English Every Day: Loch Ness Monster Story

Your Daily English Programme #33 - The Legend of Nessie, the Loch Ness Monster (Reading B1-C1)

Think Before You Read

The Loch Ness monster is an aquatic creature believed to live in Loch Ness, a lake in the Highlands of Scotland. There have been numerous sightings of this legendary beast, with lots of famous folk tales about it. But does it really exist?

Read to Learn

Read the Passage Below: The boldface words/expressions in the text may be too general/less formal - not precise enough in meaning/use. Replace them with a more precise word from the table below¹:

approached	refused	ever since	confirmed
be worth	a host of	major	following

(mouse over the underlined words in the text to see their meaning)

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On August 22, 565, Saint Columba, an Irish missionary, reported sighting of a monster in the vicinity of Loch Ness. The beast had gone nearer to one of St. Columba's followers while he was swimming across the Ness river. But Columba managed to prevent the animal's attack and save his follower.

However, widespread interest in Nessie, as the Loch Ness monster is sometimes affectionately called, did not rise until 1933, when a very important road was built along the north shore of the Loch. This brought many more people to the lake - and of course an increase in reports of monster sighting.

The first alleged photograph of the Loch Ness monster was taken in 1934 by a London surgeon by the name of Robert Kenneth Wilson, which was immediately published in the Daily Mail newspaper. It became famous as the "surgeon's photograph" as Mr. Wilson did not want to have his name published with the photo. This was when the Loch Ness monster hit major headlines around the world, starting a debate about its enigmatic existence since the time (of the photo).

After the publication of the surgeon's photograph, reports of new sightings and investigations kept appearing in newspapers and magazines. To this day, there have been more than 1,000 sightings reported, and the legend has kept gaining more popularity, with Nessie turning into the subject matter for a large number of documentaries and films.

But the scientific community has never accepted as true the Loch Ness monster's existence. Many independent researchers and observers have tried, over the years, to prove the existence of a giant creature in the lake. "Nessie expert" Steve Feltham, for example, has spent nearly a quarter of a century watching the Loch. No conclusive evidence of Nessie's existence has been offered yet.

According to MailOnline², there are around 200,000 Google searches each month for the Loch Ness monster, and around 120,000 for information and accommodation close to Loch Ness. The monster mystery is said to bring a profit of £30m to the region.

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(see the first comment below for answers)

Let's Practice

Read the Passage Again: Which paragraphs contain the following information³?

a. one reason for the increase in sighting reports
b. first photographic evidence of Loch Ness monster's existence
c. commercial benefit to the region
d. earliest report of a monster sighting
e. lack of scientific evidence to prove Nessie's existence
f. increasing popularity of the Loch Ness monster legend

(see answers in the first comment below)

Over to You

Are there stories of a legendary creature living in a particular spot in your country/region? Has there been any evidence of its existence (photos, results of an investigation, etc)? (tell us about it in the comments section)

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1 Using the right words in the right places is an important writing skill that you can practice with this and similar activities.^↩
2 MailOnline June 2017. Read the full article here^↩
3 'Paragraph-topic/detail matching' is a common reading test item on international English examinations such as IELTS, FCE, and CAE.^↩