Tales from Outer Space - Progetto Scuola snc

PRE-INTERMEDIATE 

B1 (Threshold) 

CHAPTER 1 

The Crystal Egg 

Page 11 • activity 1 

Possible answer. 

a. birds – fish – turtles – snakes – 

crocodiles – insects 

b. the cosmos – life – chaos – rebirth – 

death – surprise 

c. It might be a paperweight, an 

ornament, a work of art. 

d. At an old curiosity shop, at Swarovski’s, 

at a flea market. 

e. The crystal egg might contain a new 

form of life coming from outer space, 

or it could be used with the same 

purpose of a crystal ball to predict the 

future. 


fragile – glittering – oval – polished – shiny – 

smooth – solid – transparent – worked 


elephant tusks, F 

tiger head, A 

R A I N B O W S 

stuffed animals, E 

cabinet, G 

beads, C 

weapons, D 

ostrich eggs, B 

KEY TO THE ACTIVITIES 

Tales from Outer Space 


INTERESTED INTERESTED INTERESTED AS 

AS COLLECTORS BECAUSE OF MONEY BELIEVERS 

Rev. James Mrs Cave Mr Cave 

Parker 

The Prince of Mr Cave’s Mr Wace 

Bosso-Kuni step-children 


Free answer. 

Example: 

Description: it is a polished mass of crystal 

in the shape of an egg, like an empty 

sphere with some vapour; at night, in 

dark corners, it remains luminous, 

bright on certain occasions. 

How it works: every time a ray of light hits 

the surface of the crystal and forms an 

angle of 137 degrees, Mr Cave can see 

something inside the egg. 

Effect on Cave/on other people: the egg 

becomes a sort of addiction for Cave 

and Wace. 

Purpose: it is probably an instrument which 

gives the inhabitants of Mars the 

possibility to observe what’s happening 

on Earth. 


a. T – b. F (He was a little old man with 

a pale face.) – c. T – d. F (He said the 

crystal egg was not for sale.) – e. F (They 

wanted to buy it for £ 1.) – f. F (They 

were his step-children.) – g. F (She 

wanted him to sell it.) – h. F (He was 

Assistant Demonstrator at St. Catherine’s 

Hospital.) – i. T – j. T – k. F (No, the 

vision wasn’t the same.) – l. T 


a. The story takes place before space 

exploration. 

b. Cave tried to escape his everyday life 

because he was unhappy, in fact his 

wife and step-children treated him very 

badly. Moreover he suffered from 

melancholia and insomnia. 

c. Cave’s virtual life consisted in watching 

an alternative world, he had a sort of 

second life. 

d. Wace was sure that Cave didn’t suffer 

from hallucinations because, thanks to 

Wace’s scientific method he was sure 

that everything was based on facts and 

not on emotions. Cave’s descriptions 

were extremely detailed and free from 

hallucinations. 

e. The fact that Cave recognized some 

elements of the solar system: the Bear, 

the Pleiades, Aldebaran, Sirius and also 

two small moons, conditions which 

could only make him think of Mars. 

f. The planet described by Cave actually 

corresponds to Mars because the 

position of Mars within the solar 

system is exactly the one described by 

Cave and because it has two moons, 

Phobos and Deimos. 

g. Wace wanted to find the egg again 

because he wanted to carry on the 

research and he had become addicted 

to it. 


INSECTS COLOUR WINGS 

beetles dark yes 

flies black yes 

grasshoppers green yes 

crickets grey yes 

mosquitoes grey yes 

ants black/red no 

… … … 


a. Vast reddish cliffs surrounded the plain 

at a distance. 

b. They greatly improved the conditions of 

the observations. 

c. They put the crystal into its box. 

d. They had found him dead. 

e. They had already sold the crystal egg 

to a tall, dark man in grey. 


a. An old velvet cloth was used by him. 

b. His private pleasure hadn’t been shared 

with anyone. 

c. An angle of 137 degrees was formed 

by the illuminating ray. 

1 Tales from Outer Space – EDISCO 

EDISCO – Tales from Outer Space 2

d. The view of an extensive plain was 

always described by Mr Cave. 

e. Five pounds had been offered for the 

crystal by the clergyman. 


Free answer. 

Example: 

Nowadays, if your life is dull and boring 

and you want to escape from reality you 

can surf the Internet, where you’ll find 

several possibilities to recreate your own 

new world. For example “Second Life” 

offers you this possibility. You can be 

anyone you like: if you are short, fat and 

poor, in this game you can be tall, slim 

and very rich. You can draw your own 

avatar, which is a sort of a cartoon 

representing yourself. Maybe your avatar 

does not correspond to your aspect at all. 

You can also chat on the Internet. In this 

case you’ll choose a nickname and you’ll 

be able to chat with people you don’t even 

know, people who give a description of 

themselves which doesn’t always 

correspond to the truth. Sometimes you 

chat for hours, also with friends, but you 

can only have virtual friends, not real 

relationships, and this may be risky because 

you’ll lose your sense of reality. 


Suggested answer. 

Wace: Good morning Mrs Cave. I’m looking 

for your husband, I haven’t seen him 

for days, so I’ve decided to come. But 

now, I’m afraid, I can see from your 

clothes that something terrible must 

have happened. What’s the matter? 

Please, tell me! 

