杨俊霞

喜馬拉雅山“雪人”被称作“夜帝”（Yeti），意思是居住在岩石上的动物。关于“雪人”的传说可以追溯到公元前326年，它们身高15米到46米，头颅尖耸，红发披顶，全身长满灰黄色的毛，行动敏捷。随着时间的推移，有关“雪人”的传说逐渐被神秘动物学家承认，世界各地的探险队、科学家和媒体都相继前往喜马拉雅山，希望能揭开“雪人”的神秘面纱。然而“雪人”真的存在吗？

Recently， 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. They drew the conclusion that the footprints belong to the Yeti， also known as the “elusive 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 measuring 81 centimeters by 38 centimeters， close to a camp near Mount Makalu on April 9， 2019.

Reactions on social media

The Indian armys Twitter post has drawn criticism by some on social media. One user， for example， put an image of a pothole（坑洼） in Bombay and noted that Yetis 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， its the size of a dinosaur. Taylor added， “One needs to really confirm those measurements of the footprint size because we know for sure that there are no dinosaurs 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.

[Reading][Check]

What can we know about Mount Makalu？

A.It stands near human population.

B.It is in the Makalu?Barun Valley.

C.It remains to be explored by human beings.

D.It is one of the highest mountains in the world.

[Language][Study]

Ⅰ.Important vocabulary in the text

1.on an outing 在远足;在游玩

2.put...on Twitter 把……发到推特上

3.elusive adj. 难找的;难以解释的

4.imaginary adj. 想象中的;虚构的

5.Twitter post 推文

6.draw criticism 引发批评

7.supposed adj. 所谓的;误以为的

8.confirm v. 确认;证实

9.for sure 确信;无疑

10.capture the imagination of 引起……的想象;激起……的想象（力）

Ⅱ.Sentences for writing

1.主语+be said to do sth “……据说做某事”，相当于“It is said that+主语+谓语”。

这种类人生物是尼泊尔传统的一部分，据称它们生活在喜马拉雅山脉的高处。

The man⁃like creature is part of Nepali tradition and                      high in the Himalayan mountains.

2.There be+名词/名词词组+doing something意为“某人/某物正在做某事”，现在分词doing所表示的动作和前面的人或物存在主谓关系，doing是现在分词作后置定语。

我们需要核实这些脚印尺寸的测量结果，因为我们确认巴伦山谷没有恐龙出没。

One needs to really confirm those measurements of the footprint size because we know for sure that                      no dinosaurs                      in the Barun Valley.