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 monster look like?

O n e afterno o n in A pril 1933, as J o h n M a c k a y a n d his wife drove along the

new ly -co n structed ro a d a t the edge o f Loch Ness, M rs M a ck ay , looking across the
w aters o f S c o tla n d ’s biggest lake, su dd en ly cried ou t, ‘J o h n ! W h a t ’s th a t? ’
‘W h e re? ’
‘O u t th ere!’ She p o in ted to the centre o f th e lake. Its u sually q u iet surface was
strangely d is tu rb e d an d covered with foam. H e r h u s b a n d s to p ped the car.
S u dd enly a h u ge cre a tu re a p p ea re d . T h e M ack ay s stared as it m oved a b o u t in the
w ater, going u nd er, th en p o pp in g u p again. Finally, after a few m inu tes, it
d isa p p e are d u n d e r the w a te r a n d the lake b ecam e calm once more.
T h a t was the first a p p ea r a n ce in m o d ern times o f the L och Ness M o n ste r, the
n a m e w hich was given to it by a n e w s p a p e r repo rter. L a te r, this tim id, harm le ss
c re atu re bec am e affectionately know n as Nessie.
Since the M a ck a y s’ experience w ith th e m y sterious a n im a l in 1933, m o re th a n
3,000 o th er people claim th a t they hav e seen Nessie. Som e o f th em believe th a t the
lake is in h a b ited by ten, tw en ty or m ore o f these creatu res. T h e in terestin g th in g is
t h a t a sim ilar d escription of Nessie is given by alm ost everyone:
L e n gth — a b o u t fifty feet
Body — th irty feet long, twelve feet a ro u n d th e m id dle
Head — very sm all, co m p ared w ith the body
N eck — from four to seven feet long
Skin — greY
Flip pers — two small ones a t th e front, two large ones a t th e back
T ail — s h o rt a n d flat

p> What explanation is there for

Nessie’s presence in Loch Ness?

A lth o ug h th e M ack ays are the first people in m o d e rn times to see the M o n ster,
a b o u t 1400 years ago St C o lu m b a, the m an wh o b ro u g h t C h ristia n ity to Scotland,
was su pposed to hav e seen a ‘w ate r m o n s te r’ in L o ch Ness. Little or no reference
was m a d e to it d u rin g the next 500 years, a lth o u g h in the n in e tee n th ce n tu ry an
occasional m e n tio n was m a d e in books a n d n ew sp ap ers.
W h y is it th a t since 1933 m an y people claim to h ave seen Nessie but, as far as is
known, very few before then? O n e ex p la n atio n is th a t shortly before th a t d a y in
1933 w h en the M ackays saw th e M on ster, a n ew ro ad was c o ns tru cted beside
L och Ness. In o rd er to build the ro a d th e engineers b lasted tons o f rock into the
lake. T h is evidently destroyed th e an im a ls ’ u n d e rw a te r ho m e a n d forced th em to
swim a b o u t th e lake in search o f a new place to live. T h e y rose to the surface w ith
g re ater frequency after that.
I f we assum e th a t a ‘m o n s te r’ really exists in L och Ness, w h a t is it a n d how did
it get there?
W e are told by experts th a t Nessie m a y be a d e sc e n d a n t o f the plesiosaurs,
creatures t h a t lived over seven m illion years ago. G eologists say th a t Loch Ness
was once a p a rt o f the sea; then, d u rin g the Ice Age, it w as closed off by glaciers
an d a lake was formed. T herefo re, it is possible t h a t the original m o n ste r family
was c au g h t in the n ew lake, u n ab le to leave. S om ehow the m on sters survived and ,
to this d ay, th eir d e s ce n d a n ts co n tin u e to in h a b it Loch Ness.

p What do scientists think

^ about the Loch Ness Monster?

J u s t as th ere are people who believe in the L och Ness M o n s te r there are
non-believ ers, too. M a n y o f these are p ro m in e n t scientists w ho d e m an d fu rth er
evidence. In spite o f m a n y eye-witness stories a n d rem a rk a b le p h o to g ra p h s,
scientists sim ply lau g h off th e id ea th a t an u n k n o w n an im al exists in L och Ness.
H e re are some o f th eir reasons:
— W h a t people see on the surface o f the lake are floating logs.
— M ass h allu cinatio n - the p o w er o f sug gestion - has influenced people who
say th ey hav e 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 o ut by the
Scottish T o u ris t B oard.
— W h a t people see are large otters.
— T h e claims are false ones, m a d e by p eople w ho w a n t to see their n am es in
the n ew sp apers.
— T h e pictures are p h o to g ra p h s w h ich have been cleverly to u ch ed up.
H ere are som e o f the c o u n te r-a rg u m e n ts m a d e by the pro-N essie people:
— Logs could n o t m ove in the w a te r the way th e M o n s te r does.
— T h e S cottish T o u ris t B o ard has n ever exploited Nessie in an y way.
— Even a large o tte r could n o t d is tu rb the surface o f the w a ter as Nessie does.
— M a n y high ly-respected in d ividu als have ac cep te d the existence o f an
u n k n ow n crea ture in the lake; som e even a d m it they hav e seen Nessie.
— N o t everyone who claim s to have seen th e M o n ste r is interested in p ublicity
for himself/herself.
T h e search for Nessie goes on. P erh ap s one d a y th ere will be sufficient p ro o f
th a t a m o n ste r does - or does n ot - exist in Lo ch Ness. U n til now, however, th a t is
not 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 in ___________
3 The Monster is affectionately ca lle d ___________
4 Since 1933 the number of people who claim they have seen the Monster is
a b o u 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 re ___________
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 ve rb s
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.
Almost everyone gives a similar description o f Nessie.