Module 2 Unit3 Amazing People
Reading The curse of the mummy
Teaching aims:
By the end of the lesson, students will be able to:
Learn how to predict and anticipate information in advance.
Develop the students’ abilities to gather information by reading the text quickly.
Through the different opinions of a phenomenon, arouse the students’ curiosity of learning scientific knowledge to explain the mysteries in the world.
Reading for details:
Paragraph1-2:
Name
Howard Carter
Job
Education
Experiences
In 1891, ________________
By the 1920s,____________
Achievements
Personality(性格)
Paragraph 3:
Howard Carter’s most amazing discovery of all
Paragraph 4-5:
Name
Identity
Cause of death
Time of death
Bird
Carter’s lucky pet
Swallowed by a snake
Upon their entering the tomb
Lord Carnarvon
Sponsor of Howard Carter
A fever
A few months after opening
Dog
Carnarvon’s dog
Not mentioned
Almost at the same time
George Gould
A friend of Carnarvon’s
A high fever
The next day after visiting the tomb
Richard Bethell
Carter’s secretary
Heart trouble
4 months after opening
Arthur Mace
A member of the team
Not mentioned
Shortly after the discovery
Paragraph 6-8:
How did people explain these deaths mentioned in the text.
1.____________________________
2.____________________________
3.____________________________
What does the author think of the curse of the mummy?
_____________________________
Discussion:
Coincidence ________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
The mummy’s curse ________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
A scientific explanation ________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
Homework:
Read the article carefully and get more information about the curse of the mummy.
2. Preview the important key words and expressions in the text.
Extensive reading:
The Curse of the Mummy
The curse of the mummy began when many terrible events occurred after the discovery of King Tut's tomb. Legend（传说） has it that anyone who dared to open the tomb would suffer the anger of the mummy. Because mummies have been associated with many magical powers throughout history, some of the mummies found from Egypt were ground 研磨） into a fine powder and sold as mystical mummy powder. It's believed the powder had magical healing powers and it wasn't until the discovery of King Tut and the hype （天花乱坠的广告宣传） of the media that things would change forever.
The hype began when Lord Carnarvon, the person who funded the dig of King Tut’s Tomb, died shortly after the discovery. The path to his death began in the spring of 1923 when he was bitten on the cheek by a mosquito. During his morning shaving routines, he further aggravated （加重） the mosquito bite. It soon became infected and Lord Carnarvon found himself ill. He suffered a high fever and chills. A doctor was sent to examine him but medical attention arrived too late and Lord Carnarvon died. At that exact moment the lights in Cairo mysteriously went out.
Once Carnarvon died the media went wild with stories of his death. They claimed King Tut wanted vengeance (报仇) and announced a mummy's curse, which targeted those who had entered the tomb. Not only did the death of Carnarvon get all the people in an uproar but other stories began to surface as well. Of the stories that surfaced, two remain prominent. One of the prominent stories is that a cobra （眼镜蛇）killed Howard Carter's (explorer who discovered King Tut’s burial place) pet canary after the discovery of King Tut's tomb. The other story is that Lord Carnarvon's dog howled and dropped dead at two in the morning when Carnarvon died.
What is interesting is that Howard Carter lived a decade after this major discovery. So what happened to Howard Carter during all this hype? Howard Carter spent his last years logging and recording every artifact （人工制品）found in the tomb. Why didn't he suffer the curse of the mummy? He was, after all, the first to enter the tomb.
Did King Tut's Tomb really unleash （发动）a curse? New findings are showing that bacteria on the wall of the tomb might have been the cause of the curse. The bacteria would release spores （孢子）into the air allowing it to be breathed. This in turn caused people who came into contact with these spores to become ill. Could this be what killed Lord Carnarvon? It appears that this could have contributed to his death, as well as the fact that he was not in the best of health.
Whether the mummy’s curse is fact or fiction, this story seems to interest people even today. The myth of the curse has remained with King Tut and continues to make people question as to whether the curse was really unleashed. What is known is that when you mix propaganda (宣传), facts, and hype you get a story that can be exciting. It all really comes down to one question. Do you believe in the curse of the mummy? We will leave that for you to decide.
The Curse of the Mummy
The curse of the mummy began when many terrible events occurred after the discovery of King Tut's tomb. Legend（传说） has it that anyone who dared to open the tomb would suffer the anger of the mummy. Because mummies have been associated with many magical powers throughout history, some of the mummies found from Egypt were ground 研磨） into a fine powder and sold as mystical mummy powder. It's believed the powder had magical healing powers and it wasn't until the discovery of King Tut and the hype （天花乱坠的广告宣传） of the media that things would change forever.
The hype began when Lord Carnarvon, the person who funded the dig of King Tut’s Tomb, died shortly after the discovery. The path to his death began in the spring of 1923 when he was bitten on the cheek by a mosquito. During his morning shaving routines, he further aggravated （加重） the mosquito bite. It soon became infected and Lord Carnarvon found himself ill. He suffered a high fever and chills. A doctor was sent to examine him but medical attention arrived too late and Lord Carnarvon died. At that exact moment the lights in Cairo mysteriously went out.
Once Carnarvon died the media went wild with stories of his death. They claimed King Tut wanted vengeance (报仇) and announced a mummy's curse, which targeted those who had entered the tomb. Not only did the death of Carnarvon get all the people in an uproar but other stories began to surface as well. Of the stories that surfaced, two remain prominent. One of the prominent stories is that a cobra （眼镜蛇）killed Howard Carter's (explorer who discovered King Tut’s burial place) pet canary after the discovery of King Tut's tomb. The other story is that Lord Carnarvon's dog howled and dropped dead at two in the morning when Carnarvon died.
What is interesting is that Howard Carter lived a decade after this major discovery. So what happened to Howard Carter during all this hype? Howard Carter spent his last years logging and recording every artifact （人工制品）found in the tomb. Why didn't he suffer the curse of the mummy? He was, after all, the first to enter the tomb.
Did King Tut's Tomb really unleash （发动）a curse? New findings are showing that bacteria on the wall of the tomb might have been the cause of the curse. The bacteria would release spores （孢子）into the air allowing it to be breathed. This in turn caused people who came into contact with these spores to become ill. Could this be what killed Lord Carnarvon? It appears that this could have contributed to his death, as well as the fact that he was not in the best of health.
Whether the mummy’s curse is fact or fiction, this story seems to interest people even today. The myth of the curse has remained with King Tut and continues to make people question as to whether the curse was really unleashed. What is known is that when you mix propaganda (宣传), facts, and hype you get a story that can be exciting. It all really comes down to one question. Do you believe in the curse of the mummy? We will leave that for you to decide.
