Dmitry

1847. It was his toughest year and they had all been tough. As a 13 year old living in Verhnie Aremzyani he did not know, for example, that a lady had just published a book called “Jane Eyre” or that she’d used a false name, Currer Bell, to disguise her gender. Nor would he have known that 6000 miles away a town called Yerba Buena was being formally re-named. Dmitry hardly knew what was happening in Tobolsk, let alone Moscow. He had far more pressing problems. At an age when for other children happy childhood might have been giving way to purposeful adulthood — Dmitry knew only despair. His father Ivan Pavlovich was dead. His mother’s livelihood in a nearby factory had been destroyed in a cruel fire. Dmitry may not have known about Charlotte Bronte or San Francisco (as Yerba Buena had been re-christened) but he certainly knew hard times lay ahead.

Dmitry was the youngest of 14 brothers and sisters. Being the youngest had its advantages in terms of maternal and sisterly affection. It possibly also helped in his educational development. For two years he attended the Gymnasium in Tobolsk and did fairly well. But the family was now really poor. At the age of 15 they all relocated to St Petersburg — hoping for a better life. Dmitry entered the Main Pedagogical Institute and successfully graduated. Things seemed to be looking up — when disaster struck in the form of tuberculosis or ТВ.

ТВ is a dreadful disease. Usually the victim suffers from chronic, disabling fits of coughing. Fever, night sweats and dramatic loss of weight follow. We may suppose Dmitry suffered all of these because he made the sudden decision to travel to Crimea where, it was supposed, the warm southern climate would provide a better cure than any medicines. And so it proved. Dmitry became a science teacher at Simferopol Gymnasium No 1. When he returned to St. Petersburg in 1857 — his health was fully restored, his career as a scientist could properly begin.

In late August 1861 his first book (on the spectroscope) was published. In 1862, after an engagement lasting just 23 days, he married Feozva Nikitichna — a marriage that was to sadly end disastrously and cause serious damage to his career. The following year, aged 29, he became Professor of Chemistry at the St. Petersburg Technological Institute.

On March 6^th, 1869 Dmitry made a formal presentation to the Russian Chemical Society. A lot of other things were happening in 1869 and without doubt Dmitry was aware of most of them. Certainly he would have read that Ulysses S Grant had been elected 18^th President of the USA and that the Suez Canal was complete. Probably he didn’t then know that a new synthetic material called plastic had just been patented or that a ship called The Cutty Sark was on its maiden voyage. But in a sense, none of these things were as important as the paper delivered that evening by a certain Mr. Dmitry Ivanovich Mendeleev.

As a result of that presentation, Dmitry was credited as being the creator of the first version of the periodic table of elements. Fantastically, using his table, he was able to predict the properties of elements yet to be discovered. From tough beginnings, Dmitry rose to be one of the greatest scientists the world has ever known.

Next time you are on the metro, line No9, passing south from Savelovskaya towards Moscow City Centre, spare a moment to remember Dmitry — the boy from Verhnie Aremzyani.

12. Mentioning “Jane Eyre” and San Francisco in paragraph 1 the author probably wants to
1) point our attention to the times in which Mendeleev’s childhood ended.
2) demonstrate how obscure Mendeleev’s childhood was.
3) show how much young Mendeleev knew about the world around him.
4) stress the point that Mendeleev grew up being very ignorant.

13. We learn from paragraph 2 about Mendeleev’s family that
1) Dmitry suffered from lack of family love.
2) they helped him to study at the Tobolsk gymnasium.
3) it had always been extremely poor.
4) Dmitry had 13 elder brothers and sisters.

14. What, according to the author, helped Mendeleev to win over TV
1) becoming a science teacher.
2) traveling around Crimea.
3) change of climate.
4) getting better medicine.

15. What does the author say about Mendeleev’s marriage to Feoza?
1) It happened when he was too young.
2) It had bad influence on his career.
3) It lasted only a few days.
4) It helped him to get a professor’s position.

16. According to the author in 1869 Mendeleev was sure to know about
1) Cutty Sark voyage.
2) invention of plastic.
3) election of president Grant.
4) new patents on synthetic materials.

17. Of all the important events in 1869 Mendeleev’s presentation was special as
1) it was proved that tough beginnings may have glorious endings.
2) Dmitry was credited as the creator of the periodic table of elements.
3) it showed the possibility to predict properties of undiscovered elements.
4) Dmitry became one of the greatest scientists of the world.

18. The last paragraph probably implies that
1) Savelovskaya station is related to the life of Mendeleev.
2) there is a metro station named after Mendeleev.
3) everyone should visit metro line #9 in Moscow.
4) when in Moscow metro, remember Mendeleev’s discoveries.