听力文本

Most thermometers have numbers down to forty degrees (40°) below zero. There the numbers stop, for whenthe mercury gets down to that point it freezes up. But there are few places in the World where it ever gets as cold as that. The coldest place in the World is not at the North Pole; the coldest place in the World, where the thermometer does go below 40° and freezes up, is in the country called Siberia.
Siberia is a huge country north of China. In the north of Siberia the sun never rises all winter long. It isnight, as it is in Norway and Sweden. But there is no Gulf Stream to warm the land, so it gets muchcolder than 40° below zero, and they have to use a different kind of thermometer to measure how cold itis. In one place it goes to 90° below zero, which is the coldest place .People can’t grow fur on theirskins to keep themselves warm as animals can, so when they go outside they must cover themselves from top to toe with animal skins or they would freeze to death in a few moments.
But all of Siberia is not like this. There is a top, a middle, and a bottom part. Few people live in thenorthern part, however. It is so cold that no trees grow there and the ground is frozen solid many feet down. Inthe summer it gets very warm, and the thermometer sometimes goes just as high above zero as it goes below inthe winter; that is, to 90°. The ground then thaws out on top and moss and a few other things grow for a short while, though the ground underneath still stays frozen. Siberia is larger than theUnited States. It belongs to Russia, but there are people from other countries living there too.
The middle part of Siberia is not nearly so cold, and there great forests have grown, and in the forestslivewild animals such as foxes, wolves, sable, and ermine, which have beautiful thick coats of fur to keep themselves warm.

参考译文

大部分温度计向下标出的度数最低是零下40度，在零下40度这儿数字就停止了，因为温度计里的水银降到这个温度就会冻住。但世界上很少有地方能冷成那样。世界上最冷的地方不在北极。世界上最冷的地方，是在一个叫“西伯利亚”的地方，那里温度计能降到零下40度以下并冻住。
西伯利亚是在中国以北的一个巨大区域，在西伯利亚的北部，整个冬季，太阳都不会升起。就像在挪威和瑞典一样，都是夜晚。但那儿没有墨西哥湾流来温暖大地，因此那里的温度可以低到零下40度以下，他们要用一种特别的温度计来测量温度。有一个地方温度低到了零下华氏90度，那是世界上最冷的地方。人类不能像动物那样让自己的皮肤长出皮毛来保暖，所以，当地人外出时，只能从头到脚裹上动物的皮毛，否则一会儿就会被冻死。
但并非整个西伯利亚都像这样寒冷，西伯利亚分上中下三部分。很少有人住在北部地区，那里太冷，连树都不生长，地面以下好几英尺都冻得结结实实。夏季天气变得非常暖和，炎热时温度计升到华氏90度，与冬季最冷的度数正相反。土壤表层会解冻，苔藓和其他一些植物能短期生长。不过深层的土壤仍然冰冻着。西伯利亚的面积比美国大，属于俄罗斯，但也有其他国家的人居住在这里。
西伯利亚的中部远没有那么寒冷，那里有大片的森林，森林里有狐狸、狼、黑貂和白鼬那样的野生动物，这些野生动物都有美丽厚实的皮毛保暖。