Talking About Mysteries & The Unknown in English - Spoken English Lesson

英语口语 — 谈论神秘的和未知的事物

Hi, I’m Molly. Welcome to Oxford Online  English! In this lesson, you can learn to  

嗨，我是Molly。欢迎来到Oxford Online  English！在本节课里，您能学到

talk about mysteries and things we can’t explain. Do you like a good mystery? Perhaps you read a  

谈论神秘的事和我们不能解释的事情。 您喜欢一个神秘事情吗？可能您读了

book, saw a film, or watched a documentary  about something which can’t be explained? 

与某些无法解释的事情有关的一本书、 看了一部电影，或看了一个纪录片？

Think about the last mystery that had  you wondering...what happened there?! 

考虑一下您想知道的最近的神秘事件 ...发生了什么事请？！

In this lesson, you’ll learn about describing,  

在本节课里，您会学会与神秘事情 有关的描述、

responding to and speculating about mysteries.  You’ll also hear about some interesting ones. 

回答和推测。您也会听到一些 有趣的事情。

Also, do you want English subtitles  while watching this video?  

同样，，您想要在看这个视频时 有中英文字幕吗？

Click the ‘CC’ button in the bottom right now  to turn on English subtitles if you need them. 

如果您需要，现在点击在底部右侧 的“CC”键来打开字幕。

Now, let’s look at useful language that will  help you talk about exciting mysteries. 

现在，让我们看一些在谈论现有 神秘事件时有用的说法。

Ever heard of Dan Cooper? An unknown criminal who hijacked an airplane in the 70s? 

曾经听过库柏吗？一个在70年代 劫持了一架飞机的神秘罪犯？

No, never heard of him. I just watched a fascinating documentary  

没有，从没听说过他。我刚在油管上看了 一部关于他的有趣的纪录片。

about him on YouTube. His crime is still one of  the greatest unsolved mysteries in US history! 

他的罪案仍然是美国历史上最大的 未解之谜中的一个！

Okay, so what happened? Well, the story of Dan Cooper is an intriguing  

好吧，那么发生了什么事？ 库柏的故事很有趣。

one. So this guy, Dan Cooper, hijacked a plane  full of passengers flying over the U.S. No one  

那么这个伙计，库柏，劫持了一架满载 乘客飞越美国的飞机。没人

knows who he was and the case has baffled the FBI  for over 50 years. Why did he do it? Terrorism? 

知道他是谁，此案困扰联邦调查局 超过50年。他为什么做这个？恐怖分子？

For money! During the flight, Cooper said he had a  bomb in his briefcase and demanded parachutes and  

为了钱！在飞行中，库柏声称在他的公文包 里有一个炸弹，并索取降落伞和

$200,000. The plane landed in Seattle and the  passengers were exchanged for the money. Now,  

20万美元。飞机在西雅图着陆， 乘客被用钱交换。现在

this is where the story gets really interesting! Go on. 

这是故事变得真正有趣的 地方！继续。

The plane took off again for Mexico with  instructions from Cooper to fly at 10,000 feet.  

飞机根据库柏的指令再次起飞飞向 墨西哥，并在一万英尺的高度飞行。

At some point during the flight, they think  Cooper jumped out of the plane with all the cash. 

在飞行中的某个点，他们认为库柏带着 所有的钱跳出了飞机。

Okay, so this guy escaped with the money?! Well, that’s still unexplained. There are  

好了，那么这个伙计带着钱逃了？！ 好吧，那仍然是无法解释的。有一些

theories about what happened to him but  the case remains a mystery to this day. 

与发生在他身上的事情相关的臆测， 但此案至今仍是个谜。

So that’s it? They must know  more about what happened? 

那么就那样？他们必须知道更多？

Well... You’ll hear more about  

好的...之后，在课程的第三部分， 您会听到更多与库柏

what happened to Dan Cooper later, in part three  of the lesson. But now, let’s look at the useful  

发生了什么事有关的。但是现在， 我们来看看您听到的对

language you heard to describe the mystery. A great way to introduce a mystery you want  

描述神秘事件有用的说法。一个很棒 的介绍一个您想谈论的

to talk about is to say: ‘Ever heard  of...?’ or ‘Have you heard about...?’ 

神秘事件的方式是说：“Ever heard of...?” 或“Have you heard about...?’”

