A Visit to Oymakon, the World's Coldest Town Reading Answers

Mar 12, 2024

A visit to Oymakon, the World's Coldest Town Reading Answers is an academic reading answers topic. A visit to Oymakon, the World's Coldest Town Reading Answers have a total of 13 IELTS questions in total. This topic has the first 9 questions in which we have to select the correct heading. The next 3 questions are fill in the blanks using one word only.

Candidates should read the IELTS Reading passage thoroughly to recognize synonyms, identify keywords, and answer the questions below. IELTS Reading practice papers, which feature topics such as A visit to Oymakon, the World's Coldest Town Reading Answers. Candidates can use IELTS reading practice questions and answers to enhance their performance in the reading section.

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Section 1

Read the Passage to Answer the Following Questions

A Visit to Oymyakon, The World’s Coldest Town

You don’t need a sat nav to drive to Oymyakon. From Yakutsk, you cross the Lena River and simply follow the M56 almost all of the way before taking a left at Tomtor for the final few kilometres. The journey takes two days of hard driving; two days of glistening landscapes, frozen rivers and untouched snow; two days of endless forest and breathtaking beauty; two days to penetrate the heart of Siberia and reach the coldest inhabited place on Earth. The beauty surprised me. Siberia isn’t known for its pleasant appearance. It’s always billed as a place of hardship. But for hour after hour, the wintry wonderland was bathed in a crisp, clean sunshine, presenting a continuous panorama of conifer trees wreathed in silence and snow.
As we left the flat plain, the road began to twist and turn, leading us into untouched hills and on towards the Verkhoyansk Mountains. Beneath their snow-clad peaks, the slopes became steeper and the valleys deeper. Down in a valley, we stopped to look at a hot spring beside the road. It was immediately obvious against the snow – a spot shrouded in heavy mist. Trees emerged from the strange haze as ghostly silhouettes.
Despite the magical ambience of the Siberian wilderness, its reputation for hardship hit me every time I climbed out of the vehicle. Within less than a minute, the skin all over my face began to feel as if it were burning. If I wasn’t wearing my two sets of gloves, I rapidly lost the feeling in my fingertips. I learned very quickly not to draw too deep a breath because the shock of the cold air in my lungs invariably set me off on an extended bout of coughing. Siberia in winter is a world barely fit for human habitation. This is a place of such searing cold that it bites through multiple layers of clothing as if they aren’t there.
Oymyakon is a quiet little town – the world’s coldest – of about 550 inhabitants, with its own power station, a school, two shops and a small hospital. It probably originated as a seasonal settlement where reindeer herders spent the summer on the banks of the Indigirka River.
The temperature when I arrived was -45°C – not particularly cold, I was informed. A number of factors combine to explain Oymyakon’s record low temperatures. It is far from the ocean, with its moderating effect on air temperature. In addition, the town sits in a valley, below the general level of the Oymyakon Plateau, which, in turn, is enclosed on all sides by mountains up to 2,000 metres in height. As the cold air sinks, it accumulates in the valley, with little wind to disturb it. Oymyakon’s average temperature in January is -50°C. Lower temperatures have been recorded in Antarctica, but there are no permanent inhabitants there.
Day-to-day life in Oymyakon presents certain challenges during the long winters. There are hardly any modern household conveniences. Water is hacked out of the nearby river as great chunks of ice and dragged home on a sledge. The giant ice cubes are stacked outdoors and carried into the house one at a time to melt when needed. The lack of running water also means no showers or baths, or indeed flushing toilets. Since 2008, the town’s school has enjoyed the luxury of indoor toilets, however. It’s one of the small number of civic buildings in the centre of town that are linked to the power station.
The power station provides winter heating in the form of hot water, but many houses lie outside its range and rely on their own wood-burning stove. Fuel is plentiful enough in the surrounding forest, but someone still has to venture out to cut the wood. Everybody in Oymyakon owns good boots, a hat made of animal fur and fur-lined mittens. The boots are usually made from reindeer hide, which is light but keeps your feet very warm – the individual hairs are hollow, like a thin tube with air inside. Since air is a poor conductor of heat, the skin makes excellent winter footwear, and felt soles give added insulation. Hats come in a variety of furs, including fox, raccoon, sable and mink.
Oymyakon’s two shops keep a decent stock of basic foods in tins and packets, but locals also have do-it-yourself options, including hunting, trapping, ice-fishing, reindeer-breeding and horse-breeding. Indeed, being self-sufficient runs in the blood in Siberia. The Oymyakon diet relies heavily on meat for its protein, a primary source of energy in the prolonged winter. Unsurprisingly, given the weather, everyone eats heartily in Oymyakon. A typical meal I was offered consisted of a thick horse soup and huge piles of horse meatballs, all washed down with cloudberry cordial.
Spring is the best season here, I’m told. The snow melts, the river flows once more and the forest is full of wildflowers. But it’s short. In the summer Oymyakon can be uncomfortably hot. Much of the forest becomes boggy, so mosquitoes are a constant presence. Oymyakon’s climate certainly wouldn’t suit me, but residents I spoke to said they wouldn’t live anywhere else.

Section 2

Solution and Explanation

Write the correct number, i-xi, in boxes 28-36 on your answer sheet.

