номер 5, страница 36 - гдз по английскому языку 10 класс учебник Вербицкая, Маккинли

Unit four. Track thirty two.

Host: So, what did happen to Amelia Earhart on her last flight? With me in the studio I'm joined by Bruce Holtz, who has been studying the story for many years. Bruce, can you tell us some of the theories about Amelia's tragic accident?

Bruce: Eh, well, according to some theories, Amelia didn't actually die. For many years, some people believed that she survived and then worked for the Japanese during the war.

Host: The Japanese? You have to remember that Japan was America's big enemy even in the nineteen thirties.

Bruce: Yes, that's right. The story is that during the Second World War, the Japanese broadcast anti-US propaganda on the radio to America. This was read by someone who called herself Tokyo Rose, an American woman living in Japan. Some people thought that perhaps Tokyo Rose was Amelia Earhart. However, Amelia's husband listened to dozens of tapes of the broadcasts, but he couldn't identify his wife's voice. So, the theory seems unlikely.

Host: Hmm. What other theories are there?

Bruce: Well, another theory was that Amelia was actually a US spy and that she was caught and killed by the Japanese. In nineteen thirty seven, a fifteen-year-old boy said he heard Amelia Earhart on his radio on July the second, the day she disappeared. He said that he heard a scream and the woman said Japanese soldiers had entered the plane.

Host: Well, that sounds quite convincing, doesn't it?

Bruce: Uh, yes and no. You have to remember that Americans were very worried about Japan back then. Any information from the Pacific region about what the Japanese were doing was very useful. Amelia could have tried to get information, like taking photos. But if she was a spy, there would definitely be files and documents about this in the FBI and government records. The problem is that many researchers spent a long time searching these records in the nineteen nineties and they didn't find any information at all about Amelia being a spy.

Host: Which theories are more likely then?

Bruce: Well, probably the simplest explanation is that Amelia simply ran out of gas and crashed into the ocean. In fact, Amelia did definitely mention that she was starting to run out of gas in her last radio message. But there was no sign of panic, and we have since calculated that she must have had enough fuel for at least four more hours when she disappeared. So, it's an easy explanation, but it's also easy to prove that it's not true. Perhaps the most intriguing story comes from the island of Nikumaroro in the Pacific. Years after Amelia's disappearance, some researchers on the island noticed that the islanders were using metal plates. The metal looked like it could have come from an airplane.

Host: So you're saying that Amelia tried to land her plane on another island, this Nico- uh.

Bruce: Nikumaroro, yes.

Host: Ah.

Bruce: Perhaps they decided to land there because they knew the fuel would run out.

Host: Or perhaps they'd made a mistake, they thought that they had reached their destination, Howland Island, but it was the wrong island.

Bruce: Of course, that is also a possibility. Remember, these islands are very small, and Amelia's plane would have been very high up above the ocean. You can imagine how easy it is to choose the wrong island by mistake. But remember, that Fred Noonan was a very experienced navigator, perhaps the best in the world at the time.

Host: But I thought that the US Navy spent sixteen days looking for the plane and that ships and navy planes explored all the islands in the area.

Bruce: That is correct. The Navy claimed that they had searched the island in nineteen thirty seven. But who knows? The plane might have crashed into the sea as they were trying to land on the island and was never found.

Host: Okay. Now finally something I've really wanted to ask. I remember an episode of Star Trek from years ago that mentioned Amelia Earhart. The story suggested that Amelia and Fred Noonan had been captured by aliens. Is there any evidence for this?

Bruce: It's a nice story, but I don't think you need me to answer that question.

Host: Oh, okay. Bruce Holtz, thank you.

Bruce: Thank you.