These mean you’re going to tell  the listener something of interest. 

这些意味着您正在告诉 听众一些有趣的事情。

When you introduce a mystery, you might also  use phrases like ‘no one knows’ or ‘no one  

在您介绍一个神秘事件时，您也可能 使用像是“no one knows”或“no one

knows for sure’. For example: ‘no one knows  for sure who Jack the Ripper really was.’ 

knows for sure”的短语。例如：“no one knows  for sure who Jack the Ripper really was.”

‘No one knows where Cleopatra’s tomb is.’ 

“No one knows where Cleopatra’s tomb is.”

Can you think of anything else  ‘no one knows’ the answer to? 

您可以想想其他任何 “no one knows”答案的事情吗？

Next, you heard some adjectives beginning  with U-N in the conversation which described  

接下来，您在对话里听到描述神秘事件 或库柏的以U-N开头的

the mystery of Dan Cooper. Can you remember them?  

一些形容词。您能记得他们吗？

There were three; what were they? 

有三个；哪三个？

You heard ‘unknown’, ‘unsolved’ and  ‘unexplained’. You can use these words  

您有听到“unknown”、“unsolved”和 ”unexplained“。您可以用这些单词

to talk about situations we can’t explain. One of these words is commonly used together  

去谈论我们不能解释的情形。 单词中的一个常用于与单词

with the word ‘mystery’ to make a  collocation. Do you know which one? 

”mystery“搭配来做词组。 您知道是哪一个吗？

‘Unsolved mystery’ is a common  collocation. For example,  

“Unsolved mystery”是常见的 词组。例如：

the Dan Cooper incident is an ‘unsolved mystery’,  because we still don’t know what happened. 

库柏事件是一个“unsolved mystery”， 因为我们仍然不知道发生了什么事。

Correct use of collocations is a great  way to expand your communication skills  

正确的词组使用是一个拓展您的联络 技能、自我表达得更清晰的

and express yourself more clearly. There are  other useful collocations with the word ‘mystery’. 

很棒的方式。 有其他的搭配单词 “mystery”的有用词组。

For example, to describe a situation where  there are unexplainable elements, you can say:  

例如，要描述一个有不可解释 元素的环境，您可以说：

‘There is an air of mystery to it’, or,  ‘The situation is shrouded in mystery’. 

“There is an air of mystery to it”，或是 “The situation is shrouded in mystery”。

If a mystery *has* been solved, then you  can say the mystery has been ‘cleared up’. 

如果一个神秘 *有*被解开了，那么您可以 说神秘已经“cleared up”。

If it looks like the mystery will stay unsolved,  you can say it will ‘remain a mystery’. 

如果看上去神秘仍不会被解开， 您可以说它会“remain a mystery”。

Let’s look at other adjectives  from the conversation. 

我们看看对话里里面其他的形容词。

‘Fascinating’ means that something  is extremely interesting.  

“Fascinating”意味着某事是 极其有趣的。

What was the last unsolved mystery  you thought was fascinating? 

您觉得极其有趣的最后一个 未解之谜是什么？

‘Intriguing’ has a similar meaning to  ‘fascinating’; if something is intriguing,  

“Intriguing”意思与“fascinating”相近；  如果某事是奇妙的，

it’s interesting and it makes you feel  curious. You want to know more about it. 

它是有趣的，并会让您感到好奇。 您想知道更多与之有关的。

‘Mysterious’ describes something you find hard to  explain. You can use it with many different words:  

“Mysterious”描述您很难找到解释的某事。 您可以用它搭配很多不同的单词：

a mysterious noise, a mysterious stranger,  a mysterious disappearance, and so on. 

一个神秘的噪音、一个神秘的陌生人、 一个神秘的失踪等等。

Finally, you heard the speaker say: ‘The case has baffled the FBI for 50 years’. 

最后，您听到讲述者说：“The case has baffled the FBI for 50 years”。

‘Baffled’ means extremely  confused about something. 

“Baffled”意味着在某事上极端混淆。

Got it? Don’t forget that you  can review any part of the lesson  

理解了吗？不要忘了您可以复习 本课程里您觉得理解

which you find difficult! Let’s  move on to our next mystery. 

困难的任何部分！我们 继续进入我们的下一个谜团。

Have you heard of the Mary  Celeste? The ghost ship? 