Mrs Cave: Oh dear! Oh, Mr Wace! Yes, my 

poor husband is dead! We’ve already 

buried him. Oh! I wish I could forget 

the moment when I found him dead 

in the shop! It was on the day after 

your last visit, Mr Wace. He was lying 

on the floor clasping that stupid crystal 

egg in his cold hands. His face was 

smiling and there was a velvet cloth at 

his feet! 

Wace: What terrible news! I can’t believe 

that! There are no words to describe 

how sorry I am for your loss. He was 

such a good man! But please, tell me. 

Where’s the egg now? 

Mrs Cave: It has been sold. 

Wace: Sold? Good Heavens! 

Mrs Cave: Yes, sold. We needed money to 

mourn and bury him in proper dignity, 

so I appealed to a fellow-tradesman in 

Great Portland Street. 

Wace: I see, Mrs Cave. Please accept my 

condolences again. I must go and find 

the egg immediately. Goodbye! 

Mrs Cave: Goodbye! 


a. T – b. T – c. F – d. T – e. F – g. F 

Transcript 

Walker: Wace! What can I do for you? 

Anything in my power. 

Wace: Publish my article! You publish it 

and then they’ll believe me. 

Walker: I should have to read it first. I’m a 

friend, yes, but I’m an editor, too. 

Wace: Ah! Then you’ve already rejected it. 

That’s what you’re saying. 

Walker: Well, let me be frank. 

Wace: Please! 

Walker: Let’s suppose that what I’ve heard 

is substantially the truth. That Wace, a 

well-known scientist, has discovered a 

crystal which reveals Mars, and I 

publish this information read by 

scientists throughout the world. You 

must understand… I have a reputation! 

Wace: But think of Galileo! When he 

peered through his telescope and saw 

something so big that it shook the 

Earth, everybody said: “Galileo is 

mad!”. All who see first are mad. But 

listen to me, Walker, I’ll scream it to 

the world. Mars can be seen through a 

crystal egg! 

Walker: Wace! Galileo had his telescope, 

others could see. But you, where is 

your crystal egg? 

Wace: Ah! Where is my crystal egg! 


F 

5W 

O 

1 2 3 4 

L 

L 

6 

I 

E 

S 

CHAPTER 2 

The Call of Cthulhu 


Possible answers. 

a. A gigantic alien. 

b. He is calling his clones. 

c. Because he wants to set up an army. 

d. He lives in the core of Jove. 

e. He is as old as the Big Bang. 

f. He is evil. 

g. Yes, he will. 

H I R E V E R S E D 

N D E R I N G 

I D 

P R E S E R V E 

C 

7M A N K I N D 

8D 

P 

9C 

A U T I O U S 

H 

S 

10G R E E N I 

11S 

H T 

R U O 

12R 

A 

13 

I N Q U I R Y 

E 

B K O 

V 

14L 

L 

15A 

T T E M 16 P T 

17I 

N S A N E D R 

V N O 

E D O 

18 

P E R S U A D E D F 

D 




THE HORROR THE TALE THE MADNESS 

IN CLAY OF INSPECTOR LEGRASSE FROM THE SEA 

Protagonist/s • Narrator • Narrator • Narrator 

• Inspector Legrasse 

• Professor Webb 

Date/s • Winter of 1926-27 • around 1910 • 18th April 1925 

• 22 nd March – 2 nd April 

(newspaper article) 

Place/s • Annual meeting of • Dunedin 

the Archaelogical • Museum 

Society 

in Hyde Park 

• Wilcox’s place • Oslo 

Sources • notes of famous • inspector Legrasse • Sydney Bulletin 

of information professor • professor Webb • Gustaf Johansen 

(narrator’s uncle) • statuette • part of the Alert 

• clay bas-relief • arrested prisoners • Johansen’s 

• newspaper articles • Castro manuscript 

• Wilcox 

Real and/or • earthquake • voodoo orgy and • heavy storms 

natural events • Wilcox’s dreams, meeting in the forest • apparent wreckage 

fever, delirium • arrest • attack of Emma on 

and recovery • Wilcox’s the part of the Alert 

• other artists’ dreams interrogation • earthquake 

and visions 

• Johansen’s delirium 

• Johansen’s death 

• death of Johansen’s 

companions 

Supernatural or • terrifying monster • shape and material • mysterious island 

incomprehensible (octopus + dragon + of statuette • giant evil monster 

events human caricature) • disappearance of • circumstances of 

• Cyclopean architecture, women and children Johansen’s and his 

monoliths with • dancing flames companions’ death 

strange hieroglyphics • legends of white • the City and the 

• Cthulhu cult polypus things and Thing (R’lyeh and 

• strange sounds: flying devils Cthulhu) 

‘Cthulhu fhtagn’ • incomprehensible • gelatinous green 

chant 

monster 

• Black-winged ones 

• Great Old Ones 

• Cthulhu 


a. T– b. F (Their architecture is strange and 

their proportions and perspectives are 

distorted.) – c. F (They are small statuettes.) 

