SKELETONS

IN YOUR
GARDEN

Warm up

In pairs, discuss the following questions.

1. Are you interested in unsolved mysteries? Have you ever heard about any recently?

2. How would you feel if you stumbled upon a skeleton?

3. What is it about unsolved murders that people find so intriguing?

 Part A: Match the underlined words to the definitions below.

1. The savage nature of the mountain meant it was impossible to climb in the winter.

2. It seemed that the bony dog had not eaten for at least a week.

3. The scenes in which the zombies ate were perhaps the most gruesome in the whole movie.

4. The way he dresses is so traditional it’s as if he is from a bygone era.

5. They employed radiocarbon dating to give them a better estimate of the creature’s origins.

a. (adj.) very thin so that the bones can be seen

b. (adj.) something that is violent and aggressive

c. (n) something that happened or existed a long time ago

d. (adj.) not pleasant, provokes feelings of horror

e. (n) a radioactive form of carbon present in the materials where living things are formed

1b✔

2a✔

3d✔

4c✔

5e✔

Part B: Now put the words from Part A in the gaps in the article below (part one).

Part 1: Skeletons in Your Garden

These ___bony_✔__1 guys can turn up when you least expect it.

A. Archaeologists all over the world take special care to reveal the secrets of a __bygone_✔___1
age, while more modern mysteries tend to be solved by the police force. However, sometimes
things don’t go to plan and skeletons of the past are found by people just like you and me. The
thing is that it can take a while to figure out what happened to those mysterious guys and
 cases like this are more common than you would think and happen just about anywhere.

B. When a __savage_✔_2 storm ripped through the small Irish town of Collooney, the residents
could only fear the worst. Finally braving the elements, the inhabitants were shocked to see
that the storm had brought down a 200-year-old beech tree. That surprising discovery was
nothing compared to what they were about to set their eyes upon though because dangling
from the roots of the tree was the top half of a medieval skeleton. Initial studies showed that it
was a skeleton of a young man and the _radiocarbon_✔__3 analysis dated the skeleton at
around 1000 years old. Amazingly the archaeologists were able to tell that the man in question
had suffered a __gruesome_✔__4 death, perhaps at the hands of a sword.

Focus on vocabulary

Part A: Let’s look at some vocabulary that will help your understanding of the article. Match
the following vocabulary to the definitions.

1. skeptical (adj.) a. a bag that you hang over your shoulder or on your back

2. remains (n) b. having doubts that something is truthful

3. reservoir (n) c. a living creature

4. sordid (adj.) d. the parts of something that are left after the rest has been used,
destroyed, eaten, etc.
5. stumbled (v) e. understand something that is not clear or obvious

6. discern (v) f. a lake where water is stored before being sent through pipes to
residential areas, etc.
7. being (n) g. hit your foot against something that forces you to walk in an
uneven way
8. satchel (n) h. not honest or morally right

1h>b✔
2d✔
3 f✔
4 e>h✔
5g✔
6b>e✔
7c✔
8a✔
3

Part B: Put the vocabulary from Part A into the correct gaps in the following sentences. You
may need to change the form of the word.

1. I used to have an old leather ___satchel__✔_which I used to carry my books to

school.

2. It was easy for operations to __discern_✔_that it was impossible for everyone to

have the same day off.

3. She was always __skeptical__✔__about moving overseas as she often tended to

focus on what might go wrong.

4. I used to believe that there were some kind of ___being__✔_running about all over
Mars.

5. When the monsoon hits, the risk of the __reservoir___✔_ flooding increases by 50%.

6. The dinosaur remains ✔ were found after a huge storm uncovered the ancient
site.

7. As I stood up, I banged my foot against the door and ____stumbled_✔_ awkwardly
into the next room.

8. They found his diary after he passed away and within it were several ___sordid__✔_ secrets.

Part C: Now with your partner, discuss the following questions.

1. Do you believe that there are beings on other planets?
2. What kind of things are you usually skeptical towards?
3. When was the last time you stumbled on the street? Were you embarrassed?
4. Have you ever watched a movie where the characters’ sordid secrets were exposed?

Reading skills

Part A: You are going to read about three other cases of mysterious discoveries. Look at the
three places below and with your partner try to match the discovery to the location and add
your reasoning. Finally, read the rest of the article to check if you were correct.

