Unit 1

Part II Reading task Comprehension

Possible answers to content questions

1. It refers to the raw, bitter, bleak Russian winter. 2. He expected the conquest of Russia in five weeks.

3. Instead of fighting, they retreated eastward, burning their crops and homes as they went. They let the Russian winter fight the war for them while they bided their time. 4. Napoleon discovered that the occupation of the city was an empty victory because the Russians fled their capital leaving him almost nothing at all.

5. They suffered heavy losses as a result of the extreme cold and the Russians' hit-and-run attacks.

6. Napoleon abdicated and went into exile.

7. Hitler began his invasion of the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941 without a declaration of war. He expected the campaign to last no longer than three months by using the so-called \

8. No, he wasn't. He instructed the Russian people to \German invaders.

9. The people of Leningrad refused to surrender and put up a heroic, stiff resistance. 10. An early, severe, cold winter, to a large extent, slowed down the German advance on Moscow.

11. The loss of the battle for Stalingrad turned the tide against Hitler. The German victories were over.

12. The author concludes that the elements of nature must be reckoned with in any

military campaign. Text Organization 1.

Parts Paragraphs Main Ideas

Part One Paras 1-2 Introduction —Both Napoleon's and Hitler's military campaigns failed because of the severity of the Russian winter.

Part Two Paras 3 -11 Napoleon's military campaign against Russia Part Three Paras 12-20 Hitler's military campaign against the Soviet Union.

Part Four Para 21 Conclusion —The elements of nature must be reckoned with in any military campaign. 2.

Sections Paragraphs Main Ideas

Section One Paras 12 -13 Hitler's blitzkrieg against Russia and Stalin's scorched-earth policy.

Section Two Paras 14 -18 The battles fought at Leningrad, Moscow and Stalingrad. Section Three Paras 19-20 The Russian counter-offensive and the outcome of the war. Language Sense Enhancement 1.

1) the fierce resistance 2) the long march 3) the devastating enemy 4) bleak 5) launched 6) military might 7) mowed down 8) campaign

9) a painful lesson 10) the aid Vocabulary I. 1.

1) alliance 2) at the cost of 3) stroke 4) limp 5) minus 6) regions 7) declarations 8) siege 9) raw 10) bide his time

11) have taken their toll 12) in the case of 2.

1) is faced with 2) get bogged down 3) is pressing on/pressed on 4) drag on 5) get by 6) dine out

7) have cut back 8) get through 3.

1) The rapid advance in gene therapy may lead to the conquest of cancer in the near future.

2) Production in many factories has been brought to a halt by the delayed arrival of raw materials due to the dock workers' strike.

3) Sara has made up her mind that her leisure interests will/should never get in the way of her career.

4) Obviously the reporter's question caught the foreign minister off guard. 5) The introduction of the electronic calculator has rendered the slide rule out of