TASK 1
Read the text and circle T for True or F for False
CIA report on UFO
The CIA recently declassified an intelligence report which throws new light on a nearly 50-year-old mystery. The report uncovers facts collected from an experimental missile range situated in present-day Kazakhstan (the Soviet Union’s Sary Shagan Weapons Testing Range). It includes the information about a mysterious UFO sighting and tests with laser weapons from the Cold War times.

The UFO sighting took place at one of the missile range locations called Site 7 during a summer evening of 1973. The CIA report describes a witness who lived 50km away from the Sary Shagan Range. That evening he was watching a Canada vs. USSR sports game on TV. At one moment he took a break and stepped outside to get some fresh air. Suddenly, a sharp light blinded him. He looked up and saw an unidentified bright green circular object in the sky. Although the object was flying low, the witness was unable to give its approximate size.

According to the report, the sighting was really weird: “Within 10 to 15 seconds of observation, the green object got much wider and several green circles formed around it. A few minutes later the object disappeared. There was no sound, such as an explosion, connected with it”.

The CIA published a full report on that UFO sighting after a request from the researcher John Greenewald, who runs a special website about declassified government records. Greenewald analysed the report and came to the conclusion that the unexplained sighting from Kazakhstan was the effect of the Soviet Union military tests. He says that in the 1970s the Soviets were launching many experimental missiles and the flying object at the Sary Shagan Range was probably one of them. Greenewald also made an interesting connection between the unexplained sightings from the Cold War era and other similar “UFO encounters” documented by the US Department of Defence.

The CIA report also shows other details about the Soviet testing range in Kazakhstan. They are maps of the military facilities, personnel numbers and data about weapon tests. The Soviet secret weapon tests raised the Americans’ interest in the range long before rumours about the UFO appeared. The weapons which were tested there included advanced missiles and warheads. Moreover, experimental weapons were also under development there. “According to a US source, top secret military tests with laser weapons were conducted there. Supposedly they involved powerful antennas,” the American report said. Not surprisingly, the “UFO encounter” happened at Site 7. It was used as the headquarters for the warhead checkout unit and a garrison of Soviet Air Force troops.

The 1973 UFO sighting was not a single incident with unidentified flying objects during the Cold War. In fact, many more similar encounters were reported near military installations both in the USSR and the USA.
1. The CIA report reveals information about recent Russian laser weapon tests
2. A witness went outside to check a mysterious light
3. The object made a lot of noise as it disappeared
4. John Greenewald believes the object seen in Kazakhstan was a missile
5. Americans got interested in the Soviet range before reports about UFO sightings
6. The Russians tried using powerful antennas to stop American spying
7. During the Cold War UFOs were observed near American and Soviet military areas
TASK 2
Read the texts and choose the best answer A, B or C
Troublesome catch
One spring morning, the crew of the Danish fishing boat Soraya was catching cod in the Baltic Sea near the Polish territorial waters. As the men pulled their fish on board, the young fisherman, Theis Branick, went under the net to make sure it was all right and to open it. When the fish spilled out onto the deck, he found the net had also caught something else – a large, yellow-brown lump of a strange substance. The Soraya fishermen suspected the additional catch might be a throwback from the past. And they were right – what Branick found turned out to be a big piece of solidified mustard gas from World War II.

“It was a huge lump, weighing about 15 kg, and with no traces of metal casing,” says Michael Jepson, skipper of the Soraya. He realized how dangerous the catch was and immediately followed the regulations and alerted the military authorities on Bornholm. Soon the navy officers boarded the boat, inspected the poison and took it away. They were going to throw it back into the sea in a designated dumping area. Two hours later Branick started to feel strange. “I was fine outside in the cold, but when I came into the warm cabin it started to itch and burn like hell on my back. I took off my clothes. The others said I had a red spot the size of a fist on my back.”

Fishing has long been regarded as one of the world’s most dangerous occupations. Many fishermen around the world die each year in weather-related accidents. But in the Baltic Sea there is another danger – about 35,000 tons of chemical munitions sunk by the Russians in the late 1940s near Bornholm and the Swedish island of Gotland, west of Latvia. Even more dangerous loads, sealed in German warships, were sunk by Britain and the U.S. in the deep waters of the Skagerrak, an arm of the North Sea, and in the Norwegian Sea. Over time, some of the weapons in the Baltic, e.g.: blister agents (such as sulfur mustard), and other chemical irritants, which were once the property of Nazi Germany, have lost their metal casings. As a result, they become solidified and get directly into water where they are caught in fishing nets. This is another danger fishermen face.

