The Ouija

A – Before you start

Answer the questions with a partner.
1. Do you like ghost stories? Why (not)?
2. Can you name any films or books about ghosts?
3. Do you believe it’s possible to communicate with the dead?
4. If so, how?

B – Listen and answer

Read these statements. Then listen (without reading) and write T (true) or F (false).
1. The Ouija board has letters, numbers, and the words yes, no, hello and goodbye on
it.
2. Spiritualism became very popular in the USA in the middle of the 1800s.
3. The Ouija board is based on the idea that automatic writing is possible.
4. Pope Pius X wrote a book warning Catholics not to use Ouija boards.
5. The Ouija board was banned on college campuses.
6. Ouija boards are of some interest to scientists.

C – Read and answer

Read the article and answer the questions.
1. How are messages created on Ouija boards?
2. Why is receiving messages on Ouija boards a slow process?
3. Whose ghost was supposed by some to have written a book using this method?
4. Why did Spiritualism become less popular in the 1920s?
5. How did people regard the Ouija board at that time?
6. What was J. Godfrey Raupert’s opinion of the board?
7. What evidence is there in the article of the popularity of Ouija boards in the 1960s?
8. What shows that there are still people who use them?
D – Learn it! Use it!
Complete these sentences with words from the glossary. (You may have to adapt the
expression in some way; e.g. change the verb tense or change from singular to plural.)
1. Chloe wasn’t keen on going to the party. ________, she accepted the invitation.
2. I deleted the text message telling me I had won £5,000 in a lottery. It was clearly a
________.
3. There are no mountains or hills around here. The landscape is very ________.
4. Unfortunately, the photographs in the holiday brochure ________ to be very de-
ceptive.
5. The seller ________ he had shipped the goods at once but they arrived one month
late.
6. When you eat out in restaurants a lot, it’s difficult to _______ _______ a diet.

E–

Use the word in brackets to form a word that fits in the space given.
1. Ouija boards have letters, numbers, a few words and _________ (VARY) symbols
and graphics.
2. Spiritualism is based on the _________ (BELIEVE) that the dead can communicate
with us.
3. Raupert’s warnings about the board had the effect of _________ (COURAGE) the
young.
4. The film _________ (ADAPT) of the novel The Exorcist made Ouija boards even
more popular.
5. The novel was based on a real-life case of an ________ (ALLEGE) possessed boy.
6. On Reddit, there is advice about spirits that lack patience and _________ (CLEAR).
7. Scientists are interested in the Ouija board as an example of ideomotor _________
(RESPOND).
8. They claim it shows how _________ (CONSCIOUS) decisions can have physical ef-
fects.

F – Talk about it
In pairs or groups.
1. Why do you think so many people believe in the paranormal or are interested in the
occult?
2. Some educators say stories about magic or the supernatural, like the Harry Potter
novels, have a bad influence on children and teenagers. Do you agree? Why (not)?
3. Have you or any of your friends ever had a strange experience for which you
couldn’t find an explanation? If so, what was it?

1) Letter by letter.

2)The Catholic Church ordered it

3)Mostly young people.

4)Because it sold more copies than Monopoly.