PracticePaper-Language(Term2),Grade7,2024-25
TextforSectionA,anextractfromOutofEden.
hisdispatchispartofthechronicleofPaulSalopek'sfirststepsonhisjourney,followingthebanksof
T
thefabledAmuDarya,anantiquehighwayofthetimeofAlexandertheGreatandGenghisKhan.
BADAI-TUGAINATURERESERVE,UZBEKISTAN(8/30/2016)
TheAmuDaryaRiverspringsfromtheglaciersofthePamirMountains1. Itdiesmorethan1,500miles
tothewest,inthehuman-madedesertoftheAralSeabasin.
During the conquest of Bactria2 in 329 B.C., Alexander ferriedhiswholearmyacrossthestreamin
five days. They used vessels stitchedfromhistroops’leathertents.TheChinesemonkandscholar
XuanzangcrossedtheAmuDaryaonhis15,000-miletrekthroughtheBuddhistworldoftheseventh 5
century A.D. Genghis Khan shaped the river intoaweaponofwarintheMiddleAges,buildingand
puncturingthroughmuddamstofloodtheSilkRoadkingdomsalongitsbanks.Thissummer,withtwo
guides,ahorse,andacargodonkey,Iwalked220milesoftheAmuDarya’smainchannelinremote
westernUzbekistan.Thewaterwaywasnolongerthesuperhighwayitwasinancienttimes.Itwasa
twisting and turning shape in history. It was a maze of channels, canals, reservoirs, dikes3, and 10
embankments.
“Wecompetewiththefarmersforwater,”saidOljabayShaniyazov,directoroftheBadai-TugaiNature
Preserve, near the town of Nukus. “Cotton and rice take priority. We pump water for our trees
wheneverwecan.”
Shaniyazov’streesliveon29,000acres.Theyareriverpoplarswithstringygreybarkbraidedlikeold 15
ship’sropes.ThetreesarearemnantofimmensewoodlandsthatonceshadedtheAmuDarya’swide
riverbed for hundreds of miles.ThelocalCaspiantigersaregone.Butthepreservestillsheltersthe
country’s last herd of Bactrian deer. A young zoologist fed the cheerfully antlered beasts every
morning as if they were his poodles. Behind him, the surface of theAmuDaryashonethroughthe
gnarled tree trunks like a steel blade unsheathed. Forest rangers couldn’t recall the last time a 20
foreignerhadcampedinthepark.
IftheAmuDaryamakesanyheadlinestoday,theyusuallyconcerntheAralSeadisaster.
ThehistoricwaterwayhasbeenstrangledbysixtyyearsofirrigationprojectsundertheSovietUnion.
The projects were built to make the Central Asian desert bloomwithcotton.Today,theAmuDarya
evaporatesmilesbeforereachingitsolddeltaintheAralSea.IndependentUzbekistanhasinherited 25
the fourth-largest saltwaterlakeintheworldasagraveyardofsanddunes,fishbones,duststorms,
and beached ships. TheAral’sshorelineretreatseveryyearinrhythmicdiminishingtides.Itswaters
aresosalt-denseitisimpossibletosubmergeinthem.
TheAmuDaryaislargelyacourseofghostwaters,connectingwhatisandwhatwas.
Name:____________________
2
WithmyguidesAzizKhalmuradovandTanatar(“BoltofSunrise”)Bekniyazov,IsloggedfromKungrat 30
to Khiva on soft canal roads. Wecampedinapricotorchards.Whenthecanalpathsdead-endedin
water,weswam.
Even tamed by agriculture, the lower Amu Darya still holds a dizzying magic. Our swimmingholes
wereliketimepools.
Downstream from the nature preserve stood two giantmudfortresses.One,GaurKala,datedback 35
two millennia and was Zoroastrian,anancientIranianfaith.Theother,JampikKala,wasbuiltinthe
11th century by the Muslim trading empire of Khwarezm. The Mongols destroyed both. The ruins
would have been swarmed by tour buses in some countries. On the Amu Darya, old men played
backgammonunderlonesomedefensewallswithouteverglancingup.
Another day’s walk downstream, at a place called Chalpyk, we climbed a 2,200-year-old Tower of 40
Silence.There,fireworshippershadplacedtheirdeadonboardstobestrippedbybirds.Thetemple
looked like a volcano knuckling up from the desert plain. From the top poked a modern surveying
markermadeofsteel.Peoplehadwrappeditinribbonsofrags,convertingitintoawishingtree.The
AmuDaryawaslikethis.
Wewalkedfromhand-pumpedwelltohand-pumpedwell.Wewalkedfromwhirlpooltowhirlpool.Ata 45
pumping station, we sipped tea with engineers who told stories ofrivericesothickyoucoulddrive
yourcaracrosstoTurkmenistaninwinter.Theytalkedofcatfishsobiginthesand-coloredwatersthat
itwouldrequireatractortohaulthemout.
Onenight,inthemoonlight,Iwalked,hot,filthy,andfullyclothed,intotheAmuDaryaandletitstired
fingerspickmeup,spinmearound,andcradleme.
50
Glossary:
1
PamirMountains:AmountainrangeinCentralAsia,wheretheAmuDaryaRiverbegins.
2
Bactria:Anancientregion,partofmodern-dayAfghanistanandnearbyareas.
3
dike:awallorbarrierbuilttoholdbackwaterfromriversorseas.
Practice-AR2,Apr-May2025
ELL-Language
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