The topic explained
LESSON 5A READING AND VOCABULARY
- I can identify specific details in a comment and talk about unexplained events.
A radio interview on natural illusions
9.14 Listen to an extract from a radio interview and answer the questions.
Why are optical illusions popular?
Describe what the Wave is.
Which illusions and places?
2 Read four comments A–D on a TV documentary about natural optical illusions. Which optical illusions and places are mentioned in the comments?
Who says what?
3 Read the comments again and match questions 1–4 with commenters A–D. Which commenter …
The book says questions one to four but prints five items; the key answers all five.
doesn’t agree with commenter B about how reliable the people speaking in the documentary were?
felt they didn’t learn anything new from the documentary?
doesn’t expect their partner to see a particular illusion?
has made a point of seeing natural illusions for themselves?
gave a reason for the documentary’s popularity?
The highlighted adjectives
4 Complete the sentences with the highlighted adjectives from the comments.
Use the eight bold words in the comments.
The optical illusions raise some ___ questions which have puzzled people for generations.
The company is highly ___ and can always be trusted to provide quality service at a good price.
I thought his theory was quite ___ and didn’t make any sense at all.
They came up with an ___ plan to keep their Mum’s birthday party a secret from her.
Jamal is quite sensible with his money and ___ to spend it on unnecessarily expensive items.
This book I’m reading at the moment is really ___ and I can’t put it down for long!
He thinks he knows everything and can be incredibly ___ when he talks to people.
I thought this cake was going to be delicious, but it left me feeling quite ___ . I wouldn’t choose it again.
Collocations with a verb from the box
5 Complete the collocations with the verbs from the box.
The company needs to ___ to rest the rumours about the new policies.
People need to ___ an open mind about the value of further research into the issue.
The police are planning to ___ an investigation into the reports.
No one can ___ the possibility that the evidence was faked.
It’s very rude to ___ someone’s ideas even if you disagree with them.
The newspapers ___ detailed mention of the claims made by several witnesses in the case.
Collocations with the verb raise
6 Choose the correct alternatives to complete the collocations with the verb raise.
The investigation raised questions / discussions about the authenticity of the reports.
Celebrities do a lot of work in raising knowledge / awareness of many world health issues.
The teacher raised confusion / doubts about some of her students’ readiness to take the exam.
The choice of recipient for the science award raised a few hairs / eyebrows as it was completely unexpected.
The recent progress in developing new antibiotics has raised hopes / dreams that current medications will be replaced soon.
The speaker had to raise his words / voice to be heard over the crowd.
Your turn to talk
Solving the Mystery of Nature’s Illusions
The comments page: four viewers react
9.15 The documentary on natural optical illusions was shown last Monday and provoked some different reactions. Our comments page today features some of them. Who do you agree with?
A Issa008
- intriguing
- reluctant
the salt flats in Bolivia where the ground looks like an enormous mirror
the underwater waterfall in Mauritius
who hasn’t seen the Northern Lights in Iceland by now?
the mirages in Wadi Rum in southern Jordan
B Kamal_79
- reputable
C Samia2532
- underwhelmed
- elaborate
- patronising
D JameelaB2B
- compelling
- far-fetched
