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

英文口說 — 談論神秘未知的事情

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

嗨，我是Molly。歡迎來到Oxford Online  English！在本節課裡，您能學到

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

談論神秘事件和我們不能解釋的事情。 您喜歡一個神秘事件嗎？可能您讀了

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

與某些無法解釋的事情有關的一本書、 看了一部電影，或看了一個紀錄片？

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

考慮一下您想知道的最近的神秘事件 ...發生了什麼事情？！

In this lesson, you’ll learn about describing,  

在本節課裡，您會學到與神秘事件 有關的描述、

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

回答和推測。您也會聽到一些 有趣的事情。

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

同樣，您想要在看這個影片時 有中英文字幕嗎？

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

如果您想看，現在點擊在播放軟體底部右側 的“CC”鍵來打開字幕。

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

現在，我們看一些在談論現有 神秘事件時有用的說法。

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

曾經聽過庫柏嗎？一個在70年代 劫持了一架飛機的神秘罪犯？

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

沒有，從沒聽說過他。我剛在Youtube上看了 一部與他有關的有趣紀錄片。

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

他的罪案仍然是美國歷史上最大的 未解之謎中的一個！

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

好吧，那麼發生了什麼事？ 庫柏的故事很有趣。

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

那麼這個傢伙，庫柏，劫持了一架滿載 乘客飛越美國的飛機。沒人

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

知道他是誰，此案困擾聯邦調查局 超過50年。他為什麼做這個？恐怖分子？

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

為了錢！在飛行中，庫柏聲稱在他的公文包 裡有一個炸彈，並索取降落傘和

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

20萬美元。飛機在西雅圖著陸， 用錢換得乘客脫身。現在

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

這是故事變得真正有趣的 地方！繼續。

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

飛機依據庫柏的指令再次起飛飛向 墨西哥，並在一萬英呎的高度飛行。

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

在飛行中的某個點，他們認為庫柏帶著 所有的錢跳出了飛機。

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

好，那麼這個傢伙帶著錢逃走了？！ 好吧，那仍然是無法解釋的。有一些

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

與發生在他身上的事情相關的臆測， 但此案至今仍然是個謎。

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

就那樣？他們必須知道更多？

Well... You’ll hear more about  

好的...之後，在課程的第三部分， 您會聽到更多與庫柏

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

發生了什麼事有關的。但是現在， 我們來看看您聽到的對

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說法。一個很棒 的介紹您想談論的

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

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

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

這些意味著您正在告訴 聽眾一些有趣的事情。

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

在您介紹一個神秘事件時，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”的片語。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”答案的事情嗎？

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

接下來，您在對話裡聽到描述神秘事件 或庫柏的以U-N開頭的

the mystery of Dan Cooper. Can you remember them?  

一些形容詞。您能記得它們嗎？

There were three; what were they? 

有三個；哪三個？

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

您有聽到“unknown”、“unsolved”和 ”unexplained“。您可以用這些單字

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

來談論我們不能解釋的情形。 單字裡的一個常用於與單字

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

”mystery“組成詞組。 您知道是哪一個嗎？

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

“Unsolved mystery”是常見的 詞組。例如：

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

庫柏事件是一個“unsolved mystery”， 因為我們仍然不知道發生了什麼事情。

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

正確的詞組運用是一個拓展您的聯絡 技能、自我表達得更清晰的

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

很棒的方式。有其他的與單字 “mystery”組合的有用詞組。

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

例如，要描述一個有無法解釋元素 的環境，您可以說：

‘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’. 

如果一個神秘 *有*被解開了，那麼您可以 說神秘已經“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會解開， 您可以說它會“remain a mystery”。

Let’s look at other adjectives  from the conversation. 

我們看看對話裡其他的形容詞。

‘Fascinating’ means that something  is extremely interesting.  

“Fascinating”意味著某事是 極其有趣的。

What was the last unsolved mystery  you thought was fascinating? 