您听过玛丽塞勒斯特号的 故事吗？幽灵船？

Ghost ship? No. What is that? It was a ship, found drifting in the  

幽灵船？没有。那是什么？ 那是一艘船，被发现漂流在

middle of the Atlantic Ocean, totally empty. Sounds interesting! Tell me more! 

大西洋的中部，里面完全空无一人。 听起来有趣！告诉我更多关于它的事。

Well, this has baffled historians for over a  hundred years. The ship left New York in December  

好，这困惑了历史学家们上百年。 船在1872年12月离开纽约，

1872, sailing for Italy. They found it  a month later with all the crew missing! 

航行到意大利。人们在几个月后 找到了这艘无人的船！

Hmmm... Okay, so something happened on  board, and everyone abandoned the ship? 

呃...好的，那么某事发生在船上， 大家都弃船了？

Well, it’s not that straightforward. When they  found the ship, there was nothing wrong with it.  

好吧，按不是那么简单的。在他们找到船时， 没什么是不对劲的。

What’s more, there were plenty of supplies and  all the crew’s possessions were still on board. 

此外，船上供给充足，所有船员的 物品仍然都在船上。

How could that be? No one knows for sure,  

怎么会这样？ 没人知道，

but there are some interesting theories  as to what might have happened. 

但是关于可能发生什么事情 有些有趣的臆测。

Such as? Some people believe  

像是？ 一些人相信

pirates killed the crew. Others suspect that  two of the crewmen killed the rest of the crew  

海盗杀死了船员。其他人怀疑两个 船员杀死了其他的船员

because their possessions weren’t found. The passengers were murdered?  

因为他们的个人物品没被找到。 乘客被谋杀了？

This is giving me the creeps. Other theories suggest mother nature, a storm  

这令人毛骨悚然。其他的臆测是 猜大自然，可能是一个飓风

maybe, caused the crew to abandon ship, but that  doesn’t explain why they left everything behind. 

因为船员弃船了，但是没解释 为什么他们都抛下了一切。

Yeah, that’s so weird. Some people believe there  

是的，那很奇怪。 一些人相信肯定是一个

must be a supernatural explanation, and  the crew were taken by aliens, ghosts  

超自然的解释，船员被外星人、幽灵 或一些其他来自海洋深处

or some other type of creature from the deep! Creatures from the deep? Surely not!  

的生物带走了！ 来着海洋深处的生物？肯定不是！

Anyway, I’ve heard enough. Monsters  from the ocean freak me out. 

随便，我听够了。来自大洋 深处的怪物吓死我了。

A great way to show interest in a mystery  story is to tell the person you’re interested.  

一个展现对神秘故事兴趣的很棒的 方式是去告诉人们您感兴趣。

Can you remember how I did this? 

您能记得我怎么做这个的吗？

Look at some phrases you  heard. Can you complete them? 

看一些您听到的短语。 您可以完成它们吗？

Pause the video and think about your answers.  If you want, you can also go back, listen to the  

暂停视屏，考虑您的答案。 如果您想，您也可以回头

dialogue again, and find the missing words. Did you get all four? Let’s check. 

再听对话，并找到缺失的单词。 您有四个答案了吗？我们来检查一下。

The listener also responded to  ‘pirates killed the crew’ and ‘crewmen  

听众也用一个问题: the passengers were murdered? 来附和回答

killed the crew’ by echoing this with a  question: the passengers were murdered? 

“pirates killed the crew”和  “crewmen killed the crew”。

These phrases show the speaker that you are  listening and interested in what they are saying. 

这些短语告诉讲述者您在听他们在 说的东西并对此感兴趣。

Let’s do some practice. We’re going  to use the conversation from part one.  

我们来做一些练习。我们要来 运用第一部分里的会话。

If you haven’t watched part one, that’s  okay. You can still complete this task. 

如果您没看第一部分，没关系。 您仍然可以完成这个练习。

Imagine: someone is telling  you a story about a mystery. 

想像：某人在和您讲 一个神秘故事。

See if you can respond show more interest  using the language you’ve just seen. 

看看是否您可以运用您刚看到的说法来 回答显示出更多的兴趣。

Read and repeat the responses that you see on  the screen. Then, to make it more difficult  

念并重复您在屏幕上看到的回答。 然后，您自己造一个更难的，

for yourself, you can rewind, close your  eyes, and try and respond without looking. 

