23-02-2015 07:00

The Bosphorus Strait divides Istanbul into its Asian and European parts. It is also an important shipping channel. Around 115 million tons of petroleum products go through there every year.

People often close the strait in winter months because of bad weather. Around 24 inches (61 centimetres) of snow fell in two days recently – more than thirteen ships had to wait.

The snow also caused around 800 traffic accidents in Istanbul. People cancelled more than 300 flights.

Difficult words: strait (a narrow waterway), divide (to “cut” in parts), shipping channel (a narrow area of water for ships).

You can read the original story and watch the video in the Level 3 section.