1.

T H E L O C H NESS M O N S T E R :
real or imaginary
Have you heard of the Loch Ness Monster?
If so, what have you heard?
Do you think this creature really exists
in Scotland’s largest lake?
 The mystery

* According to the descriptions,

M what does the m onster look like?

O n e afterno on in A pril 1933, as J o h n M ack a y a n d his wife drov e alo ng the

n ew ly-con stru cted r o ad a t the edge o f Loch Ness, M rs M ack ay , looking across the
w aters o f S co tla n d ’s biggest lake, sud d en ly cried o ut, ‘Jo h n ! W h a t ’s th a t? ’
‘W h ere?’
‘O u t th ere!’ She p o in ted to th e cen tre o f the lake. Its u sually q u iet surface was
strangely d istu r b ed a n d covered w ith foam. H e r h u s b a n d sto p p ed the car.
S u dd enly a h u ge c rea tu re ap p ea red . T h e M ackay s s tared as it m oved a b o u t in the
w ater, going u n d er, th en p o p p in g up again. Finally, after a few m inu tes, it
d isap p e ared u n d e r th e w a ter an d the lake becam e calm once more.
T h a t was the first ap p e a ra n ce in m o d ern times o f the Lo ch Ness M o nster, the
n a m e w hich was given to it by a n ew s p ap er repo rter. L ater, this tim id , h arm less
cr eatu re b ecam e affectionately kno w n as Nessie.
Since th e M a ck ay s’ ex perience w ith the m y steriou s an im al in 1933, m o re th an
3,000 o th er peo ple claim th a t th ey have seen Nessie. Some o f th em believe th a t th e
lake is in h ab ite d by ten, tw en ty o r m o re o f these creatures. T h e in terestin g th in g is
th at a sim ilar d escrip tion o f Nessie is given by alm o st everyone:
L en g th — a b o u t fifty feet
B ody — th irty feet long, twelve feet a ro u n d the m id dle
H ea d — very small, co m p ar ed w ith the bod y
N eck — from four to seven feet long
Skin — g reY
Flippers — two small ones a t the front, two larg e ones at the back
T ail — s h o rt a n d flat

p> What explanation is there for

Nessie’s presence in Loch Ness?

A ltho u g h the M ackay s are the first peop le in m o d er n times to see the M on ster,
a b o u t 1400 years ago St C o lu m b a, th e m a n w ho b ro u g h t C h r istian ity to Scotland,
was su pp osed to h av e seen a ‘w a ter m o n s te r ’ in L och Ness. Little or no reference
was m ad e to it d u rin g th e n ext 500 years, alth o u g h in the n in e teen th c en tu ry an
occasional m en tio n was m ad e in books a n d n ew sp ap ers.
W h y is it th at since 1933 m an y people claim to have seen Nessie but, as far as is
known, very few before then? O n e ex p lan atio n is th a t sho rtly before th at d a y in
1933 w hen the M ack ay s saw the M o n ster, a new ro ad was co n stru cted beside
Loch Ness. I n o rd er to build the r o ad the engineers b lasted tons of rock in to the
lake. T h is evidently destroy ed the a n im a ls ’ u n d e rw a te r ho m e a n d forced th em to
swim ab o u t th e lake in search o f a n ew p lace to live. T h ey rose to the surface w ith
g reater frequ en cy after that.
I f we assum e th a t a ‘m o n ster ’ really exists in Lo ch Ness, w h at is it an d how d id
it get there?
W e are told by experts th at Nessie m ay be a d esc en d an t o f the plesiosaurs,
creatu res th a t lived over seven m illion years ago. Geologists say th a t Lo ch Ness
was once a p a r t o f the sea; then, d u rin g the Ice Age, it w as closed off by glaciers
an d a lake was form ed. T herefo re, it is possible th a t th e orig in al m o n ster family
was ca u g h t in the new lake, u n ab le to leave. S om eho w the m o nsters surv iv ed an d ,
to this d ay , their d e scen d a n ts co n tin u e to in h ab it Loch Ness.

p What do scientists think

^ about the Loch Ness Monster?

