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The 1930's
Mystery May

Nessie, the Loch Ness Monster

Nessie, the Loch Ness Monster
Reading Level
     edHelper's suggested reading level:   grades 4 to 6
     Flesch-Kincaid grade level:   5.55

Vocabulary
     challenging words:    disprove, elephant-like, plesiosaur, sightings, sturgeon, supposedly, tributary, editor, equipment, tales, reading, absolutely, people, hoax, illusion, technology
     content words:    Christian Spurling

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Nessie, the Loch Ness Monster
By Jane Runyon 		  
1     People have claimed to have seen monsters for years. Early sailors were afraid to sail too far into the oceans for fear a sea monster might wreck their ship and eat them. Children have been afraid of monsters under their beds for many generations. Are monsters real? Some of the people in Inverness, Scotland, claim to have their own monster. It has been given the name Nessie.
 
2     Rumors of a monster living in Loch Ness began many centuries ago. Loch is the Scottish word for lake. A folk tale from the year 565 was passed on about a man being saved from a monster in the River Ness. Of course, stories were also told of this same man being able to kill a wild pig with his voice. Most people just shrug these tales off as scary tales told from father to son.
 
3     Nessie started to take on a life of her own around 1933. A couple reported seeing a very large animal "rolling and plunging on the surface" of the lake in early May. They told their story to the local newspaper. When the paper printed their story, the editor had changed the word "animal" to "monster." He thought that would sell more newspapers. The story was picked up by papers in London. They even sent their own reporters to the scene to see what they could find. After reading the accounts in London, a circus decided to offer a large reward to anyone who could capture the monster and bring it to them.

Paragraphs 4 to 9:
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