Reading passage..

MH

Almas: The Mongolian Man-Beast

A. Mongolia usually evokes images of nomadic herdsmen riding across vast grasslands, but along the western border
with Russia, the Altai Mountains stretch for over a thousand kilometres, their permanently ice-capped peaks rising
above 4000 mE=s From these mountains have long come reports of a mysterious human-like creature called an almas.
Sightings have become increasingly rare over the past hundred years but according to old accounts, almas are described
as being similar in height to that of modern Mongolians, hairy, having massive jaws, receding chins and prominent
eyebrow ridges. They are thought to be mainly nocturnal, are unaggressive and usually avoid contact with humans.

B. The earliest description of an almas appears in the memoirs of a Bavarian noblema Hans Schiltberger, who was taken
prisoner by the Turks in the early 1400s SAT general training in Bardoli and sent eastward to serve a Mongol prince. "In
the mountains live wild people who have nothing in common with other human beings. A pelit covers the entire body of
these creatures. Only the hands and face are free of hair" Giving his seemingly incredible account some credibility is the
fact that he also mentions the Przewais horse (Equus ferus przewalskii), the last remaining wild species of horse which
was unknown in Europe until centuries later.

C. A few scientists such as Myra Shackley, however, have suggested that the almas is (or at least was) a real creature,
and that it could be a remnant population of hominids either homo erectus or Neanderthals. Neanderthals - mankind's
closest cousins - lived in Central Asia, the Middle East and Europe, and are thought to have died out 25000- 30000 years
ago. Over the decades there has been the occasional "find" (hair, skull droppings) but tests have shown them to be
either of human origin or from known Animals.

D. Many accounts of almases seem to be tied up with Mongolia's pre-communist

Buddhism. In 1837 a pilgrim called Luvsandonoi (Mongolians typically use just a single name) found the body of a dead
male almas in the Gobi Desert. He reportedly gave the skin, head, and limbs to the Galbyn Ulaan Sahius monastery.
Lamas stuffed the skin. The stuffed almas was said to be hairy but with some human-like features. There are various
other descriptions of monasteries with almas artefacts, even one with a complete stuffed almas. Unfortunately,
communist purges in the 1930s led to the destruction of all but one of the country's more than 500 monasteries, and
these artefacts were destroyed or disappeared. An interesting re-occurring element of almas stories is the use of bile (a
digestive juice produced by the liver) from the gallbladder as a medicine. It was highly prized and used by lama doctors
to treat a variety of disorders. Interestingly, bile from the gall bladder of black bears has long has long been used in
traditional Chinese medicine.

E. One possible explanation for the almas is that it is folklore imported alongside Tibetan Buddhism from the Himalayas.
From medieval times until the early twentieth century, Buddhism dominated religious, cultural and educational lite in
Mongolia. There were important ties with Tibet, and it was not uncommon for the religious leaders and devout
followers to make the pilgrimage to the holy city of Lhasa where they would have heard the tales of the yetis, and seen
various supposed yeti artefacts in monasteries. Currently, the weight of scientific opinion is that the Yeti is a mythical
creature born of a combination of bear sightings and folklore.

F. Two recent scientific bombshells give the remnant hominid theory a boost, First, the discovery of a new human
species Homo floresiensis (nicknamed the Hobbit) and the startling fact that it occupied the Indonesian island of Flores
until perhaps as recently as 12,000 years ago. Even more relevant to the almas mystery is the 2008 discovery of a female
finger bone in a cave in the Siberian section of the Altai Mountains. An international team of scientists from the Max
Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany have worked on the mitochondrial DNA from the
finger bone. They announced in 2010 that it was from a previously unknown hominid species that lived in the Altai
Mountains about 35,000 years ago.

Questions 1 - 6

The reading passage has six paragraphs, A-F.

Write the correct number, i-x, as your answer to each question.

i) Lamaism

ii) First account of almases

iii) Missing link

iv)Lost evidence

v)Borrowed tales from Tibet?

vi)Living in Mongolia

vii)Possible ancestors of humans viii)Funding expeditions

ix)New discoveries support a theory

x)Mysterious mountain men

Paragraph A

Paragraph B

Paragraph C

Paragraph D

Paragraph E

Paragraph F
MH.. 2

Questions 1 - 6

The reading passage has six paragraphs, A-F.

Choose the correct heading for paragraphs, A-F, from the list below.

Write the correct number, i-ix, as your answer to each question.

List of Headings

i Bills of exchange precede paper money

ii The English Civil War

iii Advent of the Gold standard

iv The Knights Templar

v Recurrence of paper currency

vi Goldsmiths in the role of bankers

vii Scarcity of copper coins

viii Virginian money

ix ‘Intangible’ money

Paragraph A

Paragraph B

Paragraph C

Paragraph D

Paragraph E

Paragraph F

Money

A. In China, the issue of paper money became common from about 960 but there had been occasional issues long
before that. A motive for one such early issue, in the reign of Emperor Hien Tsung 806-821, was a shortage of copper for
making coins. A drain of currency from China, partly to buy off potential invaders from the north greater reliance on
paper money with the result that by 1020 the quantity issued was excessive, causing inflation. In subsequent centuries
there were several episodes of hyperinflation, and after about 1455, after well over 500 years of using paper money,
China abandoned it.
B. With the revival of banking in western Europe, stimulated by the Crusades, written instructions in the form of bills of
exchange came to be used as a means of transferring large sums of money, and the Knights Templar and Hospitallers
functioned as bankers. It is possible that the Arabs may have used bills of exchange at a much earlier date, perhaps as
early as the eighth century. The use of paper as currency came much later.

C. During the English Civil War, 1642-1651, goldsmiths' safes were secure places for the deposit of jewels, bullion and
coins. Instructions to goldsmiths to pay money to another customer subsequently developed into the cheque. Similarly,
goldsmiths’ receipts were used not only for withdrawing deposits but also as evidence of ability to pay and by about
1660 these had developed into banknotes.

D. In England's American colonies a chronic shortage of official coins led to various substitutes being used as money,
including, in Virginia, tobacco, leading to the development of paper money by a different route. Tobacco leaves have
drawback as currency, and consequently, certificates attesting to the quality and quantity of tobacco deposited in public
warehouses came to be used as money and in 1727 were made legal tender.

E. Although paper money obviously had no intrinsic value, its acceptability originally depended on its being backed by
some commodity, normally precious metals. During the Napoleonic Wars convertibility of Bank of England notes was
suspended and there was some inflation which, although quite mild compared to that which had occurred in other wars,
was worrying to contemporary observers who were used to stable prices and, in accordance with the recommendations
of an official enquiry, Britain adopted the gold standard for the pound in 1816.

F. The break with precious metals helped to make money a more elusive entity. Another trend in the same direction was
the growing interest in forms of electronic money from the 1990s onwards. In some ways, e-money is a logical evolution
from the wire transfers that came about with the widespread adoption of the telegraph in the 19th century, but such
transfers had relatively little impact on the everyday shopper.