《英语流行话题阅读:语境识词3500》Unit52:尼斯湖水怪

　　Unit 52
The Loch Ness Monster
Loch Ness, the largest freshwater lake in the British Isles¹, is twenty four miles long and, at one point, one and a half miles wide. It has an average depth of four hundred and fifty feet and at times drops close to a thousand. It is cold and murky², with dangerous currents. In short, it is the perfect place to hide a monster from even the sharpest eyes of science.
The Loch Ness Monster, also called Nessie, is supposedly living in this area. The earliest recorded sighting of the Loch Ness Monster was in the biography of St. Columba by Adamnan in the year 565 AD. The monster apparently³ attacked and killed a man who was swimming in the River Ness.
The monster didn't make headlines again until August 27, 1930 when 3 fishermen reported seeing a creature 20 feet long approaching their boat, throwing water in the air. As it passes them, its wake caused their boat to rock violently. In 1933, after a new road was built along the Loch, the number of reports soared.
Early in 1934 there was a land sighting of the beast. Arthur Grant, a young vet⁴ student, was out on his motorcycle one evening when he almost ran into the monster as it crossed the road. Grant's description of the thing, small head, long thin neck and tail with a big body, seemed to match the appearance of the Plesiosauru, an aquatic⁵ type of dinosaur⁶ that has been extinct for 65 million years.
In 1962 The Loch Ness Investigation⁷ Bureau was formed to act as a research organization for information about the creature. In the beginning it only conducted research for a few weeks in a year, but eventually the Bureau established mobile camera stations. Searches were conducted using hot-air-balloons and infrared⁸ night time cameras, sonar scanners and submarines.
Dr. Roy Mackal, a Loch Ness researcher, has suggested a large mammal like a primitive⁹ whale. Others suggest a long necked seal or giant otter¹⁰. A few suggest an over-grown eel¹¹. Probably the most famous picture of the Loch Ness monster was the "surgeon's photo" supposedly taken by Colonel Robert Wilson. This photo was acknowledged as a fake, though, by Christain Spurling, who helped build the model monster that was photographed. He admitted the trick shortly before he died at age 90, in 1993.
Efforts have continued to find the monster. A great deal of information was discovered about the Loch, but they have yet to produce any concrete evidence of a monster.
Skeptics argue that the water in the Loch is too cold for a reptile¹² like the Plesiosaur. They also argue an air breathing animal, like a whale or seal, would spend much more time on the surface than the creature seems to and would be spotted¹³ more often. Some scientists have wondered if the sightings might be caused by a underwater wave which is known to sometimes occur in deep, long, cold lakes, like Loch Ness. Such a wave might push debris¹⁴ to the surface that might look like a strange animal.

1 isles   

岛( isle的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• the geology of the British Isles 不列颠群岛的地质
• The boat left for the isles. 小船驶向那些小岛。

2 murky   

adj.黑暗的，朦胧的；adv.阴暗地，混浊地；n.阴暗；昏暗

参考例句：

• She threw it into the river's murky depths.她把它扔进了混浊的河水深处。
• She had a decidedly murky past.她的历史背景令人捉摸不透。

3 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

4 vet   

n.兽医，退役军人；vt.检查

参考例句：

• I took my dog to the vet.我把狗带到兽医诊所看病。
• Someone should vet this report before it goes out.这篇报道发表之前应该有人对它进行详查。

5 aquatic   

adj.水生的，水栖的

参考例句：

• Aquatic sports include swimming and rowing.水上运动包括游泳和划船。
• We visited an aquatic city in Italy.我们在意大利访问过一个水上城市。

6 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。

7 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

8 infrared   

adj./n.红外线(的)

参考例句：

• Infrared is widely used in industry and medical science.红外线广泛应用于工业和医学科学。
• Infrared radiation has wavelengths longer than those of visible light.红外辐射的波长比可见光的波长长。

9 primitive   

adj.原始的；简单的；n.原(始)人，原始事物

参考例句：

• It is a primitive instinct to flee a place of danger.逃离危险的地方是一种原始本能。
• His book describes the march of the civilization of a primitive society.他的著作描述了一个原始社会的开化过程。

10 otter   

n.水獭

参考例句：

• The economists say the competition otter to the brink of extinction.经济学家们说，竞争把海獭推到了灭绝的边缘。
• She collared my black wool coat with otter pelts.她把我的黑呢上衣镶上了水獭领。

11 eel   

n.鳗鲡

参考例句：

• He used an eel spear to catch an eel.他用一只捕鳗叉捕鳗鱼。
• In Suzhou,there was a restaurant that specialized in eel noodles.苏州有一家饭馆，他们那里的招牌菜是鳗鱼面。

12 reptile   

n.爬行动物；两栖动物

参考例句：

• The frog is not a true reptile.青蛙并非真正的爬行动物。
• So you should not be surprised to see someone keep a reptile as a pet.所以，你不必惊奇有人养了一只爬行动物作为宠物。

13 spotted   

adj.有斑点的，斑纹的，弄污了的

参考例句：

• The milkman selected the spotted cows,from among a herd of two hundred.牛奶商从一群200头牛中选出有斑点的牛。
• Sam's shop stocks short spotted socks.山姆的商店屯积了有斑点的短袜。

14 debris   

n.瓦砾堆，废墟，碎片

参考例句：

• After the bombing there was a lot of debris everywhere.轰炸之后到处瓦砾成堆。
• Bacteria sticks to food debris in the teeth,causing decay.细菌附着在牙缝中的食物残渣上，导致蛀牙。