Text for SECTION A: READING COMPREHENSION

The Yeti: Fact or Fiction?

What is a yeti?

It’s big, it’s hairy, it walks on two legs and it’s said to have been spotted only in the
Himalayas. The Himalayan mountains are in Asia and they form the largest
mountain range in the world. They are made up of more than 100 mountains,
including the tallest mountain in the world, Mount Everest. Life can be tough there.
The climate can be harsh, with avalanches and temperatures below freezing. The
‘yeti’ is what locals call this strange beast that stalks their land. To them, ‘yeti’
means ‘magical creature’. Other people have called the creature the ‘abominable
snowman’ and ‘bigfoot’.

Has a yeti ever been sighted?

In 1925, Mr. N. A. Tombazi was one of the first people to

say he had spotted this strange beast, and to describe it.
Mr. Tombazi was a photographer on an expedition in the
Himalayas. He reported that he saw the creature in the
distance. He said it was “exactly like a human being,
walking upright and stopping occasionally to uproot or pull
at some bushes. It showed up dark against the snow and,
as far as I could make out, it wore no clothes.” The creature
quickly disappeared before Mr. Tombazi could take a photograph. Mr. Tombazi
walked to where he had seen the beast and found giant footprints in the snow.

Another eye-witness account was made by Captain d’Auvergue in 1938. The

captain was in the Himalayas alone. He claimed that, having been caught in a
snowstorm, he was freezing and near to death when he was rescued and then
nursed back to health by a 2.7-metre-tall yeti.

One other story is that of a young girl who lived in the Himalayas. She was looking
after some yaks when she was surprised by a large, 2.4-metre-high, ape-like
creature, with black and brown hair. It grabbed her and started to drag her off, but
her screams startled the creature and it let her go. Sadly, however, it killed two of
her yaks. The girl reported the incident to the police, who found some very large
footprints at the scene.

Has an expedition found a yeti?

Over the years, several expeditions have been organised

to find the yeti, but all that has ever been found have been
huge footprints in the snow. Some experts argue that the
way snow melts, or overlapping footprints, can make
average-sized footprints look bigger in the snow. Others
claim that the sandals worn by local people could leave the
strange tracks.

What do you think?

So far, there is no firm evidence that proves the yeti exists – but there is nothing to
show that it doesn’t exist, either! What do you believe?