VOA慢速英语--印度军方发推特称发现雪人神秘脚印

Indian Army Tweets About ‘Yeti’ Evidence

On Tuesday, the Indian Army found mysterious large footprints in the snow. The military group, on an outing in Nepal, took pictures and later put them on Twitter. Their conclusion: the footprints belong to the Yeti, also known as the “abominable snowman.”

Most experts in the scientific community say the Yeti is a myth, an imaginary story.

The man-like creature is part of Nepali tradition and is said to live high in the Himalayan mountains.

In the tweet, the Indian army said it found the footprints close to a camp near Mount Makalu on April 9. The footprints measured 81 centimeters by 38 centimeters.

The tweet did not explain how a mythical¹ beast could leave footprints.

Reactions on social media

The Indian army’s Twitter post has drawn² criticism by some on social media. One user, for example, put an image of a pothole³ in Bombay and noted⁴ that Yeti footprints could be found there.

Other users noted that the supposed Yeti tracks appeared to be a single foot line. One user suggested the Yeti may have been riding a kind of strange bicycle.

Mount Makalu and the Yeti

Mount Makalu, where the Indian Army took the photographs, is one of the highest mountains in the world. It stands near the Makalu-Barun valley, an area very far from human population.

The area has already been explored by researchers looking for the Yeti.

Daniel C. Taylor is one of them. He wrote a book on the mystery of the Yeti. Taylor noted that the footprints likely came from a bear.

Taylor told the Reuters news agency that if the footprints came from “an animal or a single animal, it’s the size of a dinosaur⁵.”

Taylor added, “One needs to really confirm those measurements of the footprint size because we know for sure that there are no dinosaurs⁶ living in the Barun valley.”

Since the 1920s, tales of a wild beast have captured the imagination of climbers in Nepal and around the world.

In 2008, Japanese climbers returning from a mountain in western Nepal told Reuters they had seen footprints, which they thought belonged to the Yeti.

Although they carried cameras, video equipment and telescopes, they had not seen or taken any photographs of the creature.

In 2017, a group of international researchers studied multiple Yeti samples. The researchers concluded the samples belonged to bears.

I'm Jonathan Evans.

Words in This Story

beast – n. a wild animal that is large, dangerous, or unusual

pothole – n. a deep, round hole in a road or some other surface (such as the bottom of a river) — sometimes used figuratively

1 mythical   

adj.神话的；虚构的；想像的

参考例句：

• Undeniably,he is a man of mythical status.不可否认，他是一个神话般的人物。
• Their wealth is merely mythical.他们的财富完全是虚构的。

2 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

3 pothole   

n.坑，穴

参考例句：

• As the car sped over a pothole she lurched forward.车子飞驶过一个坑洼时，她身子猛地向前一倾。
• The young teacher knows every pothole in the 10-minute ride to school.这位年轻的老师熟悉这条往学校的10分钟路上的每一个坑洞。

4 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

5 dinosaur   

n.恐龙

参考例句：

• Are you trying to tell me that David was attacked by a dinosaur?你是想要告诉我大卫被一支恐龙所攻击？
• He stared at the faithful miniature of the dinosaur.他凝视著精确的恐龙缩小模型。

6 dinosaurs   

n.恐龙( dinosaur的名词复数 )；守旧落伍的人，过时落后的东西

参考例句：

• The brontosaurus was one of the largest of all dinosaurs. 雷龙是所有恐龙中最大的一种。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Dinosaurs have been extinct for millions of years. 恐龙绝种已有几百万年了。 来自《简明英汉词典》