Loch Ness Monster
1 “Dad! Dad! What’s that in the loch?” shouted Jim Ayton. It was a calm summer’s evening in 1963. Jim was working on his father’s farm on Loch Ness, a lake in Scotland, when he looked up to see a strange creature moving silently down the lake. It was huge! Jim had never seen anything like it before.
2 Two men nearby heard Jim’s shouts and rushed to join him and his father. The excited group wanted a close-up look. They ran to the lake, climbed into a boat, and headed straight toward the creature.
3 The creature’s head looked a bit like a horse’s head, only bigger. Its neck stretched nearly 6 feet (2 meters), as tall as a full-grown man. Its snakelike body was as long as a bus. Could it be the legendary Loch Ness monster that people had talked about for years?
4 Suddenly the creature rose out of the water. Then it dived. An enormous wave hit the small boat. It rocked and swirled around. Had the creature seen the men? Was it about to attack?
5 A few seconds later the creature’s head reappeared. It was farther away now. The monster seemed more frightened than ferocious! Then it was gone. The men searched and searched for it, but they never saw it again.
6 It was 20 years before anyone heard the story about what had happened that day. Jim and his father didn’t think many people would believe them. But the Aytons and their friends are not the only people who claim to have seen this mysterious monster.
7 One of the earliest known sightings was made more than 1,400 years ago by Saint Columba, a traveling Irish holy man. Legends tell how, in 565 A.D., the saint saw a “water monster” attack a swimmer in Loch Ness. When the saint ordered it to leave the swimmer alone, the creature retreated immediately.
8 The Loch Ness monster first became famous in 1933, after a road was built around the steep sides of the Loch Ness valley. Tourists could now explore this remote area for the first time. It was not long before reports of monster sightings began appearing in newspapers all around the world.
9 Spotting the monster soon brought rewards. Newspapers would pay a lot of money for a photograph of the monster—even if it was blurred! Fortune seekers, scientists, and enthusiasts swarmed around the loch, all wanting to take the best monster picture ever.
10 Over the years, the searchers used more and more modern equipment. In 1972, an underwater camera produced a close-up of a strange object in the loch. When scientists used a special computer to sharpen up the image, this is what they saw. Could it be one of the monster’s flippers?
11 The underwater photograph seems to show a flipper, but no one can be sure because the image is so grainy. It is hard to see or to take a photograph in the lake water because it is full of t tiny pieces of peat, or dead plant material.
12 In 1987, a team of scientists scanned the loch with high-tech equipment for a project called Operation Deepscan. A line of boats, each fitted with a sonar scanner, moved up the loch. What they discovered amazed them.
13 Some scans showed huge objects moving deep in the lake. The objects were bigger than sharks but smaller than whales. Were they huge fish? Or was it a family of Loch Ness monsters? Again the murky water kept the scientists from knowing the answer.
14 Without clear pictures, scientists u must rely on people’s descriptions to know what the monster looks like. It seems that the creature has a long, thin neck, a bulky body with four flippers, and a long, powerful tail.
15 No animal living today fits this description. However, one prehistoric creature does.
16 Cryptocleidus (krip-toe-KLIE-duss) was a plesiosaur: a huge fish-eating reptile that lived in the sea. Some people think it looked a lot like the Loch Ness monster. However, Cryptocleidus is thought to have disappeared from the Earth 70 million years ago! Could it have lived on unnoticed?
17 Is the Loch Ness monster a survivor from the dinosaur age? Or were the people who saw it simply fooled by boats, logs, shadows, or giant eels? Could some of the sightings be the result of practical jokes? No one knows the truth—yet.
blurred | adjective /blɜrd/ ضبابية - غير واضحة
Not clear or sharp, often referring to images or vision.
Similar words: unclear, fuzzy, indistinct, hazy
bulky | adjective /ˈbʌlki/ ضخم - كبير
Large and heavy in an awkward way.
Similar words: large, massive, cumbersome, unwieldy
close-up | noun /kloʊs ʌp/ قريبة - عن كثب
A detailed photograph or view of something from up close.
Similar words: close view, detailed shot, zoomed-in
creature | noun /ˈkriːtʃər/ مخلوق - كائن
A living being; an animal or being, often used to describe unknown beings.
Similar words: being, animal, entity, organism
descriptions | noun /dɪˈskrɪpʃənz/ وصف - وصفات
Statements or explanations that provide details about something.
Similar words: depictions, portrayals, accounts, narratives
disappeared | verb /ˌdɪsəˈpɪrd/ اختفى - اندمج
Went out of sight; vanished.
Similar words: vanished, faded, evaporated, gone
eels | noun /ilz/ أفاعي بحرية
Fish that look like snakes.
Similar words: snake-like fish, serpentine fish, elongated fish
enormous | adjective /ɪˈnɔrməs/ ضَخْم - ضَخامة
Very large in size or extent; huge.
Similar words: massive, colossal, gigantic, immense
enthusiasts | noun /ɪnˈθuziˌæsts/ عشّاق - محبين
People who are highly interested or passionate about something.
Similar words: fans, aficionados, devotees, lovers
equipment | noun /ɪˈkwɪpmənt/ معدات - أجهزة
Tools or items used for a particular purpose or activity.
Similar words: gear, apparatus, machinery, tools
ferocious | adjective /fəˈroʊʃəs/ شرس - عنيف
Extremely fierce or violent.
Similar words: fierce, savage, aggressive, brutal
flippers | noun /ˈflɪpərz/ زعانف - أفواه السمك
Wide parts of the body on certain sea animals, used for swimming.
