BEST IELTS Academic Reading Test 573

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IELTS ACADEMIC READING TEST 573 – PASSAGE – 1

IELTS ACADEMIC READING TEST – 573

READING PASSAGE – 1

Russian Archaeology

During the last fifteen years Russian archaeologists have been conducting extensive excavations in and around the city of Moscow and Great Novgorod. The artifacts and architectural features thereby uncovered have allowed a significantly improved understanding of medieval Russia. This period has a distinct time frame and refers to different events than the Middle Ages for Western Europe, which began in the 5th century with the fall of the Western Roman Empire to the Germanic barbarians, and whose end corresponds with the discovery and exploration of the New World in the 15th century.

The Russian Middle Ages, by contrast, began in the 9th century with the establishment of the Rurik dynasty and ended in the 17th century when Peter the Great ushered Western civilization into Russia.

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Some of the most interesting findings from the Medieval period occurred in the areas of the Kremlin and Red Square. The Kremlin, situated on a hill 125 feet above the level of the Moscow River, contains many remarkable edifices within its walls, which housed the throne and secular branches of government, as well as the church and the military. Although every medieval Russian town boasts a kremlin (from the Mongol word “kreml” meaning “fortress”), Moscow’s Kremlin has a particularly rich history. Founded in 1147 by Yuri Dolgorukiy, Prince of Moscow, the first fortress was originally constructed of wood.

Dolgorukiy’s Kremlin, surrounded was sacked and burned to the ground during the Mongol invasion in 1238. Yet Moscow’s growth and development were virtually unstoppable and the city soon recovered. The Kremlin, and the city which surrounded it were rebuilt, and in 1339 it stood with fortifications made of oak. These oak walls were replaced by stone some forty years later, and it was because of the white color of these new walls that Moscow became known as the “White City”.

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The excavation in the area of Red Square exposed ash and residue of a 1493 fire overlying a cultural layer of the 13th century. A well-preserved but crude wooden dwelling built during the late 13th century was unearthed, and served as an example of the architecture of this era. Fires were a constant threat in Medieval Russia since most dwellings belonging to both the peasantry and nobility – were constructed of wood.

Stone structures were impractical in the cold Russian climate because of the condensation associated with the tiled stoves used for heating. Such heating methods in wooden structures had disastrous results. In fact, fires consumed dwellings so often that by the 16th century Russians had devised a system of prefabricating wooden dwellings which might be constructed and inhabited within the space of a week.

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The Red Square excavation site also produced the first birch-bark document discovered in Moscow, a fragment of a legal text dating from the end of the 15th century. Such a find is highly unusual because Moscow’s dry, oxidized soil is not conducive to the preservation of birch-bark, which occurs, in most cases, in water-logged soil conditions, such as in the Russian city of Novgorod.

The Great Novgorod is in Russia’s north-west. In the Middle Ages it was a large political, economic and cultural center whose contribution to the development of the Russian state can hardly be overestimated. Last summer the Great Novgorod marked 50 years since the first archaeological finding a birch-bark letter that was discovered by Valentin Yanin’s team of archaeologists. A birch-bark letter is a piece of birch-bark on which letters were scratched with a pointed metal or bone rod called “stilo”. Birch-bark was cheap, so everyone could buy it. By now 915 birch-bark letters have been found in the vicinity of Novgorod.

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Most ancient of the Novgorod birch-bark letters were “written” in the early 11th century, the latest in the mid-15th century. Texts on birch-bark vary from pupils’ exercises to state documents. The recent finding of an icon on birch-bark is the most ancient icon in Russia today. What matters for scientists is that the authors and receivers of birch-bark letters belonged to various sections of the city’s population.

A great variety of birch-bark letters written by peasants, craftsmen, and traders allows the conclusion that literacy took deep root among the population of ancient Novgorod. In addition the residents of the city made use of beeswax plates, called ceras in Ancient Rome. What were ceras like? There was a hollow inside the plate filled with beeswax. A pointed rod, or “stilo”, was also used in writing. Close to the edge the Novgorod beeswax plates had holes for joining them in the quantity that was required.

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During archaeological excavations of the 10th 11th-century layer in Novgorod a book was found written on beeswax plates. “When I took that book into my hands,” says Academician Valentin Yanin, “I felt dizzy. What I held was the book more ancient than the renowned Ostromirovo Gospels of 1056-1057. The book I held was written some 50 years earlier. It was the Book of Psalms, the most popular reading of Christians.

It served both as a textbook and as a book for the general reader. In the 11th century all Orthodox Christians – Bulgarians, Serbs and Greeks wrote in Church Slavonic language. Yet scientists proved that the notes on the cera were made by a Russian since neither Bulgarian nor Serb could make such mistakes and slips in writing.

The deciphered Book of Psalms was not meant for divine services but for the general reader. The note on the edge of the cera says it is meant for reading by laymen and the consolation of orphans and widows. Twelve similar ceras were found in other layers, yet letters on beeswax were preserved only on one of them. The design of ceras, alphabet on the back side and along the edges, shows that they were kind of notebooks for teaching how to write.

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Questions 1-4

Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 1? Write

YES if the statement agrees with the writer

NO if the statement contradicts the writer

NOT GIVEN if there is no information about this in the passage.

1. The Russian Middle Ages lasted longer than its Western counterpart.

2. The Mongols introduced the idea of a kremlin into Russian cities.

3. The Red Square is so called because of the ash and residue from a 1493 fire.

4. The means used for heating wooden buildings were often the cause of outbreaks of fire.

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Questions 5-8

Using NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage, answer the following questions.

5. Moscow River, contains many remarkable ………….. within its walls

6. A well-preserved but crude wooden dwelling built during the late 13th century was ………….

7. Fires were a constant threat in …………..

8. Stone structures were ……………….. in the cold Russian climate.

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Questions 9-13

Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER for each answer.

Last summer the Great Novgorod marked 9…………….. since the first archaeological finding a birch-bark letter that was discovered by 10……………. Yanin’s team of archaeologists. A birch-bark letters were scratched with a pointed metal or bone rod called “11……………”. Most ancient of the Novgorod birch-bark letters were “12…………. ” in the early 11th century, the latest in the 13………..century.

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