– d. T– e. F (It’s made of a strange greenish 

material which cannot be found on earth.) – 

f. T– g. F (There are, Cthulhu being one of 

them.) – h. T– i. T– j. F (They wait to be 

resurrected.) – k. T– l. T– m. F (So they can 

at last come back and rule the Earth.) – n. F 

(When the stars are right again, there will 

probably be an earthquake and then their city 

will emerge.) – o. T 


a. The narrator has access to the notes of 

the professor because the Professor 

dies and he is his heir. 

b. The professor writes down the dreams 

of the sculptor because he is 

interested in them and his visions of 

Cyclopean cities and strange words 

until, one day, Wilcox had a strange 

fever, fell into a delirium and did not 

recover until 2 nd April. 

c. All the information in the first part of 

the professor’s manuscript describes 

dreams, secret societies, hidden cults 

and mental illnesses, all about the 

Cthulhu cult. 

d. At the Annual Meeting of the 

Archaeological Society, the professor had 

heard talking of Cthulhu from Professor 

Webb who told him about an episode 

during which he had seen a similar 

bas-relief, and from a police inspector 

who told him about an ancient stone 

statuette found during a raid on a 

voodoo meeting of a secret society and 


about the arrest of some of those men. 

e. Old Castro explained the narrator that 

the Great Old Ones, whose powers 

are much beyond us, are waiting to 

be resurrected and guided by their 

leader Cthulhu so as to rule over the 

earth again. 

f. The narrator is very interested in the 

cult because he imagines himself as a 

famous expert so he goes on with his 

research. 

g. The narrator found out about old 

Johansen from a newspaper article 

which told about the apparent 

wreckage of a yacht with a single 

survivor who talked about a mysterious 

island and a stone statuette idol, so he 

went to visit the rests of the ship and 

to Oslo to visit the survivor. 

h. In Johansen’s manuscript he read about 

how they had been attacked by the 

Alert, how they had managed to 

reach a strange island with a strange 

architecture, how his companions had 

died of fright and how he had 

succeeded to escape from an 

immense monster. 

i. At the end of the story the narrator is 

worried and frightened because he 

thinks Cthulhu really exists and is 

simply waiting for an earthquake to 

come back to the world and conquer it. 

a. strange ➜ normal g. terrifying ➜ reassuring 

b. secret ➜ open, public, revealed h. gigantic ➜ tiny 

c. ancient ➜ modern i. diabolic ➜ angelic 

d. obscure ➜ bright j. fearful ➜ bold, intrepid 

e. insane ➜ sane k. undying ➜ mortal 

f. unknown ➜ known l. distorted ➜ regular, symmetric 





faith, church, cult, holy communion, 

sacrament, prophet, mosque, God, sin, 

paradise 


a. The narrator read the notes the 

professor had collected over the years. 

b. Wilcox created the bas-relief because 

he had dreamt about a monstrous 

being. 

c. Before Wilcox’s dream, the professor 

had heard the word ‘Cthulhu’ at the 

Annual Meeting of the Archaeological 

Society. 

d. Old Castro told the narrator he had 

spoken to some leaders of the cult 

who had told him about the Great Old 

Ones. 

e. Before Johansen arrived on the island a 

ship had attacked his Emma. 


Transcript 

Interviewer: So, ladies and gentlemen, 

here is the man who has finally 

cleared the mystery known as the 

Cthulhu cult. So, professor, what can 

you tell us about Cthulhu? Does he, 

she or it really exist? Is it a he, she or 

it, by the way? 

Narrator: Good morning everybody. Well, 

being an entity, probably it is better 

if we talk about it as an It, however 

it is so powerful it can transform into 

any form it wishes, that’s why it is 

so dangerous and difficult to 

recognise. 

I: So, it’s not only superstition, then. 

What exactly is its mission? 

N: That’s hard to explain. Let’s say that 

it is the representative of a long 

dynasty of gods who ruled the earth 

long before man arrived on earth. 

Back then the Great Old Ones ruled 

the earth, animals, nature, 

everything and created their own 

religion which had its supreme 

ceremony in the killing of a thousand 

lions. When man arrived they hadn’t 

yet recovered from a terrible attack 

on the part of the lionesses so they 

decided to close themselves in their 

city, R’lyeh, and decide on a new 

strategy for the future. They were 

about to come back to the world 

because they had found the secret of 

eternity when a terrible tsunami 

submerged their city and they sank 

into the seas. However, they were 

able to leave messages to the future 

generations and later find their 

representative in Cthulhu, a very 

powerful priest of an ancient 

primitive religion. So I suppose their 

mission is to have their power back, 

to rule earth again, and to use 

humans as victims for their 

ceremonies. 

I: Well, nice program, I must admit. Ok, 

so, here are some final questions for 

you: what do their disciples do in 

their ceremonies? How will Cthulhu 

resurrect again? And, last but not 

least, how can we destroy it and the 

Great Old Ones? 

Free answer. 

Example: 

N: Well, their ceremonies are kind of 

voodoo orgies all devoted to dancing, 

sacrificing and chanting old laments 

around a fire, surrounded by dead 

people’s heads on top of poles. I 

definitely doubt these ceremonies and 

rituals will grant Cthulhu his 

resurrection, but certainly the powers 

of nature will help him attain what 

his disciples cannot. I seriously 

believe that the forces of nature are 

involuntarily conjuring up the ideal 

conditions for his resurrection, in 

which case – and we will all know 

when this is the case – it is 

fundamental we know how to react 

and defend ourselves. First of all it is 

necessary we do not look at the 

Great Old Ones in the eyes: that is 

the way they can enter our mind and 

make us their disciples. Secondly, it is 

altogether important not to quarrel 

with people: it is in those occasions, 

when we are projecting our rage 

onto somebody else, that our 

defences are lower and they can 

start commanding our mind. Last, but 

not least: pray. Let us all pray our 

traditional Gods, for they cannot 

stand other cults and they resent 

other forms of faith. 



Professor: Can I ask you a few questions 

about this bas-relief, please? 

Wilcox: Sure. 

Professor: First of all, why did you build it? 

