opposite through a telescope. I thought I glimpsed a woman inside the house. Then I saw someone else peering into the window of the same house. I gazed at them wondering what they were doing. Suddenly the first man stopped staring through his telescope. He went and I saw the other one on the head with the telescope and I realized that I witnessed a crime.

C. Hearing.

The following scale relates to the sense of hearing and how loud things are.

Noiseless – silent – quiet – noisy – loud – deafening

D. Taste.

Some different tastes with an example of a typical food.

Sweet (honey ) salty (crisps) bitter (strong coffee) sour (vinegar) spicy (Indian food)

If you say something tastes hot it may mean spicy rather than not cold. Food can be tasty but tasteful is used to refer to furnishings, architecture or style of dressing or behaviour. The opposite of both is tasteless.

E. Touch

Some good verbs for describing different ways of touching.

She nervously fingered her collar.

He stroked the cat and patted the dog.

She tapped him on the shoulder.

He grasped my hand and we ran.

She grabbed her bag and ran. It’s rude to snatch. Press the button.

Please handle the goods with great care.

The secretaries complained that their boss was always pawing them.

F. Smell.

These adjectives describe how something smells.

stinking evil-smelling smelly aromatic scented fragrant sweet-smelling perfumed

G. Sixth sense.

Different phenomena which a person with sixth sense may experience.

(Highlight these words):

telepathy ghosts UFOs premonitions intuition déjà vu

I. Make a sentence using any of these verbs, look, sound, taste, touch and smell, plus an adjective about the situations:

Example: You see a film about the Rocky Mountains. They look magnificent.

1.You come downstairs in the morning and smell fresh coffee.

2. A friend has just had her hair cut.

3. You hear the record that is top of the pops.

4. A friend, an excellent cook, tries a new soup recipe.

5. A friend asks you how you feel today.

6. A little boy asks you to listen to his first attempts at the piano.

7. You see a friend of yours with a very worried look on her face.

8. Someone you are working with smells strongly of cigarettes.