Leveled Readings / Mikhail Gorbachev: Resignation Speech (December 25, 1991)
Mikhail Gorbachev: Resignation Speech (December 25, 1991)
Mikhail Gorbachev, resignation speech (December 25, 1991)
These are adaptations, not the original. The original wording is always shown first. Each adapted version restates the same passage at about a grade 4, grade 7, or grade 10 reading level without adding or removing ideas. Quote the original in student writing.
Original wording
“…the society was suffocating in the vise of the command-bureaucratic system, doomed to serve ideology and bear the terrible burden of the arms race.”
Adapted · about grade 4
Gorbachev said the country was choking under a strict, top-down system that served ideas and paid for the arms race.
Adapted · about grade 7
The society was suffocating under a rigid command system, forced to serve ideology and carry the heavy cost of the arms race.
Adapted · about grade 10
The society was suffocating in the vise of the command-bureaucratic system, doomed to serve ideology and bear the terrible burden of the arms race.
Used in: Why did communist states collapse?