UNIT 2 : ESP

PART ONE

A. TEXT

What does ESP mean? Scan the text and find out.
Do the majority of people believe in telepathy or not?

Powers beyond reason

In an opinion poll in 1981 nearly three-quarters of the adults who were questioned
believed they had experienced telepathy. In other words a high proportion of the population
believed in one form of extra-sensory perception (ESP). But can we be sure that what we call
ESP is not simply chance or coincidence?

ESP is usually defined as the ability to received information about the world around us in
ways not involving the five physical senses, or any normal means. ESP is, in other words,
paranormal. When the ESP involves communication with another person's mind, it is called
telepathy. When the information is about an object or an event, it is called clairvoyance, and
when the information is about a future event, the type of ESP involved is called precognition.
So, when the telephone rings and, before you pick it up, you know who will be at the other
end- you are experiencing ESP. When you dream, before the race is run, which horse will win
the Grand National, that too is an example of the paranormal ability called ESP.

B. EXPLANATIONS
telepathy [n] : thần giao cách cảm; sự cảm nhận từ xa
reason [n] : lý trí
opinion poll [n]
proportion [n]
a high proportion of
population
perception [n]
extra-sensory [adj]
extra-sensory perception
coincidence [n]
physical senses
paranormal [adj]
clairvoyance [n]
cognition [n]
precognition [n]
: cuộc thăm dò ý kiến
: tỉ lệ
: một bộ phận lớn dân chúng
: sự nhận thức
: ngoại cảm
: sự nhận thức bằng ngoại cảm
: sự trùng hợp ngẫu nhiên
: các giác quan của cơ thể
: huyền bí, siêu nhiên
: khả năng giả định nhìn thấy được các hiện
tượng và vật thể ngoài tầm mắt
: sự nhận thức
: sự biết trước

C. FACT CHECK
Answer the following questions.

a. What is the definition of ESP?

b. What percentage (%) of the adult population believes in ESP?

c. What is the difference between clairvoyance and precognition?

d. In the last paragraph there are two examples of ESP. Are they examples of telepathy,
clairvoyance or precognition?

Answer Key

D. WORD CHECK

1. Normal: use your dictionary to check the difference in meaning between these
words. Write each word's meaning in the box.

a. normal
b. abnormal
c. subnormal
d. paranormal

Answer Key

2. The senses: Answer these questions by filling in the chart.

a. What are the five "normal" senses?

b. Which parts of the body are involved in these senses? The first one is done for you.

sense part of the body

1 sight eyes
2
3
4
5

Answer Key

3. Word families: Find words in the text related to these words

verb noun adjective

a x adult
b perceive x
c x confidential
d x sense
e communicate x
f experience x
g x able

Answer Key

E. PARAGRAPHS

Which of the three paragraphs do these sentences describe?

a. It defines different types of ESP

b. It introduces the subject
c. It defines terminology
d. It explains different kinds of ESP
e. It gives detailed information
f. It gives examples of real situations

Answer Key

PART TWO

A. TEXT

Can any of these case studies be proved to be true cases of ESP?

Case studies

1) On the morning of Saturday 1 June 1974 Mrs.

Lesley Brennan was at home in Cleethorpes, near
Grimsby. She was watching an old film on television.
The film was interrupted by a news bulletin which said
there had been an explosion at the large chemical
works at Flixborough in Lincolnshire. Friends of Mrs.
Brennan, whom she told of the explosion at about
noon that same day, later confirmed her story. For the
remarkable thing was that the Flixborough explosion
did not happen until five o'clock that afternoon, more
than five hours after Mrs. Brennan had seen it on television.

2) In 1937 the explorer Sir Hubert Wilkins set out to search for a
Soviet airman whose plane had gone down over the North Pole. The
Russian's radio had failed, and before Hubert Wilkins left for the
North Pole, he discussed with a New York journalist, Harold Sherman,
the possibility of his own radio failing also. They agreed that, in such
a case, thought transfer would be very useful. Both men were
interested in the subject, and a classic ESP experiment resulted: while
Wilkins searched the frozen Artic, Sherman, thousands of miles away in New York,
successfully followed his progress. The two men had communicated by paranormal means.

3) In the late 1920s an American biologist Dr Joseph Banks Rhine

became interested in the paranormal. He set up a project to research
and test ESP. His basic test consisted of a special pack of twenty-five
cards. The experimental method was for one person, the sender, to
shuffle the cards and then look at them one by one. The subject of the
experiment, the receiver, would try to guess the symbol on the card. According to the laws of
chance five correct guesses out of twenty- five was normal if only guesswork was involved.
Using this method, Rhine sometimes took him on country drives, during which he stopped the
car and carried out the test. On one occasion Linzmayer correctly named all the cards.

B. EXPLANATIONS

interrupt [v] : làm gián doạn

news bulletin [n] : bản tin
works [n] : nhà máy
chemical works : nhà máy hóa chất
confirm [v] : khẳng định, xác nhận
remarkable [ạdj] : đáng lưu ý, khác thường
fail [v] : hỏng, không hoạt động được
thought transfer [n] : sự truyền đạt ý nghĩ
biologist [n] : nhà sinh học
shuffle [v] : xóc (bài)
the subject of the experiment : đối tượng thí nghiệm.
We need some male subjects for a : Chúng tôi cần vài đối tượng nam giới cho cuộc thí
psychology experiment nghiệm tâm lý học.

C. FACT CHECK
Fill in the chart with the details of each case study. (x = no answer in text)

Case study (1) Case study (2) Case study (3)

People involved:
subjects
Experimenter x x
Witnesses x x
Others x x x
Place (s)
Date
Time of day x
Objects involved x x
Brief description of the
case
Type of ESP

Answer Key
D. FILL IN THIS DETAILED TIMETABLE OF MRS. BRENNAN'S DAY ON
JUNE 1st 1974
Event(s) which happened to Mrs. The day at Flixborough chemical
Brennan works
Morning
Midday
Afternoon

Answer Key

E. WORD CHECK

1. Use your dictionary to check the difference in meaning between:

a. experiment
b. test
c. project

Which of these words can also be verbs? What is their meaning as verbs?

2. Explain the meanings of these verbs and phrases from the three case studies.

a. thought transfer
b. by paranormal means
c. the laws of chance
d. guesswork
e. consistently

Answer Key

F. EXERCISE

Click here to view the exercise for Unit 2.