Wilcox: Well, it was not a conscious 

choice. On that famous morning after 

the dream I got up and I simply 

knew I had to do it. It was beyond 

my will to decide whether to build it 

or not. 

Professor: What exactly did you dream 

about on that night? 

Wilcox: Well, I do not particularly like 

remembering about it, it was too 

scary. But it was as if I were looking 

at everything from above. There were 

naked people dancing around 

enormous fires and adoring some sort 

of idols in the form of, well, I can’t 

say a name for it… it was a strange 

being with a polypus head, wings, 

and claws, it was unlike any animal 

or any human being… The 

background was a strange city, all 

greenish, with tall, asymmetrical 

buildings. 

Professor: Could you see anything else? 

Wilcox: Let me think… Yes! I remember 

there were some strange statuettes all 

around the place where those men 

were dancing, and there were some 

frightful black winged beings who 

flew just above the fire. 

Professor: Was that the first night you had 

ever dreamt about this monster and 

this rite? 

Wilcox: Yes, that was the first night, but 

after that I’ve dreamt about that 

strange city and those flying beings 

another couple of times, basically every 

time there was a storm, I noticed, but 

I’m not sure that is relevant. 

CHAPTER 3 

The Liberator 


Free answers. 




Free answer. Example: 

Height 

Weight 

Head 

Trunk 

Arms and legs 

Voice 

Clothes 

Special powers 


1. b – 2. d – 3. a – 4. c – 5. e – 6. h – 

7. j – 8. f – 9. i – 10. g 


4 The Vice-President takes the place of the 

President. 

7 General Milvan orders his men to kill 

Satan. 

3 The President of the World Council 

complains but is killed. 

10 Satan explains why he has saved the 

Earth. 

9 The General leaves, humiliated. 

5 Satan arrives and declares he has control 

over the Earth. 

6 General Milvan replies angrily to the Devil. 

1 The Earth has been conquered. 


tall, short 

medium-built, big, stout, thin, slender, lean, robust 

oval, squared, round, big, large, small, disproportioned 

strong, big, solid, thin, skinny, flabby, plump, wiry 

long, short, muscular, brawny, dangling 

deep, loud, quiet, soft, low, deafening piercing, small 

tight, loose, new, old, glittering, fashionable, old-fashioned, futuristic 

X-ray sight, super hearing, telepathy, ubiquity, indestructibility 

PEOPLE IN POWER VICTIM/S ACTION 

2 General Milvan imposes his new laws. 

8 The Devil comes back and provokes 

General Milvan. 


a. General Milvan: seven feet tall, like a 

body builder, super-anthropomorphic, 

bright-eyed, very intelligent, like a God 

from Olympus, impressive appearance, 

sneering, tall, menacing, magnificent 

Humans: plump, little, with a low voice 

and a flabby paunch 

Satan: tiny horns, well-cut goatee, ropy 

tail, dark ironic eyes, commanding posture 

b. Yes, because they reflect their strength, 

or lack of it, and their attitude and 

behaviour. 

c. First General Milvan and then the Devil. 

General Milvan Humans make them colonies, serve as bases for Valonians 

General Milvan Satan kill him (twice), capture and analyse him 

Satan Valonians glue bodyguards’ bodies to his, capture and destroy 

ships, use them to teach a lesson 

Satan Humans rule them secretly, treat them like dogs 


GENERAL MILVAN HUMANS SATAN 

POSITIVE NEGATIVE POSITIVE NEGATIVE POSITIVE NEGATIVE 

super arrogant inferior familiar unknown 

incredible menacing primitive ironic 

magnificent shocked low commanding 


No, there aren’t any positive 

characteristics attributed to the humans 

because they are not able to face who or 

what is superior to them, neither 

physically nor mentally. 


to defeat – to disintegrate – to erase – to 


speechless terrified proud 

hysterical 

disappointed 

shocked 

miserable 

surprised 

surrender – to eliminate – to brutalize – to 

destroy – to burst – to capture – to attack 


There aren’t any words related to happiness 

and hope, possibly because no happiness 

and no hope is left for humans who, one 

way or the other, are condemned to be 

ruled by someone superior to them. 

V cruelty and indifference V arrogance and conceit 

V height and menacing attitude S irony and tranquillity 

H fear and terror V impulsiveness and anger 

V physical beauty H stupefaction and powerlessness 

S commanding posture S sarcasm and power 


ADJECTIVE ADVERB ADJECTIVE ADVERB 

useless uselessly primitive primitively 

tight tightly familiar familiarly 

simple simply reasonable reasonably 

sharp sharply hysterical hysterically 

good well incredible incredibly 

hard hard free freely 





General: We will exterminate all your male 

firstborn. 

President: We will have all our male firstborn 

join your army and fight for you. 

General: You will not move from one 

country to the other. 

President: We will ask for your permission 

if we want to move. 

General: You will give half of the salary to 

the Empire. 

President: We will contribute to the 

Empire by working a week per month 

for you. 

General: We will burn all your history books. 

President: We will also learn everything 

about your history. 

General: You will not use the Internet. 

President: You will have access to 

whatever we say or write over 

the net. 

General: You will marry only among 

yourselves. 

President: We will ask for permission in 

case we wanted to do otherwise. 



Dear men, women and children all over 

the world, the day has at last come when 

we had to prove our strength. And God 

knows how it has been proved. 

We have been attacked. And we have nearly 

succumbed. But we are here to tell it, to tell 

that humans are not ready to yield their lives 

and all they have been living and fighting for. 

