Article on the view that there should be 13 starsigns.

Level: Intermediate +

Contributed by: Sean Banville - find Sean's websites at: www.freeeslmaterials.com

Reading, listening and discussion activities, together with printable class handouts, and online quizzes for the article below are available from www.breakingnewsenglish.com

There are 13 signs of the zodiac, expert says

An astronomy professor has turned the astrology world on its head by suggesting the 3,000-year-old zodiac system is wrong. Professor Parke Kunkle said the Earth's wobbly orbit means things have changed in the past three millennia and now has a different relationship to the stars. He said the ancient Babylonians determined the dates of the Zodiac and decided not to include a thirteenth sign called Ophiuchus. He believes the changes in the Earth’s orbit now mean this sign must be included in the Zodiac. This would change all of the dates we are used to with our star signs and many of us would have a new one. Professor Kunkle is surprised his recent announcement has shocked people: "Astronomers have known about this since about 130BC," he said.

The story has caused millions around the world to worry their life might change because of this news. People who were happy at being a Virgo are upset because they are now Leos. Kunkle says people should not be worried because star signs were never meant to predict our future or provide an income to horoscope writers, saying: "You could predict when to harvest, when to plant, by the stars. So there is some predictive nature there. Then they took it too far, using it to determine when to go to war and people's personalities." Popular astrologer Susan Miller has reassured people they needn’t worry and called the news "ridiculous." In an interview with ABC News, she joked: "We've known about this for ages….Trying to explain something technical in 140 characters [on Twitter] is hard."