您可以回放，闭上您的眼睛， 试着不看屏幕来回答。

Ready? Here we go. 

准备好了吗？我们看这。

His crime is still one of the greatest  unexplained mysteries in US history. 

他的罪案仍然是美国历史上最大的 未解之谜中的一个！

The case has baffled the FBI for over 50 years! 

该案困扰联邦调查局超过50年。

They think Cooper parachuted out  of the plane with all the cash. 

他们认为库柏带着所有的钱 从飞机上跳伞了。

Nice job! Now try it again but this time  don’t read the responses. Also: focus on your  

做得好！现在再试一次。但是这次 不要读回答。同样：注意您的

intonation. Intonation is essential to express  interest. If you say ‘Really. I’m intrigued now’,  

语气。语气对表达兴趣至关重要。 如果您说“Really. I’m intrigued now”。

you won’t sound interested. You need  intonation: ‘Really? I’m intrigued now!’ 

您听起来不感兴趣。您需要语气： “Really? I’m intrigued now!”

Learning how to respond to  mysteries and stories with interest  

学习怎样带着兴趣来回应 神秘事件和故事

will help you in your everyday conversations too. 

也会在您的每日会话里帮到您。

Next, you will learn how to speculate about  a mystery. You speculate when you talk about  

接下来，您会学习怎样来推测一个神秘 事情。当您在谈论一个您不知道的

something you don’t know about; maybe you have an  idea, or you just want to guess about what happened. 

某事时您推测；也许您有一个想法，或者 您只是想猜猜发生了什么事。

Using past modal verbs is a good way to do  this: you can use the modal verbs ‘must’,  

运用过去情态动词是做这个的最好方式： 您可以使用情态动词“must”、

‘might’, ‘may’, ‘could’ and ‘can’t’  to speculate about the past. 

“might”、“may”、“could”和“can’t”  来推测关于过去的事情。

So, let’s go back to the story  about the mysterious Dan Cooper. 

那么，我们回到关于神秘的 库柏的故事。

While you listen to this conversation,  

在您听这个会话的同时，

think about these two things.  What are the speakers sure about? 

考虑这两件事。 什么是讲述者确定的？

And, what are the speakers unsure about? Got it? Let’s listen. 

以及，什么是讲述者不确定的？ 了解了吗？我们来听一听。

They must know more about what happened? Well... for starters, they know so little  

关于发生了什么事，他们必须知道更多？ 好... 对于新手，他们知道一点点

about the man that Dan Cooper  might *not* ‘ve been his real name 

库柏也许*不是* 那个男的真名。

Okay. So did they figure anything out? So many things are uncertain.  

好，所以他们弄清了任何事情吗？ 所以很多事情是不确定的。

As the plane was flying over the Washington  mountains at night, he probably parachuted  

当飞机在夜间飞越华盛顿山区时， 他有可能跳伞了。

out. They’re not completely sure. You mean he *could*’ve hidden 

他们不完全确定。您意思是 他 *可能*’隐藏在飞机上

on the plane and escaped later? Possibly, but police searched the  

之后逃走了？ 有可能的，但是警察搜查了飞机，

plane and didn’t find him. So he *must*’ve jumped out! 

没找到他。 所以他*必定*’跳出去了！

But he *can’t*’ve survived the jump from 10,000  feet into the mountains! Did they find his body? 

但是他 *不能*在从1万尺高空跳入山区时 幸存！他们找到他的尸体了吗？

No body or parachute was ever found. They did find  a bag containing $6000 in a river. It may have  

没有尸体或降落伞被找到。他们在一条河里 找到了一个装有6千美元的包。

belonged to Cooper but even that wasn’t certain. Wow. Great story! I wonder what really happened  

那可能属于库柏，但那甚至是不确定的。 喔。很棒的故事！我想知道

to him? Maybe he’s sitting on a beach in  Mexico right now laughing at all of us? 

他到底发生了什么事？也许他现在正坐在 墨西哥的一个海滩上笑我们所有人？

Haha...maybe. So, the speakers gave their  

哈哈...也许。那么，讲述者 给出他们对库柏发生了

ideas about what happened to Dan Cooper. What were  they sure about and what were they unsure about? 

什么事的看法。他们确信什么 以及他们不确信什么？

If you are unsure yourself, go back  and listen to the conversation again. 