Yes, we have been attacked, we have lost 

many friends, relatives, neighbours, soldiers. 

The Valonians were about to take the control 

of the World Council, but we love our world, 

we love our lives, we love our uniqueness 

and this love gave us the will, the hope and 

the opportunity to resist and fight back, to 

send our enemies back to their planet and 

to reaffirm our superiority. Because our 

superiority is not a question of strength, but 

something which is deep inside us and 

which unites us all as humankind. 

So, let us remember all of those who died 

because they believed in our cause and 

wanted to protect us, let us thank them, 

and may God bless us all. 


Transcript 

Milvan: So, what’s your name again? 

Satan: I prefer to be called Satan. 

Milvan: You can’t prefer anything. I decide 

what to call you. So, what planet are 

you from? 

Satan: I come from wherever I like. 

Milvan: Aaarghh! Answer my questions or 

I’ll torture you! 

Satan: I have answered your question. I 

can decide where to come from. In 

this period I’m from Earth. Nice place 

to be, quite warm and with a lot of 

material to work on… 

Milvan: How old are you? Speak! 

Satan: I’m as old as souls are. I was born 

long before you were, General. 

Milvan: What insolence! What do you do 

for a living? 

Satan: Are you sure you want to know? 

Milvan: I’m not joking. I will burn your feet 

if you don’t answer me! 

Satan: Uuhhmm. Why not, I’m missing my 

daily pedicure… Anyway, if you really 

insist… I spy on people, I tempt them, 

I advise them to make wrong choices, 

I deceive men, I laugh at their 

mistakes, I terrify children, I live on 

the sins of people, I give apples to 

ignorant women, I… 

Milvan: Ok, Ok, that’s clear. Where do you live? 

Satan: Well, it depends. I tend to prefer 

warm places, so sometimes I am on 

tropical islands, other times I visit 

saunas, now and then I have a 

pleasant stay in some furnaces, but my 

address, if that’s what you want to 

know, and my most favourite place 

indeed is 666 Fire Street, Hell. Nice, 

warm, comfortable and a lot of people 

to make fun of… ehm, sorry, to have 

fun with. You should come, you’d like it. 

Milvan: You, YOU, YOUUUU!!! Take him back 

to the Earth, I don’t want to see or 

hear him any longer. Enough! 

CHAPTER 4 

Sentinel of Eternity 


Mare Crisium: it is to the north-west of Mare 

Undarum and to the east of Palus Somni. 


Mare Serenitatis: it is to the north of Mare 

Tranquillitatis. 

Mare Tranquillitatis: it is to the south of 

Mare Serenitatis and between Mare 

Serenitatis and Mare Crisium. 

Mare Fecunditatis: it is to the east of Mare 

Tranquillitatis. 


a. 1960-1970 – b. Apollo 11 – c. 1969 – 

d. Apollo 1 


30 miles = 48.280 km 

2,000 feet = 609.6 m 

12,000 feet = 3657.6 m 

4 inches = 10.16 cm 

40 pounds = 18.143 kg 


a. 1996 – b. 7 days – c. a metallic glitter 

on top of a promontory – d. had already 

explored the Moon – e. with one of his 

companions – f. of overconfidence – g. a 

glittering pyramid – h. by aliens coming 

from the outer space – i. before intelligent 

life appeared on Earth – j. a machine – k. 

to detect signs of civilization in the Universe 

PLACE TIME PEOPLE INVOLVED NARRATOR’S COMMENTS 

BACKGROUND Mare Crisium Late summer A crew The exploration 

SITUATION 1996 of astronauts was not exciting 

EXPLORATION A plateau on the Morning. The narrator His heart jumped for 

hills, 4,000 feet It took about and Garnett, joy thinking he had 

above the plain 20 hours his companion. found some form of life 

FINAL EVENTS/ Still on the Moon 20 years later A group of Maybe the 

CONSEQUENCES when it was scientists extraterrestrials are 

possible to use 

jealous of us because 

atomic power 

we are younger and 

one day they will 

probably come with 

bad intentions 




1 In the late summer of 1996, while 

exploring the Moon, we entered the 

Mare Crisium. 

7 The pyramid was surrounded by a force 

field. 

2 Nothing exciting happened until I 

noticed a metallic glitter on the ridge 

of a lunar promontory. 

4 Garnett came with me. 

9 I wondered who had built it and when. 

10 It took us 20 years to break the 

invisible wall. 

6 When we reached the top, we found a 

pyramidal structure. 

3 I wanted to discover what it was, so I 

decided to explore that area. 

5 We had to climb a 50-foot rocky hill. 

14 We do not know if these creatures will 

help us or destroy us in the future. 

11 The purpose of its builders was to 

monitor us until we were able to 

destroy it. 

8 Inside the pyramid there was a 

machine. 

13 Now the sentinel has stopped sending 

signals. 

