In the middle of 1947, a strange object landed on a ranch1 near the city of Roswell, New Mexico. Immediately, newspapers across the United States announced that a UFO had landed. Many people believed that it was an alien spaceship2. The official story is that it was a high-tech3 balloon that crashed in a rancher's field. The debate goes on today whether this was a balloon or an alien spaceship. It does not much matter to Roswell, where aliens are the theme of a growing tourism industry, including an annual UFO festival.
The Roswell UFO Festival is a family event that draws tourists from around the world. It has costume parties for humans and their pets and a parade to show off those costumes. There are athletic events like the Alien Chase, which is a race in several different distances. Family activities include arts and crafts4, science experiments, and a carnival with games and rides. For people who are more serious, the festival also invites various experts and guest speakers to discuss UFOs in a more professional setting. These experts include UFO investigators5, professors, and even people claiming to have had real contact with actual aliens. The UFO Festival may be odd, but it is never boring.
object n. 物體，實物
It's amazing that an ant can carry objects many times heavier than its weight.
螞蟻搬得動比自己身體重很多倍的物體，真是令人感到驚奇。
official a. 官方的，正式的
The official explanation of the event is not convincing.
該事件的官方解釋沒有說服力。
* convincing a. 有說服力的
tourism n. 觀光業，旅遊業
Thailand depends on tourism for much of its economy.
泰國的經濟十分仰賴觀光業。
athletic a. 體育的，運動的
On that shelf are all of the trophies Daniel has won throughout his athletic career.
在那個架子上是丹尼爾在他運動生涯期間所贏得的所有獎盃。
* trophy n. 獎盃
carnival n. 狂歡（節）；嘉年華會
The highlight of our trip to Venice was the carnival.
我們的威尼斯之旅最精采的部分就是嘉年華會了。
expert n. 專家
After many years of training, David has become an expert in this field.
經過多年的訓練後，大衛已成為該領域的專家。
claim to V 聲稱……
The suspect claimed to be innocent of the robbery, but no one believed him.
這個嫌犯聲稱這起搶案他是清白的，但沒人相信他。
* suspect n. 嫌疑犯
odd a. 古怪的，奇怪的
A number of odd happenings took place in that old house.
那棟老房子裡曾發生過一些怪事。
* happening n.（意外）發生的事
ranch n. 大牧場，大農場
spaceship n. 太空船
high-tech a. 高科技的
arts and crafts 手工藝
investigator n. 調查員
contact 的用法
本文 "......and even people claiming to have had real contact with actual aliens." 中的 contact 為名詞，表『接觸、聯繫』之意，與之相關的片語有 lose contact with... 和 keep in contact with...，分別表『和……失去聯絡』及『和……保持聯絡』。例：
I lost contact with Natalie after she moved to another city.
（娜塔莉搬到別座城市後，我跟她便失去了聯繫。）
Jenny promised to keep in contact with me after she moved away.
（珍妮答應搬走後會和我保持聯絡。）