Similar words: fins, paddles, appendages, limbs
frightened | adjective /ˈfraɪtənd/ مخيف - خائف
Feeling fear or being scared.
Similar words: scared, terrified, alarmed, fearful
grainy | adjective /ˈɡreɪni/ محبب - ذو حبيبات
Unclear and having small, grain-like particles.
Similar words: granular, gritty, sandy, particulate
legendary | adjective /ˈlɛdʒənˌdɛri/ أسطوري - أسطورة
Relating to legends; well-known but possibly not based in fact.
Similar words: mythical, fabled, mythical, folklore
legends | noun /ˈlɛdʒəndz/ أساطير - قصص قديمة
Stories from long ago that are handed down over time.
Similar words: myths, folklore, tales, traditions
loch | noun /lɒx/ بحيرة - بحيرة جبلية
A lake, especially a Scottish lake.
Similar words: lake, body of water, inland water, tarn
Loch Ness | noun /lɒx nɛs/ بحيرة لوخ نيس
A lake in Scotland known for alleged sightings of a mysterious creature.
Similar words: Loch Ness Lake, Scottish lake
monster | noun /ˈmɒnstər/ وحش - وحش مخيف
A scary and often large creature.
Similar words: creature, beast, fiend, monstrosity
murky | adjective /ˈmɜrki/ غامض - غائم
Unclear and dark, often referring to water.
Similar words: cloudy, turbid, unclear, hazy
mysterious | adjective /mɪˈstɪriəs/ غامض - سري
Difficult to explain or understand; full of mystery.
Similar words: enigmatic, puzzling, cryptic, obscure
plesiosaur | noun /ˌpliːsiəˈsɔr/ بليزيوصور - ديناصور
A type of prehistoric marine reptile.
Similar words: prehistoric reptile, ancient sea creature, dinosaur
practical | adjective /ˈpræktɪkəl/ عملي - عملية
Relating to practical matters; useful and effective in real situations.
Similar words: functional, pragmatic, useful, efficient
practical jokes | noun phrase /ˈpræktɪkəl ʤoʊks/ مقالب - نكت عملية
Tricks or pranks played on someone for fun or amusement.
Similar words: pranks, hoaxes, jests, tricks
prehistoric | adjective /ˌpriːhɪsˈtɔrɪk/ ما قبل التاريخ
Relating to the time before people wrote about history.
Similar words: ancient, primitive, antediluvian, early
reappeared | verb /ˌriːəˈpɪrd/ عاد - ظهر مرة أخرى
Showed up again after disappearing.
Similar words: appeared again, resurfaced, returned
remote | adjective /rɪˈmoʊt/ نائية - بعيدة
Far away from other places; distant or isolated.
Similar words: distant, secluded, out-of-the-way, far
reptile | noun /ˈrɛptaɪl/ حيوان برمائي
An animal that is cold-blooded and lays eggs; snakes and lizards are reptiles.
Similar words: cold-blooded animal, scaled creature, reptilian
retreated | verb /rɪˈtritɪd/ انسحب - تراجع
Moved away from a certain place.
Similar words: withdrew, pulled back, backed off
rewards | noun /rɪˈwɔrdz/ مكافآت - جوائز
Things given in return for a specific action or achievement.
Similar words: prizes, bonuses, incentives, gifts
scanned | verb /skænd/ فحص - تصفّح
Examined or looked at closely and systematically.
Similar words: examined, inspected, surveyed, checked
scientists | noun /ˈsaɪəntɪsts/ علماء
People who study and conduct research in various scientific fields.
Similar words: researchers, scholars, experts, academics
Scotland | noun /ˈskɒtlənd/ اسكتلندا
One of the nations in the United Kingdom.
Similar words: Scottish nation, UK constituent nation
sharpen | verb /ˈʃɑrpən/ يحسن - يشحذ
Make better or clearer, often referring to an image.
Similar words: enhance, improve, refine, enhance
sighting | noun /ˈsaɪtɪŋ/ رؤية - رصد
The act of seeing or observing something, often something unusual.
Similar words: observation, glimpse, view, spotting
sightings | noun /ˈsaɪtɪŋz/ رؤى - مشاهدات
Instances of seeing or observing something unusual or mysterious.
Similar words: observations, sightings, glimpses
silent | adjective /ˈsaɪlənt/ صامت
Making no sound; quiet or noiseless.
Similar words: quiet, noiseless, hushed, mute
snakelike | adjective /ˈsneɪkˌlaɪk/ مشابه للأفعى
Long and resembling a snake in appearance.
Similar words: serpent-like, snake-shaped, serpentine
sonar | noun /ˈsoʊnɑr/ سونار - جهاز كشف تحت الماء
A tool used to find things underwater using sound waves.
Similar words: underwater radar, echo sounder, echolocation
spotting | noun /ˈspɑtɪŋ/ الرصد - رصد
The act of seeing or observing something.
Similar words: observation, sighting, detection, noticing
survivor | noun /sərˈvaɪvər/ ناجٍ - ناجية
Something that still lives or exists despite challenges.
Similar words: survivor, victor, perseverer, endurer
swarmed | verb /swɔrmd/ انتشر - توافد
Moved together in a large group, often quickly.
Similar words: crowded, thronged, flocked, converged
swirled | verb /swɜrld/ تدور - دوران
Turned or moved in a circular or twisting motion.
Similar words: whirled, spun, twirled, rotated
unnoticed | adjective /ʌnˈnoʊtɪst/ بدون أن يلاحظ
Not seen or detected; without being noticed.
Similar words: unseen, unobserved, undetected, unperceived