12 In my opinion, creatures from another 

world left sentinels like this all over 

the Universe to see if there were other 

creatures able to survive by crossing 

space. 


a. short-range transport: transport for 

short range (distance) 

b. our caterpillar treads: the treads of our 

caterpillar 

d. our 4-inch telescope: our telescope 

whose lens is 4 inches in diameter 

e. the 50-foot rocky wall: the rocky wall 

whose height is 50 feet 

f. the meteor scratches: the scratches 

made by a meteor 

g. the star-clusters: the clusters of stars 


a. geography: plains, mountains, regions, 

ocean, caves, sea, capes, promontories, 

valleys, delta, rivers, west, hills, plain, 

landscape, top, rock, plateau, forests, 

volcanoes 

b. astronomy and physics: rockets, the 

Moon, the Earth, telescope, sunlight, 

gravity, spacesuits, meteor, cosmic dust, 

force field, stars, planet, atomic power, 

Solar System, universe, star-clusters, 

Milky Way, nebulae 


a. While life was beginning on Earth, 

everything was dying on the Moon. 

b. The driver was inspecting our 

caterpillar treads, when I looked all 

around. 

c. While I was preparing breakfast in the 

main cabin, I noticed a metallic 

glitter. 

d. While we were crossing the Mare 

Crisium, we argued all morning. 

e. The smoke was coming out of the 

volcanoes, when the aliens’ first 

spaceship came in from the abyss. 

f. During the Carboniferous era the forests 

were still steaming and amphibians 

were crawling to conquer the Earth. 


Free answer. 

Example: 

29 th August – Exploration of Mare Crisium. 

Usual routine. 

30 th August – Caterpillar needs repairing. 

Fixed. Wilson noticed unusual glittering 

on western Promontory, 30 miles from 

here. Checking necessary. 

31 st August – 5.00 AM setting off with Wilson. 

Ready to explore. 

20.30 – climbing a hill; 4,000 feet above 

the plain. Temperature ok. Beautiful 

landscape. 

21.35 – Climbing a 50-foot rocky wall. 

Grapnels. Easy, my weight only 1/6 of 

its normal value. 

00.15 – Reached the top! No words to 

describe what’s standing in front of us. 

A pyramid?! Can’t believe it! A sure sign 

of life. Can’t reach it. There seems to be 

a forcefield around it. Something inside: 

a machine? 


Free answer. 

Example: 

Hey guys! I’ve just seen a strange glittering 

over there, on the ridge of that promontory 

30 miles from here. I’m wondering what 

kind of rock could be shining so brightly. 

You will probably laugh at me, but I’ve 

never seen anything like that before and 

I’ve made up my mind to go and see what 

it is. It won’t take me long. 

Garnett, will you come with me? I’m not 

afraid of making a fool of myself, but I’m 

quite sure we’ll find the proof of intelligent 

life on the Moon. 


Transcript 

The next time you see the full moon high 

in the south, look carefully at its right-hand 

edge and let your eye travel upward along 

the curve of the disk. Round about two 

o’clock you will notice a small, dark oval: 

anyone with normal eyesight can find it 

quite easily. It is the great walled plain, 

one of the finest on the Moon, known as 

the Mare Crisium – the Sea of Crises. Three 

hundred miles in diameter, and almost 

completely surrounded by a ring of 

magnificent mountains, it had never been 

explored until we entered it in the late 

summer of 1996. 

Our expedition was a large one. We had 

two heavy freighters which had flown our 

supplies and equipment from the main 

lunar base in the Mare Serenitatis, five 

hundred miles away. There were also 

three small rockets which were intended 

for short-range transport over regions 

which our surface vehicles couldn’t cross. 

Luckily, most of the Mare Crisium is very 

flat. There are none of the great 

crevasses so common and so dangerous 

elsewhere, and very few craters or 

mountains of any size. As far as we could 

tell, our powerful caterpillar tractors would 

have no difficulty in taking us wherever 

we wished to go. 

CHAPTER 5 

The Machine That Won the War 



After 23 years, the war between Earth and 

Pluto has finally come to an end. General 

Goofey, leader of the Mickeys, has finally 

destroyed the enemies thanks to a 

wonderful machine, Superextrafab. 

After so many doubts about the final result, 

after so many deaths, this wonder of 

technology has won. This machine was 

built in 2020 by the scientist Ducky and 



has since then proved fundamental to the 

maintenance of peace. It is bigger than a 

Quidditch field, it works faster than 

100.000 computers, and it costs 

$23,232,323 a year. However, it has a 

small fault: it needs peanuts to work. 

We must hope there will not be another 



a. He was responsible for the military 

strategy of humans against the 

Denebians. 

b. The data he received from Multivac. 

c. He decided on his own with the help 

of a coin. 

d. He was in charge of inputting the right 

data into Multivac. 

e. The data he received from all the 

war in the near future, but if there is, then 

we can sleep in peace, thanks to 

Superextrafab! 


1. b – 2. a – 3. a – 4. c – 5. b – 6. b – 

7. b – 8. c – 9. c – 10. b 

NAME JOB/POSITION CHARACTERISTICS 

Lamar Swift Executive director of He wears a military cap, he is sympathetic, 

the Solar Federation he goes on State visits, he stays in the 

Mansion, he feels responsible, he still uses 

coins, he smokes 

John Henderson Chief Programmer He feels guilty, he is angry 

Max Jablonsky Chief interpreter He smokes, he is frustrated 

of Multivac 


FIRST PART SECOND PART THIRD PART 

HEADINGS No one knows nothing Suspicions and The truth is out 

confessions 

ACTIONS The three men relax The three men talk The three men surprisingly 

after the battle about how they realise what has 

manipulated their data happened 

FEELINGS Tiredness, exhaustion, Anger, incredulity, Astonishment, disbelief, 

happiness curiosity intimacy 

minor computers in the solar system. 

f. He modified the data according to his 

intuition and even invented some. 

g. He was responsible for the correct 

working of Multivac and its programming. 

h. His staff. 

i. He corrected the data according to his 

intuition. 

