© Ed Craig Collection at Dobson Museum and Home Archive via BBC News
Pre-reading questions
I will read each question. Then, please answer them.
- Have you experienced or seen something you could not explain? Please tell me more about it.
- What is the scariest place for you and why?
Vocabulary
I will read the words, meanings, and sample sentences. Then, repeat after me.
- supernatural /soo-per-NACH-er-uhl/
- bizarre /bih-ZAHR/
- origin /AWR-i-jin/
- lantern /LAN-tern/
- decay /dih-KEY/
[noun] – caused by forces that cannot be explained by science
She was thought to have supernatural abilities by the villagers.
[adjective] – very strange and unusual
The children saw a bizarre animal in the lake.
[noun] – the thing from which something comes, or the place where it began
Shu has been studying the origins of language.
[noun] – a light inside a container that has a handle for holding it or hanging it up, or the container itself
The lantern was left lit all night long.
[verb] – to become gradually damaged, worse, or less; to cause something to do this
The remaining vegetables are starting to decay.
Article reading
Please read the whole article. Then, I will check your pronunciation and intonation.
The Devil’s Promenade is a four-mile rural road on the former Route 66 northeast of Oklahoma City. This is the location of a supernatural mystery that has puzzled ghost investigators for more than a century.
Named after the former town of Hornet, the bizarre basketball-sized glowing orb known as the Hornet Spook Light has been seen in this area since 1881. Nobody understands the significance, source, or composition of this mysterious, flaming ball of light. It is usually observed from inside the Oklahoma border looking west, and is described by the Army Corps of Engineers as a “mysterious light of unknown origin.” It spins and bobbles up and down like a lantern held by a ghostly dancer. The Hornet Spook Light is real, the locals agree, but they can’t have the same opinion on what caused it. While some believed it to be the ghost of an assassinated Osage chief, others claimed it was “the spirit of a Quapaw maiden who drowned herself in the river when her warrior was killed in battle.” Others think the lights are caused by the gas of decaying plants in swamps.
The mysterious ball has continued to be what it has always been up until this point: a mystery. What might it actually be?
Named after the former town of Hornet, the bizarre basketball-sized glowing orb known as the Hornet Spook Light has been seen in this area since 1881. Nobody understands the significance, source, or composition of this mysterious, flaming ball of light. It is usually observed from inside the Oklahoma border looking west, and is described by the Army Corps of Engineers as a “mysterious light of unknown origin.” It spins and bobbles up and down like a lantern held by a ghostly dancer. The Hornet Spook Light is real, the locals agree, but they can’t have the same opinion on what caused it. While some believed it to be the ghost of an assassinated Osage chief, others claimed it was “the spirit of a Quapaw maiden who drowned herself in the river when her warrior was killed in battle.” Others think the lights are caused by the gas of decaying plants in swamps.
The mysterious ball has continued to be what it has always been up until this point: a mystery. What might it actually be?
Comprehension questions
I will read each question. Then, please answer them based on the article.
- Where is Route 66 located?
- What is the mysterious glowing orb on Route 66 called?
- Since when has the glowing orb been seen on the road?
- According to the article, what does the glowing orb look like?
- What do the locals believe has caused the glowing orb to exist?
Discussion questions
I will read each question. Then, please answer them.
- Please share an urban legend in your country.
- How can you tell whether a legend is true or not?
- Would you visit Route 66 to check the Hornet Spook Light? Why or why not?
- Do you think glowing orbs like the Hornet Spook Light exist in other places?
- What do you think is the cause of the Hornet Spook Light?