5th box -Flashcards

Multiple choice questions

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1. lesson13

Safety in the Air The most persistent plea of weary pilots has always been for a machine that would warn them that they were about to collide with an oncoming airplane. Studies of landing patterns confirm that the number of collisions is increasing each year, and pilots verify hundreds of reports of near misses. Recently a system that would electronically anticipate oncoming airplanes was devised, and the pilot's dilemma to dive or to climb, to detour to left or right, may be solved. The system has merit, though, only if every plane is equipped to transmit and receive a signal to and from an oncoming plane. But most aviation experts feel that only a system that watches every airplane in the sky will relieve a problem that tends to baffle everyone who attempts to find a solution.
Terror in the Cemetery I like to bet on anything that is exciting, so when my friends tried to tempt me with an offer, I took it. The idea was for me to spend a frigid December night in a cemetery, all alone. in order to win twenty dollars. Little did I realize that they would use dirty tricks to try to frighten me to abandon the cemetery and, therefore, lose my wager . My plan was to recline in front of a large grave, covered by a warm blanket, with a flashlight to help me cut through the dismal darkness. After midnight, I heard a wild shriek. I thought I saw the grave open and a corpse rise out of it. Although I was somewhat numb with fear. I tried to keep my senses. Using good judgment, I knew that no peril could come to me from that sinister figure. When I did not run in terror, my friends, who had decided to conceal themselves behind the nearby tombstones, came out and we all had a good laugh Those spirits that may inhabit a cemetery must have had a good laugh, too.
Flying Saucers Again Whenever journalists face a news famine they revive the undeniably* interesting question: How can we explain UFOs-unidentified flying objects? The story usually commences with a description of the object by some observant night watchman who doesn't hesitate* to identify the object as having migrated from outer space. The vessel, he persists, appeared over the hazy lake at about 30 feet. A greenish gleam prohibited* him from seeing its exact shape, he admits. Newspaper editors love these stories because they keep the population* interested in knowledge about UFOs and keep them buying newspapers.
Roast Beef on Rye A little digging will unearth the roots of our language and habits. For instance, our word "sandwich" is derived from the Earl of Sandwich, who lived in the time of George Ill. This gentleman would not depart from the gambling table for hours on end. If his play happened to coincide with dinner, he would cancel his regular meal and order a slice of meat to be served to him between two pieces of bread. The biography of the Earl claims that we are his debtors for his discovery of the sandwich. Charles Dickens later used the phrase "sandwich man" to describe someone who walks about with a clearly legible message on placards hung on his chest and back. An example of a superstition is the fear of walking under a ladder. This must have been a contagious fear for it seems to have started with the ancient belief that spirits lived in trees or wood. "Knocking on wood" was a way of calling up the friendly spirit to protect one from harm. Today a member of the clergy might sneer at this custom, expecting that by this time such superstitions would have receded into the past with witches and ghosts. Another expression, "giving someone the cold shoulder," has been traced to the Middle Ages, when a host would serve his guests a cold shoulder of mutton or beef instead of the customary hot food. This was a transparent attempt to show the guest he was no longer welcome. The host had thus found a more charitable yet effective way of expressing his feelings without using a scalding remark.

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