j. The moral is that chance only governs 

the world. 


celebration verb to celebrate peace adj. peaceful 

isolation adj. isolated difficulty adj. difficult 

excitement adj. excited trust verb to trust 

silence adj. silent anger adj. angry 

necessity adj. necessary reliability adj reliable 

anxiety adj. anxious interpretation verb to interpret 

threat verb to threat importance adj important 


Suggested answers. 

data, program, random, byte, memory, 

hardware, software, driver, cable, printer, 

bug, virus, network, email, CPU, hard disk, 

Usb device, screen, mouse, keyboard 


a. Jablonsky took a packet of cigarettes 

(which/that) he had bought two days 

before. 

b. Swift, who was the Executive Director 

of the Solar System, was wearing a 

military uniform. 

c. Multivac, which was linked to hundreds 

of other computers on the planet, is a 

big computer. 

d. This is John Henderson, who is the 

Chief Programmer of Multivac. 

e. They were all in the underground 

rooms where there was Multivac. 


a. T – b. F (That’s not a very densely populated 

area.) – c. F (I don’t think they really wanted 

to hit the Himalayas.) – d. T – e. F (…the best 

strategy would be to send a missile…) – f. T 

– g. DK – h. F (…behind Mars.) – i. DK – j. T 

– k. T – l. T – m. DK 

Transcript 

Henderson: So, what do you think about 

their last attack? Should we strike or 

should we wait for another attack? 

Jablonsky: I don’t think they really wanted 

to hit us on the Himalayas. After all 

that’s not a very densely populated 

area. However, it was possibly just an 

attempt to find out where we hid our 

last nuclear weapons, so I think the 

best strategy would be to send a 

missile up into the atmosphere and 

attack them from there, so our deposit 

will continue to be secret. 

H.: You might be right, but what if they 

change their position by the time we 

organize the mission? We wouldn’t 

know where to aim. 

J.: Good point. Well, then, Multivac 

suggested we moved our space troops 

behind Mars so that they wouldn’t be 

able to see us. Do you agree? 

H.: Ok, let’s send some of them behind 

Mars, but I also believe the other part 

of the army should try to reach the 

Denebians from behind so as to 

organise a surprise attack. 

J.: No, it’s too risky. Let’s just follow what 



H.: 

J.: 

H.: 

J.: 

Multivac said and try to understand 

the Denebians’ strategy using our spy 

satellites which are very efficient. 

Ok, send the following request to 

Swift: two spacecrafts are to be 

moved behind Mars, a missile with a 

nuclear weapon should be prepared 

and launched into the atmosphere and 

three spy satellites are to be sent 

towards Deneb to try and understand 

their strategy. 

You said we shouldn’t send the 

missile? Have you changed your mind? 

No, you’re right, that would be 

unnecessary. Let’s do the other two, 

then. 

Ok. 



Lamar: What shall we do then? 

Wife: I really don’t know. Well, I know we 

must go. We have to, for the children… 

Lamar: That’s what I said, but there’s not 

much time left. We have to organize 

the journey. 

Wife: Who else shall we tell? Wouldn’t you 

tell Jack and Sara and their children? 

And Mike and Lucy? 

Lamar: We can’t tell everyone, there are only 

twelve places in the spaceship. Why 

don’t we ask Sharon and Paul? They’re 

doctors, they could also be useful… 

Wife: How horrible to think of that!!! But 

where shall we stay? What shall we 

eat? 

Lamar: I thought something similar could 

happen so I’ve prepared a sort of base 

a couple of solar systems from here. 

But I don’t think we will ever be able 

to come back, unless… 

Wife: Unless what? 

Lamar: Unless we find other sources of 

energy there. 

Wife: I can’t think of it… When do we have 

to leave? What should I tell the kids? 


Free answer. 

Example: 

Ladies and Gentlemen, 

WE HAVE WON! At last, after we had 

nearly lost all our hope, we are here 

today to celebrate our supremacy, our 

victory over our enemies. I never had any 

doubts we could make it, but our destiny 

was in doubt and only these three men 

here could make it bright again. 

Yes, we owe our lives to Lamar Swift, 

Executive Director of the Solar System, who 

well conducted our troops according to a 

well studied and careful strategy; to John 

Henderson, Chief Programmer of Multivac, 

who managed to keep calm and controlled 

while programming Multivac with 

meticulousness and conscience; and to Max 

Jablonsky, who methodically received, 

analysed and interpreted all the data for 

Multivac. 

For this, for all they have done, they are 

going to be awarded the platinum medal 

of ‘Difensor Solaris Systemae’ and they are 

going to be granted the title of SSSSS, 

Super Solar System Safety Survivor. 

Moreover they will have the honour of 

continuing working with Multivac in order 

to prepare him and us for our next victory. 

Thank you dear gentlemen, and may your 

names be remembered forever in the years 

to come. 

