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319 views

Advanced Level - Reading

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Uploaded by

Larry Smith
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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4/9/2015

AdvancedLevel:Reading.MultipleChoiceSiberianWinter|ESLLounge

The cruelty of a Siberian winter


It was only minus 28 degrees Celsius when we landed in Irkutsk. But
that was cold enough to make breathing an effort - the air felt like ice
as it scraped the back of my throat. Five minutes later, I needed a
second pair of gloves and pulled my scarf tight over my nose and
mouth. I was obviously a beginner at this.
At the petrol station, Mikhail the attendant laughed when we asked if
he wasn't freezing. He'd spent the whole day outside with no more
than his fur hat and a sheepskin coat for warmth. It was midafternoon and icicles were hanging from his moustache like Dracula's
fangs. He said he never drank to stay warm - unlike many others.
Vodka
There's a belief in Siberia that enough vodka will insulate you from
the cold. It's been proved tragically wrong in the past few weeks.
Dozens of bodies of the homeless or men walking drunkenly back
from the pub were hauled out of the snowdrifts, frozen or so badly
frost-bitten that many will never walk again.
The local hospital in Irkutsk is overwhelmed. Ironically, it's the burns
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The local hospital in AdvancedLevel:Reading.MultipleChoiceSiberianWinter|ESLLounge


Irkutsk is overwhelmed. Ironically, it's the burns
unit that's taken all the frostbite victims - 200 of them in just two
weeks in one town. Even here, icicles are hanging down on the inside
of the windows, though the heating is on full power. The doctor was
too busy performing amputations to talk to us.
Shortages
But we could hear the screams from the operating room. They'd run
out of anaesthetic after performing 60 amputations that week. The
other patients could hear it too, and one girl in the corridor, clinging
to her mother for support, was near to tears.
Nastya is only 16. Last week she missed her last bus home, so she
walked instead - seven kilometres through the snow, in temperatures
of minus 40. She had no gloves. Now her hands are bandaged and
hang down uselessly. She'll find out soon if they need to be
amputated.
She was far from the worst case. In one bed, Nikolai Dobtsov lay
quietly staring at the ceiling. Underneath the sheets, blood was
seeping through his bandages, from where his feet and hands had
been amputated the day before. He was a truck driver, he explained,
with a good job delivering wood - and recently there'd been a lot of
demand. So he'd set out to deliver a last load upcountry. The weather
forecast - just minus 25 in Irkutsk - seemed to suggest that the
journey was safe. It wasn't. His truck broke down miles from
anywhere, and for 6 desperate hours he fought to repair the axle. He
even greased his hands for protection, and finally managed to get the
truck going again. Somehow he found the strength to drive himself
back and straight to hospital, but it was already too late.
I asked Nikolai what would happen to him now. He just laughed, and
shrugged. Nikolai has no wife or family in Irkutsk - and invalidity
benefit is a pittance. Life in an institution may be the best he can hope
for, and he'll almost certainly never work again.

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4/9/2015

AdvancedLevel:Reading.MultipleChoiceSiberianWinter|ESLLounge

Resilience
That incredible stoicism is everywhere. In Irkutsk at least, people
seem simply to accept that winter is harsh - and this one especially so.
It is without doubt the cruelest Siberian winter in living memory. Yet
outdoors, everything appears to function normally - even schools reopened as the temperature rose briefly to minus 25.
The trams and buses are back on the roads, though everyone drives
slowly to avoid skidding on the layers of ice below the grit. The main
street bustles with people wrapped in layers against the cold. But even
indoors, the chill is inescapable. After her shift as a tram conductor,
Natasha Fillipova comes home to a freezing house. She shows us the
bedroom - where ice has built up on the inside walls. She scrapes it
off with her fingers, but that has little effect. One night, Natasha says,
she washed her hair before going to bed. When she woke up, it was
frozen solid to the wall. The children are doing their homework in the
bathroom - the only room warm enough to sit in. Natasha doesn't
want to complain. But she is angry with the state and the architects
for building shoddy houses.
The flats here are supposed to withstand up to minus 40 degrees.
They don't, and her children are ill with coughs and colds. Natasha's
anger is brief, and she seems faintly embarrassed about it. Siberians
are used to cold weather, she explains. Here, she tells us, people
prefer to rely on themselves - and the knowledge that eventually,
spring will come.
Questions
Choose the best answer:
1. What do we learn in the opening paragraph.
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AdvancedLevel:Reading.MultipleChoiceSiberianWinter|ESLLounge

a) The author arrived by bus.


b) The author wasn't accustomed to such cold.
c) The author wished he had had another pair of gloves.
d) The author ate some ice when he arrived.
2. What is the local theory about vodka?
a) If you drink too much, you may never walk again.
b) If you don't drink it, you may lose your legs.
c) If you drink it, you may suffer less from the cold.
d) You shouldn't drink it if you are old.
3. Which sentence is true about the hospital?
a) It is too warm inside.
b) They don't have enough supplies and equipment.
c) The staff didn't want to talk to the journalist.
d) Most frost-bite victims need to have operations.
4. What happened to Nikolai?
a) He almost lost his hands.
b) He ignored the weather forecast.
c) He had a problem with his engine.
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AdvancedLevel:Reading.MultipleChoiceSiberianWinter|ESLLounge

d) He had had to help himself.


5. Houses in Irkutsk..
a) don't have separate bathrooms.
b) were built by private companies for profit.
c) are too cold if the temperature is less than -40C.
d) cause health problems for their residents.

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