如果你自己不确定，回头  再听听会话。

Firstly, let’s look at the  things they were *sure* about  

首先，让我们看看他们 *确信* 什么事情，

and how they used past modals to communicate that. 

以及他们怎样用过去情态 动词来沟通那个。

Can you fill in the blanks  with the modal verbs you heard? 

您可以用您听到的情态 动词来填空吗？

He *must have* jumped out! 

他 *must have*跳出去了！

This means the speaker is certain that  Cooper *did* jump out of the airplane. 

这意味着讲述者确信 库柏 *did*跳出了飞机。

He *can’t have* survived the jump. 

他*can’t have*在跳机中幸存。

This means the speaker is certain  that Cooper *didn’t* survive the jump. 

这意思是讲述者确信 库柏*didn’t*在跳机时幸存。

Why is the speaker so sure Cooper  jumped out of the airplane? 

为什么讲述者十分确定 库柏跳出了飞机？

Because the police didn’t find  Cooper when they searched the plane. 

因为警察在搜查飞机时 没有找到库柏。

Why is the speaker so sure that  Cooper can’t have survived the jump? 

为什么讲述者十分确定库柏 不能在跳机时幸存？

Because the speaker assumes it’s impossible  to survive a jump into the mountains. 

因为讲述者假设跳入山区是 不可能幸存下来的。

You can use ‘must have’ or ‘can’t have’ to talk  about things in the past where you don’t know  

您可以用“must have”或“can’t have” 来谈论关于过去您不知道

for a fact, but you’re sure about what happened.  You use logical deduction to reach a conclusion. 

的事情，但是您确信已经发生了。 您用逻辑推断得出结论。

Now, let’s look at the things the  speakers were *unsure* about. They said:  

现在，让我们看看讲述者 *不确信* 的事情。他们说：

Dan Cooper *might not have* been his real name. 

库柏 *也许不是*他的真名。

He *could’ve* hidden on the plane. It *may have* belonged to Cooper. 

他 *可能*躲藏在飞机上。 那 *也许* 属于库柏。

The speakers in these cases are not sure. You  can use ‘might have’ ‘could have’ or ‘may have’  

在这些事例里的讲述者不确信。您能 用“might have”、“could have”或“may have”

to talk about something in the past which  you think is possible, but you’re not sure. 

来谈论过去您认为可能但是 您不确定的某事。

So, if you say ‘He could have hidden on  the plane’, you mean that it’s possible,  

那么，如果您说“He could have hidden on  the plane”，您意思是那是可能的。

but not certain, and either way you don’t know. What do *you* think happened to Dan Cooper?  

但是不一定，无论哪种方式您不知道。 *您*觉得库柏发生了什么事？

Pause the video and make two sentences you are  sure of and two sentences you are unsure of. 

暂停视屏以及造两个您确定事例的句子、 两个您不确定事例的句子。

Now, listen to me say these sentences again  and repeat after me. He must’ve jumped out. 

现在，再听我说这些句子 并跟着我重复。He must’ve jumped out.

He could’ve hidden on the plane. Which words are stressed? And, which sounds  

He could’ve hidden on the plane. 哪一个单词是重读的？以及，哪一个听起来

are missing? Listen more than once if you need to. The modal verbs ‘must’ and ‘could’ are stressed. 

遗漏了？如果您需要，多听一次。 情态动词“must”和“could”是重读的。

For past modals of deduction, the  modal verb is usually stressed.  

对推断的过去情态， 情态动词常常是重读的。

This is because the speaker wants to  emphasize their logical conclusion or guess. 

这是因为讲述者想强调 他们的逻辑结论或猜想。

The missing sound was the ‘h’ sound in have. 

漏掉的音是have的“h”。

The ‘have’ is pronounced in its weak  form so you shouldn’t make the ‘h’ sound. 

“have”是用弱音形式发音，所以您 不能发出“h”音。

What do you think happened to Dan Cooper or  the Mary Celeste? Comment below and tell us  

您认为库柏或玛丽塞勒斯特号发生了 什么事？在下面评论并告诉我们

what you think happened in these famous unsolved  mysteries. Use the language you learned today. 

这些著名的未解神秘发生了什么事。 使用您今天学到的说法。

Thanks for watching! See you next time!

感谢观看！ 下次见！