“In the Baltic,” says Commander K.M. Jorgensen of the Danish Navy, “the shells were dumped over the rails of Russian ships. In the Skagerrak, they were sunk inside ships that are now lying in 500 to 700m of water.” The Helsinki Commission, which works to protect the Baltic marine environment, has said the toxins should be left on the seabed. That is the general agreement. “It has been there for so long that it poses the least hazard where it is,” says biologist Henning Karup of Denmark’s Environmental Protection Agency. Only a few fishermen have been treated for gas-related injuries since the 1960s, and the long-term environmental impact is unclear.

A Greenpeace Denmark spokesman, Jackob Hartmann, admits that trying to raise the chemicals “might pose new and even worse problems”. But he also says: “It is not an easy issue, and referring to a 1994 report by the Helsinki Commission isn’t good enough. We need updated information on the state and location of the materials.” But there are no plans and funds for a new survey, and neighboring countries accuse each other of not sharing information.

The Ecology and Foreign Affairs committees of Russia’s Parliament held hearings on weapons, then recommended a program of evaluation, monitoring and forecasting. “We keep working on the issue,” says Vladymir Mandrygin, chief of the Ecology Committee. “However, not all our Baltic neighbors are supportive; they prefer not to talk about it. Russian scientists have been offering various projects for handling the issue, but there is no financing.” Another Russian expert adds that old munitions are not only a potential threat to ecology and harm to fishermen, “but most importantly, they put at risk gas pipes and communication cables lying on the sea shelf.”

The young Danish fisherman was lucky. “I only got hit by the water that had been in contact with the gas. If I had touched the gas itself, it could have been much, much worse.” Like their governments, Baltic fishermen are learning to live with the danger.
8. The Danish fishermen …
9. After inspecting the net, the Danish skipper …
10. The WW2 chemical munitions are dangerous today because they …
11. According to the Helsinki Commission, the weapons should be …
12. The Greenpeace spokesman says removing the chemicals might be difficult because …
13. Russia wants the problem to be solved because it worries about …
14. In the final paragraph, the author says that all the interested people …
TASK 3
In this task six phrases have been removed from the text and placed at the bottom. An extra phrase has been included. You must decide which phrase goes into which gap and write the letter in the box below the sentences.
NATO allies make a historic splash while working as a team
The quiet water changed into chaos as the military vehicles drove into the river. Soldiers carefully maneuvered the Stryker combat vehicles across the newly-built bridge to shore.

Soldiers from 4th Squadron, 2nd Cavalry Regiment, … (1) …, joined their Hungarian military counterparts while participating in a wet gap crossing of the Moson-Danube River, during the combined training exercise Dragoon Crossing in Gyor, Hungary.

The success of the exercise was a result of the hours of combined effort and planning on the part of both the American and Hungarian allies involved. The exercise provided the soldiers from both nations with ... (2) ... and strengthen camaraderie with their fellow allies.

"It's wonderful to be here today, to witness the success of this exercise first-hand," said Colleen Bell, the United States Ambassador to Hungary. "This exercise is very important to our alliance, because … (3) … to work together to improve our interoperability and capabilities."

The historic gap crossing was the first river crossing among American and European allies to take place since 1945. It was the final event of the weeklong Dragoon Crossing exercise, ... (4) ..., and consisted of military training exercises designed to demonstrate freedom of movement across the allied borders.

"This exercise highlights the growth in the capabilities of our NATO partnership," said Brig. Gen. Timothy J. Daugherty, deputy commanding general of the 4th Infantry Division. "Today demonstrates the outstanding capabilities of our NATO partners and the Hungarian military."

The event also contributed to ... (5) ... between American soldiers and military personnel of their European counterparts, building strong bonds among friends working together to ensure the peace and stability of the region.

As the Strykers moved on, heading to their next mission, the water stilled, showing no signs of the chaos moments before. While there was no noticeable indication … (6) … here, the allied soldiers' newfound friendships and understanding echoed in the hearts and minds of all involved.
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