World News for Students of English

17-09-2021 07:00

Yakutsk is a city in Siberia, Russia, which is located about 450 kilometers south of the Arctic Circle. This place is the coldest place on Earth, and temperatures in winter can drop to -60 degrees Celsius.

Yakutsk lies on permafrost, which is a soil which is frozen all year round. Plants in this area had to adapt to subzero temperatures, and so they decreased their size. Most plants grow close together, and they are only a few centimeters tall.

Nikofor Ivanov grows apples which can live in the cold, and they are as big as pearls. The apples are crunchy, and they taste like normal apples.

Ivanov tried to pick the apples and make jam from them. It was too difficult, and it took too much time. He never picked all the apples, so he just took a handful and ate them. He gave some apples as a gift to his friends, and birds ate the soft fruit, too.

Difficult words: subzero (below zero), decrease (to get smaller), crunchy (when a food makes a sharp noise when you eat it).

You can watch the original video in the Level 3 section.