S U M M I N G - U P A C T I V I T I E S 


a. The Crystal Egg 

When two clients decide to buy a 

crystal egg from an old curiosity shop, 

its owner, Mr Cave, refuses and starts 

to become more and more fascinated 

by it until he finds out he can see 

visions of another world (which he 

thinks can be Mars) in it. Flying 

animals like insects, strange bipeds, 

plains, cliffs and buildings make up a 

new world where he likes to go to 

escape from reality. When he is found 

dead, smiling, no one can understand 

why or where the crystal egg has 

gone. 

b. The Call of Cthulhu 

Some newspaper cuttings, a clay basrelief 

and some strange notes from a 

dead professor on the Cthulhu Cult 

make his young heir do everything to 

find out who Cthulhu is. Having 

understood that this knowledge of 

powerful and evil gods, strange and 

submerged cities, bizarre coincidences 

and terrifying rituals will certainly 

condemn him to death, he leaves all 

of his conclusions in a manuscript 

hoping nobody will ever realise that 

the end of the world as people know 

it can be near. 

c. The Liberator 

When a race of super-humans defeats 

man’s defences, finally conquers the 

Earth and imposes very harsh 

conditions on its inhabitants, 

unexpectedly it’s the Devil himself to 

come to humans’ help. He easily 

makes fun of the invaders’ leader, 

annihilates their army and sends them 

away because he wants no one to 

interfere with his ‘toys’, men. 

d. Sentinel of Eternity 

A flashing light on a strangely flat 

promontory on the moon proves to be 

a tall pyramid protected by a 

magnetic field that some explorers 

can break only after twenty years. 

Apparently this shining pyramid made 

up of an unknown material was a 

sentinel left at the beginning of the 

universe by an unknown, very 

powerful civilization waiting for other 

forms of civilization to be born. 

Nobody knows whether the emissaries 

of this race that will arrive will have 

good or bad intentions. 

e. The Machine That Won the War 

After winning over the Denebians, 

men are celebrating their victory and 

the author of this victory, the supercomputer 

Multivac. The three men who 

were responsible for the decisions 

concerning the long difficult war realise 

with surprise that their victory was, in 

fact, the result of a series of accidental 

circumstances guided by human 

intuition, luck and chance. 


a. T – b. F (They don’t. In the former case 

their destiny is left to two other super powers 

to decide on; in the latter it is ‘technology’ 

in the form of chance that helps them.) – c. 

T – d. T – e. F (They are set in the past.) – 

f. F (Men win because luck or another dictator 

(the devil) help them.) – g. T – h. F (The 

Machine is set on the Earth.) 




Suggested answer. 

NATURAL ELEMENTS SUPERNATURAL ELEMENTS MYSTERY TECHNOLOGY 

cliffs Devil crystal egg space shift 

promontory magnetic field Cyclopean architecture anti-accelerators 

mossy trees strange greenish asymmetrical fluorescent beams 

material 

monoliths 

canal shining crystal egg deserted yacht airship 

lawn bat-winged beings strange hieroglyphics cosmic rays 

beetles something gelatinous non-existent island sub-ether 

and splashing 

birds vampire battleship 

mountains witch caterpillar 

pressurized tractors 

valleys dragon electric razor 

insect 

telescope 


a. The crystal egg is in a shop-window of 

an old curiosity shop. 

b. In The Liberator the super-humans who 

conquer the Earth are sent away by 

the devil. 

c. Multivac is a super-computer that is 

programmed to defend the Earth. 

d. The sentinel isn’t a real person but is 

a pyramid made up of an unknown 

material. 

e. Cthulhu has a lot of people who follow 

him and his rituals. 

f. The sentinel on the moon had been 

left there by an ancient civilization. 

g. The world Mr Cave sees in the crystal 

egg is more attractive to him than the 

real one. 

h. The professor’s heir in The Call of 

Cthulhu thinks he didn’t die 

accidentally. 

i. While General Milvan was telling his 

conditions to the President of the 

World Council, the Devil arrived. 

j. The Denebians didn’t know there was 

Multivac to help the humans’ army. 


1. a – 2. c – 3. b – 4. a – 5. a – 6. b 

Transcript 

Listen to the short story The Answer (1954) 

by Frederic Brown and then choose the 

correct answer. 

Dwar Ev ceremoniously linked the final 

connection with gold. A dozen television 

cameras watched him and what he was 

doing. He stood up and made a sign to 

Dwar Reyn, then moved beside the switch 

that would complete the contact as soon 

as he turned it on. The switch that would 

connect, all at once, all of the computing 

machines of all the populated planets of 

the universe – ninety-six billion planets – 

into a super-circuit that would make up 

one super-calculator, one cybernetics 

machine that would combine all the 

knowledge of all the galaxies. 

Dwar Ryen spoke briefly to the trillions of 

people that were looking at him through 

their screens. Then, after a moment’s 

silence, he said, “Now, Dwar Ev.” 

Dwar Ev threw the switch. There was a 

deep ‘hum’, the power coming from 

ninety-six billion planets. Lights flashed 

along the very long panel. Dwar Ev 

stepped back and drew a deep breath. 

“The honour of asking the first question is 

yours, Dwar Ryen.” 

“Thank you,” said Dwar Ryen. “It will be a 

question no single cybernetics machine has 

ever been able to answer.” He turned to 

the machine, “Is there a God?” 

The mighty voice answered without hesitation. 

“Yes, now there is a God.” 

Sudden fear appeared on the face of Dwar 

Ev. He ran to turn off the switch. A bolt of 

lighting from the cloudless sky struck him 

down and fused the switch shut. 


Free answer. 

Example: 

Q.: Are there other forms of life in the 

universe? 

A.: It would be ridiculous, let alone stupid, 

to think you are the only ones living in 

the universe. 

Certainly there have been million of 

other forms of life before you arrived, 

there are thousands living at the 

moment and there will be millions 

when you’re gone. The universe is 

infinite and the possible forms of life 

are a combination of so many possible 

characteristics that you can’t even 

imagine them. 


Free answer.

Tales from Outer Space - Progetto Scuola snc

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