1000 bones found in a forest an alien like skeleton a skeleton was found in a barrel

1. Florida: ___1000 bones found in a forest_____

2. Las Vegas: a skeleton was found in a barrel

3. Chile: ___an alien like skeleton___

Part B: Read the following paragraph titles for the article on page five. Skim the text and
match them to the correct paragraph. Two headings are not needed. Listen to the recording
to check your choices.

• One bone leads to another

• Giant skeletons

• What did you find out there?

• The tree of death

• A tour of the north

• Dirty secrets hidden underwater

• The X-files come to town

 Skeletons in Your Garden
These bony guys can turn up when you least expect it.
1. _________________
Archaeologists all over the world take special care to
4.
reveal the secrets of a bygone age while more modern
mysteries tend to be solved by the police force.
However, sometimes things don’t go to plan and
skeletons of the past are found by people just like you
and me. The thing is that it can take a while to figure
out what happened to those mysterious guys and
cases like this are more common than you would think
and happen just about anywhere.
2. _________________
When a savage storm ripped through the small Irish
town of Collooney the residents could only fear the
worst. Finally braving the elements the inhabitants
were shocked to see that the storm had brought down
a 200-year-old beech tree. That surprising discovery
was nothing compared to what they were about to set
5.
their eyes upon though because dangling from the
roots of the tree was the top half of a medieval
skeleton. Initial studies showed that it was a skeleton
of a young man and the radiocarbon analysis dated the
skeleton at around 1000 years old. Amazingly the
archaeologists were able to tell that the man in
question had suffered a gruesome death perhaps at
the hands of a sword or sharp knife but were still
unable to tell why.
3. _________________
A case in Florida began with the police receiving a call
that a human skull had been found in a thick patch of
forest. The officers in question were skeptical as that
particular area of forest was often used by hunters to
dump animal’s remains, nevertheless, they were
curious and decided to check it out. When they
arrived, it was clear that it was in fact a human skull
but the shocking thing is that it wasn’t just one skull.
During their search, they quickly found a second and
then a third skull and by the time it was early evening
they had found eight full skeletons. In the end,
over 1000 bones were found on that site but
still, their story of origin remains a mystery.
_________________
Lake Mead, 20 miles east of Las Vegas, is able
to hold more water than any reservoir in the
United States and as a result, might be well
suited to those looking to get away with the
perfect crime. However, when it faced its worst
drought since 1937 recently the sordid secrets
of the lake started to reveal themselves. Firstly,
a skeleton was discovered inside a barrel, with
their belongings seeming to suggest they had
died somewhere between the 1970s and 80s.
Then six days later two sisters stumbled across
skeletal remains near one of the bays in the
lake with investigators unable to discern the
cause of death.
_________________
The discovery of a mysterious-looking little
skeleton in Chile had the people who found it
believing that they had uncovered a being that
wasn’t of this world. Found in a small leather
satchel near an abandoned village in the
Atacama Desert, the appropriately named Ata
had investigators scratching their heads. They
were so confused that they had the tiny
skeleton sent to Spain for an analysis of its
DNA. The DNA results showed that the
skeleton was definitely human, but confusion
still remained in relation to the strange bone
structure of the creature. Further studies
showed that mutations in DNA had shown
similarities with those related to bone disorders
and this is what gave the tiny figure its unique
appearance.
So next time you take the dog for a walk or go
for a quiet wander down at the beach, be
careful not to trip on the odd bone or two
sticking up from the ground.
Sources: NPR, NBC News, Science, Forbes, IFLScience

Reading comprehension
Read the following statements and decide if they are True (T), False (F) or Not Given (NG).

1. When a skeleton is found it can take a period of time to decipher what happened to them. T ✔

2. The residents in Ireland were more surprised by the tree than the skeleton. NG ✔

3. The archaeologists in Ireland don’t know what happened to the skeleton found under the tree. _F_ ✔

4. The police officers in Florida were used to finding unidentifiable bones. NG ✔

5. In Florida, they discovered eight complete skeletons. T ✔

6. Lake Mead is a good place for people who want to commit a crime and not get caught. T ✔

7. The alligators in Lake Mead often destroy important evidence. NG ✔

8. The skeleton in Chile was discovered near a busy town. F ✔

9. The skeleton in Chile had an unusual appearance that was caused by issues in its bones. T

Let’s Talk
In pairs discuss the following questions.

1. How do you feel about the discoveries in the article?

2. Where do you think the bones in Florida came from?

3. How would you feel if you found a skeleton of an alien near your house?

4. Do you think police should spend money researching cases that are more than 50 years old?