您覺得極其有趣的最近一個 未解之謎是什麼？

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

“Intriguing”意思與“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，並且您會感到好奇。 您會想知道更多與之有關的。

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

“Mysterious”描述您很難找到解釋的某件事。 您可以用它與很多不同的單字組合：

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

一個神秘的噪音、一個神秘的陌生人、 一個神秘的失蹤等等。

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

最後，您聽到講述者說：“The case has baffled the FBI for 50 years”。

‘Baffled’ means extremely  confused about something. 

“Baffled”意味著在某事上極度困惑。

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

理解了嗎？不要忘了您可以複習 本課程裡您認為理解

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

困難的任何部分！我們 繼續進入到我們的下一個謎團。

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

您聽過瑪麗賽勒斯特號的 故事嗎？幽靈船？

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

幽靈船？沒有。那是什麼？ 那是一艘船，被發現漂流在

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

大西洋的中部，裡面完全空無一人。 聽起來有趣！告訴我更多關於它的事。

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

好，這困惑了歷史學家們上百年。 船在1872年12月離開紐約，

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

向義大利航行。人們在幾個月後 找到了這艘無人的船！

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

呃...好的，那麼某種事情發生在船上， 大家都棄船了？

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

好吧，這不是那麼簡單的。在他們找到船時， 沒什麼看起來不對的地方。

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

此外，船上供給充足，所有船員的 物品都在船上。

How could that be? No one knows for sure,  

怎麼會這樣？ 沒人知道，

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

但是關於可能發生什麼事情 有些有趣的臆測。

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  

海盜殺死了船員。其他人懷疑兩個 船員殺死了其他的船員，

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

因為沒找到他們的個人物品。 乘客被謀殺了？

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

這令人毛骨悚然。其他的臆測是 猜大自然，可能是一個颶風，

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

因為船員棄船了，但是解釋不了 為什麼他們都拋下了一切。

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

是的，那很奇怪。一些人相信 肯定是一個

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

超自然的解釋，船員被外星人、幽靈 或一些其他來自海洋深處

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

的生物帶走了！ 來自海洋深處的生物？肯定不是！

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

隨便，我聽夠了。來自大洋 深處的怪物嚇死我了。

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

一個顯示出對神秘故事興趣的很好的 方式是去告訴人們您感興趣。

Can you remember how I did this? 

您能記得我怎樣做這個的嗎？

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

看一些您聽到的片語。 您可以完成它們嗎？

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

暫停影片，考慮您的答案。 如果您想，您也可以回頭

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

再聽對話，並找到缺失的單字。 您有四個答案了嗎？我們來檢查一下。

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

聽眾也用一個問題: the passengers were murdered?來附和回答

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. 

這些片語告訴講述者您在聽他們正在 說的東西並對此感興趣。

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

我們來做一些練習。我們要來 運用第一部分裡的會話。

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

如果您沒看第一部分，沒關係。 您仍然可以完成這個練習。

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

想像：某人在和您講 一個神秘故事。

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

看看您可以運用剛剛看到的說法來 回答以顯示出更多的興趣。

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

唸並重複您在熒幕上看到的回答。 然後，您自己造一個更難的，

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

您可以重播影片，閉上您的眼睛， 試著不看熒幕來回答。

Ready? Here we go. 

準備好了嗎？我們看這。

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

他的罪案仍然是美國歷史上最大的 未解之謎中的一個！

The case has baffled the FBI for over 50 years! 

該案困擾了聯邦調查局超過50年。

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

他們認為庫柏帶著所有的錢 從飛機上跳傘了。

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

做得好！現在再試一次。但是這次 不要唸回答。同樣：注意您的

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

語氣。語氣對表達興趣至關重要。 如果您說“Really. I’m intrigued now”。

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

您聽起來不感興趣。您需要運用語氣： “Really? I’m intrigued now!”

Learning how to respond to  mysteries and stories with interest  

學習怎樣搭配興趣來回應 神秘事件和故事

will help you in your everyday conversations too. 

