General English Level 6 V 3

UNIT 04 The unexplained TOPIC 02 Is there anybody out there?

	READING 01 Is there anybody out there?
	This newspaper article looks at the possibility of life forms existing elsewhere in the universe. If they do, how would we make contact with them, or they with us? Has it already happened?

Should we be looking for alien neighbours?
Scientists have confirmed the existence of other planets outside our solar system. They believe there are many stars with planets where life could exist. They believe that life is almost inevitable when a planet has similar physical conditions to Earth.

So, shouldn't we be looking for other life out there? Shouldn't we be working hard to find out how many other planets have intelligent life? Although no Earth-like planets have been found so far, scientists reckon there are possibly millions of civilisations out there. Isn't it likely that some of these will develop the technology to communicate? Even some animals on Earth such as dolphins can communicate.

Is there someone out there trying to contact us?
SETI (Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence) is a worldwide organisation whose members search for life on other worlds. They use radio telescopes to listen for possible radio signals from space. So far the SETI programme has been unable to find any signals from other civilisations.

Are UFOs (Unidentified Flying Objects) real?
There have been many reported sightings of UFOs worldwide. Since most of these accounts are similar, some people think it's highly likely that they do exist. Almost every report describes the UFO as disc-shaped. Since the space programme started there have been rumours that astronauts have seen UFOs while in space.

Or something else?
Other people don't believe in the existence of UFOs and say the data is hard to prove. They say that the reported sightings aren't real evidence.

They say that 90% of people who think they are seeing UFOs are actually seeing something else, for example the planet Venus, an aircraft seen from an odd angle or a bright meteor. But what about the other 10%?

Alien abduction?

Aliens are also known as extraterrestrials (ETs). Science predicts that aliens exist, and we know that travel between stars is possible. Most space scientists are now convinced that ETs are out there, although they are not necessarily visiting us. But there are some people who think that we have already been contacted and even visited by extraterrestrial beings.They say the government is deliberately keeping this information from the public. There are ancient sacred written records in some civilisations which possibly describe these visits. Ancient Sumerian texts, the Bible, the Koran and the Torah often speak of visitations from heavenly messengers.
And there are people who are convinced they have been taken from their beds or cars by aliens, who took them into their craft for medical tests. It's a strange fact that often the abductee has forgotten all about the experience, and that these memories can only be recovered by hypnosis. Perhaps these are not real memories after all!

What should we do now?
Just how common are other civilisations in the universe? The galaxy should be full of living things, but if ETs are in fact plentiful, where are they? There is no real evidence that they have ever visited Earth. Although there are no answers yet, the only way to find out is to keep exploring our universe.


alien	to abduct	civilisation
to confirm	elsewhere	extraterrestrial
hypnosis	sacred


intelligent life	life forms similar to humans or more advanced

Now go to 02 READING Is there anybody out there? - task.