J u s t as th ere are people w ho believe in the Lo ch Ness M o n ster there are

no n-believers, too. M a n y o f these are p ro m in e n t scientists wh o d e m an d fu rth er
evidence. In spite of m a n y eye-witness stories a n d r em ark ab le p h o to g rap h s,
scientists sim ply lau g h off th e idea th a t an u n k n o w n an im al exists in L och Ness.
H ere are some o f th eir reasons:
— W h a t people see on the surface o f th e lake are floating logs.
— M ass h allu cin atio n - the p o w er o f suggestio n - has influenced people w ho
say th ey have seen Nessie.
— T h e M o n s te r is fiction, n o th in g m o re th a n p ro p a g a n d a p u t ou t by the
Scottish T o u r ist B oard .
— W h a t people see are larg e otters.
— T h e claims are false ones, m a d e by peop le w h o w a n t to see th eir n am es in
the n ew spapers.
— T h e pictu res are p h o to g ra p h s w h ich have b een cleverly to u ch ed up.
H ere are some o f the co u n te r- arg u m en ts m ad e by th e pro-N essie people:
— Logs could n ot move in the w ater the w ay the M o n s ter does.
— T h e Scottish T o u r ist B o ard h as nev er exploited Nessie in an y way.
— Even a larg e o tter could n o t d is tu r b the surface o f th e w a ter as Nessie does.
— M a n y high ly-resp ected in div id uals have accep ted th e existence o f an
u n k n o w n cr eatu re in the lake; some even a d m it they h av e seen Nessie.
— N o t everyone who claims to h ave seen th e M o n ster is in terested in p u blicity
for himself/herself.
T h e search for Nessie goes on. P e rh ap s o ne d ay th ere will be sufficient p ro o f
th at a m o n ster does - o r does no t - exist in L och Ness. U n til now, however, th a t is
n o t the case.

Comprehension check

Look back at the reading and find information to complete these sentences.
1 Scotland’s largest inland body of water i s ___________
2 In this century the Loch Ness Monster was first seen i n ___________
3 The Monster is affectionately c alle d ___________
4 Since 1933 the number of people who claim they have seen the Monster is
a b ou t ___________
5 St Columba was famous f o r ___________
6 A plesiosaur i s ___________
7 According to geologists, Loch Ness was formed b y ___________
8 Scientists say that pictures taken of the Monster a r e ___________
9 Pro-monster people say the logs in the la k e ___________
10 Supposedly some people make false statements about seeing the Monster
because ___________
 Language practice
1 Vocabulary
Here is some vocabulary from the text. You can deduce the meanings of these
words from their context in the reading. In the left-hand column are the words
from the reading; on the right are their definitions. Match the words with the
definitions. The first one has been done for you.

1 foam (/. 6) k a say that something is true

2 huge (/. 7)
3 stared (/. 7)
4 claim (/. 14)
5 flippers (/. 22)
6 blasted (/. 32)
7 glacier (/. 40)
8 eye-witness (/. 46)
9 logs (/. 49)
10 mass hallucination
(/. 50)
11 otters (/. 54)
b used explosives to break up rock
c person who sees something happen
d parts of a tree (cut into pieces by people)
e many people seeing something which is
not there
f looked long and hard at something
g extremely large
h limbs (like arms and legs) used by sea
animals for swimming
i mass of ice moving down a mountain
j fur-covered water animals
k white mass of bubbles on top of water

Phrasal verbs
These phrasal verbs also come from the text. Match them with their definitions.

1 pop up (/. 8) a dismiss something as a joke

2 laugh off (/. 47) b produce
3 put out (/. 52) c continue
4 touch up (/. 57) d appear suddenly
5 go on (/. 66) e change appearance of something
(a picture)

3 Grammar; the passive

Look at this example:
Active: The Mackays saw the monster.
Passive: The monster was seen by the Mackays.

It is often possible to put a verb phrase in either the active or passive voice,
according to the focus of the sentence.
In the active voice the subject performs the action.
In the passive voice the subject receives the action.
In the passive the verb to be is used with a past participle: is said, were written,
will be offered.
Exercise
Find ten uses of the passive voice in the reading and change them to the active
voice, for example:
A similar description of Nessie is given by almost everyone.
Alm ost everyone gives a similar description o f Nessie.