也會在您的每日會話裡幫到您。

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

接下來，您會學習怎樣推測一個神秘 事情。當您在談論一個您不知道的

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

某事時，您推測；也許您有一個想法，或者 您只是想猜猜發生了什麼事。

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

運用過去情態助動詞是做這個的最好方式： 您可以用情態助動詞“must”、

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

“might”、“may”、“could”和“can’t”  來推測過去的事情。

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

那麼，我們回到神秘 庫柏的故事。

While you listen to this conversation,  

在您聽這個會話的同時，

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

考慮這兩件事。 什麼是講述者確信的？

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

以及什麼是講述者不確信的？ 了解了嗎？我們來聽一聽。

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

關於發生了什麼事情，他們必須知道更多？ 好...對於新手，他們知道一點點

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

庫柏也許*不是*那個男的真名。

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

好，所以他們釐清了任何事情嗎？ 所以很多事情是不確定的。

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

當飛機夜間飛越華盛頓山區時， 他有可能跳傘了。

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

他們不完全確定。您的意思是 他 *可能*隱藏在飛機上，

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

之後再逃走了？ 有可能的，但是警察搜查了飛機，

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

沒找到他。 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*在從1萬呎的高空跳入山區時 倖存！他們找到他的尸體了嗎？

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

沒有找到尸體和降落傘。他們在一條河裡 找到了一個裝有6千美元的包。

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

那可能屬於庫柏，但那甚至也是不確定的。 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? 

他到底發生了什麼事？也許他現在正坐在 墨西哥的一個海灘上嘲笑我們所有人？

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

哈哈...也許。那麼，講述者 給出他們對庫柏發生了

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

什麼事的看法。他們確信什麼 以及他們不確信什麼？

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

如果您自己不確定，回頭 再聽聽會話。

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

首先，我們看看他們 *確信*什麼事情，

and how they used past modals to communicate that. 

以及他們怎樣運用過去情態 助動詞來表達那個。

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

您可以運用您聽到的情態 助動詞填空嗎？

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. 

這意味著講述者確信 庫柏 *did*跳出了飛機。

He *can’t have* survived the jump. 

他*can’t have*在跳機時倖存下來。

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

這意思是講述者確信 庫柏*didn’t*在跳機時倖存。

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

為什麼講述者十分確定 庫柏跳出了飛機？

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

因為警察在搜查飛機時 沒有找到庫柏。

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

為什麼講述者十分確定庫柏 不能在跳機時倖存？

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

因為講述者假設跳入山區是 不可能倖存下來的。

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” 來談論在過去您不知道的

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

事情，但是您確信已經發生了。 您用邏輯推斷得出結論。

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

現在，我們來看看講述者 *不確信* 的事情。他們說：

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

庫柏 *也許不是*他的真名。

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

他 *可能*躲藏在飛機上。 那 *也許* 屬於庫柏。

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

在這些事例裡，講述者的不確信。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. 

來談論過去您認為可能但是 您不確定的某事。

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

那麼，如果您說“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，無論哪種方式您都不知道。 *您*覺得庫柏發生了什麼事？

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

暫停影片並造兩個您確定的事例的句子、 兩個您不確定的事例的句子。

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

現在，再聽我說這些句子 並跟我唸。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. 哪一個單字是重讀的？以及，哪一個聽起來

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

遺漏了？如果您需要，多聽一次。 情態助動詞“must”和“could”是重讀的。

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

推斷的過去情態時態， 情態助動詞常要重讀。

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

這是因為講述者想強調 他們的邏輯結論或猜想。

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”是弱音形式發音，所以您 不能發出“h”音。

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

您認為庫柏或瑪麗賽勒斯特號發生了 什麼事？在留言板評論並告訴我們

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

這些著名的未解神秘發生了什麼事。 運用您今天學到的說法。

Thanks for watching! See you next time!

感謝觀看！ 下次見！