List of Headings

Various sources of supplies
The effects of going outside
Oymyakon past and present
A contrast in the landscape
Animals that can survive the cold
How Oymyakon is affected by its location
Keeping out the cold
Not the only challenging time of the year
Better than its reputation
Very few facilities in buildings
More snow than anywhere else in the world

Paragraph A

Answer: ix
Supporting statement: “........The beauty surprised me. Siberia isn’t known for its pleasant appearance. It’s always billed as a place of hardship.......”
Keywords: pleasant, billed
Keyword Location: para A, line 6
Explanation: It is given that Siberia is not popular for its appearance. It is popular for its hardship

Paragraph B

Answer: iv
Supporting statement: “........As we left the flat plain, the road began to twist and turn, leading us into untouched hills and on towards the Verkhoyansk Mountains. Beneath their snow-clad peaks, the slopes became steeper and the valleys
deeper........”
Keywords: plain, peaks
Keyword Location: para B, line 1
Explanation: It is given that there were untouched hills and mountains. There was a snow -clad peak and steeper slopes.

Paragraph C

Answer: іі
Supporting statement: “........Within less than a minute, the skin all over my face began to feel as if it were burning. If I wasn’t wearing my two sets of gloves, I rapidly lost the feeling in my fingertips.......”
Keywords: burning, gloves
Keyword Location: para C, line 2
Explanation: It is given that when people go out there, the skin starts to feel burning. It was very hot.

Paragraph D

Answer: iii
Supporting statement: “....... It probably originated as a seasonal settlement where reindeer herders spent the summer on the banks of the Indigirka River.........”
Keywords: reindeer, spent
Keyword Location: para D, line 2
Explanation: It is given that the city of Oymyakon has been changed since before. It started as a seasonal settlement.

Paragraph E

Answer: vi
Supporting statement: “....... In addition, the town sits in a valley, below the general level of the Oymyakon Plateau, which, in turn, is enclosed on all sides by mountains up to 2,000 meters in height.......”
Keywords: plateau, height
Keyword Location: para E, line 3
Explanation: It is given that the town sits in the valley which is near the mountains. Hence the location is responsible for its temperature.

Paragraph F

Answer: x
Supporting statement: “.......There are hardly any modern household conveniences. Water is hacked out of the nearby river as great chunks of ice and dragged home on a sledge.........”
Keywords: hacked, sledge
Keyword Location: para F, line 2
Explanation: It is given that the household is not modern. There are not many features available for the houses.

Paragraph G

Answer: vii
Supporting statement: “.......The power station provides winter heating in the form of hot water, but many houses lie outside its range and rely on their own wood-burning stove........”
Keywords: stations, houses
Keyword Location: para G, line 1
Explanation: It is given that the power stations are used to provide winter heating. Hot water is also used to increase the temperature.

Paragraph H

Answer: і
Supporting statement: “.......Oymyakon’s two shops keep a decent stock of basic foods in tins and packets, but locals also have do-it-yourself options, including hunting, trapping, ice-fishing........”
Keywords: foods, tins
Keyword Location: para H, line 1
Explanation: It is given that the supplies were also difficult to carry. There were two stores to keep a decent stock for tins and packets.

Paragraph I

Answer: viii
Supporting statement: “.......But it’s short. In the summer Oymyakon can be uncomfortably hot. Much of the forest becomes boggy, so mosquitoes are a constant ........”
Keywords: uncomfortably, boggy
Keyword Location: para I, line 2
Explanation: It is given that the summer season is also not too good in the city. It is extremely hot.

Questions 37-40

Complete the summary below.

Choose ONE WORD ONLY from the text for each answer. Write your answers in boxes 37-40 on your answer sheet.

Why Oymyakon gets so cold

Oymyakon is a long way from any 37………..…….. which would prevent the

Answer: ocean
Supporting statement: “.......It is far from the ocean, with its moderating effect on air temperature. In addition, the town sits in a valley, below the general level of the Oymyakon Plateau,........”
Keywords: temperature, general
Keyword Location: para E, line 2
Explanation: It is given that the city is far from any ocean. It is enough to justify the temperature.

temperature from falling so low. The town is located in a 38 ……..……….. within a

Answer: valley
Supporting statement: “....... In addition, the town sits in a valley, below the general level of the Oymyakon Plateau,........”
Keywords: valley, level
Keyword Location: para E, line 3
Explanation: It is given that the town is located in a valley below the normal level.

plateau surrounded by 39 ……..……….. Because there is not much 40 …………..….. cold air collects in the town.

Ques 39:

Answer: mountains
Supporting statement: “......below the general level of the Oymyakon Plateau, which, in turn, is enclosed on all sides by mountains up to 2,000 meters in height.........”
Keywords: enclosed, mountains
Keyword Location: para E, line 4
Explanation: It is given that the plateau is surrounded by mountains that go upto 2000 m in height.

Ques 40:

Answer: wind
Supporting statement: “....... As the cold air sinks, it accumulates in the valley, with little wind to disturb it. Oymyakon’s average temperature in January is -50°C........”
Keywords: little, disturb
Keyword Location: para E, line 4
Explanation: It is given that cold air sinks in the valley. There is very little wind to disturb.

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