General English Level 6 Version 2.1 © 2004 acl Pty Ltd GELEV6 Unit 04 Topic 04.doc UNIT 04 The unexplained TOPIC 04 Believe it or not  READING 01 It was a dark and stormy night … This is a true story - at least, that's what the cousin of my friend's girlfriend's mother says. It was a dark and stormy night on an unlit, deserted stretch of road. It was about 1am and John was on his way home from a friend's party. The rain was coming down hard and he could barely see the slippery road in front of him. It took all of his concentration to keep his car from sliding off into the bushes bordering the road. Occasionally headlights flashed out of the darkness, momentarily blinding him, as cars passed in the opposite direction. But there were few cars on the road at this time of the night. John began to feel tired and his eyes ached. He slowed his car to a crawl. Suddenly out of the night a figure appeared, running towards him. It was a young woman. She was waving her arms wildly. Long hair covered her face. She was soaked and her dress clung to her body. A flash of lightning illuminated the sky and John skidded to a stop, narrowly missing her. The woman threw herself onto the bonnet of the car and pressed her face into the windscreen. John saw she had a deep cut on her forehead. Her dress was covered in blood. A wave of panic shot through him. What terrible scene was waiting for him up the road? The woman moaned, "Help me!" and lay draped across the car. Hesitantly, John opened his door, but the wind was so strong that it forced it to fly open. The rain lashed at him as he stepped out, and in seconds he, too, was soaked to the skin. Gently he touched the woman on the shoulder and said, "It's all right, it's all right. Tell me what happened!" The woman lifted her head and turned towards him. She had a strange, vacant look on her face. When she spoke, it seemed as if her lips weren't moving. "Take me home!" she said. John scanned the road ahead, but there was nothing to see - no car, no other people. He helped the woman to the passenger side of the car. He opened the door and the woman fell into the seat. She sat with her arms tight across her body, shivering. John closed the door and once again looked for any sign of an accident. Again he saw nothing. When he got back in the car the woman was curled up with her head resting on the window. John looked at her and gasped. Although she had the deep cut and blood on her dress, she was not bleeding. The blood was dry. He reached into the back of the car and grabbed an old towel. The woman did not move when he handed it to her. He placed it gently around her shoulders and asked again, "What happened?" The woman did not answer. "OK," said John, "I'm taking you to hospital." 127