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Cold War
(1947-1991)
 The Berlin Wall

The Berlin Wall
Reading Level
     edHelper's suggested reading level:   grades 6 to 8
     Flesch-Kincaid grade level:   4.95

Vocabulary
     challenging words:    brightly-lit, theaters, economic, victorious, crossing, happening, entertainment, solution, better, death, economy, itself, supplies, eastern, western, action
     content words:    World War II, Soviet Union, United States, East Berlin, West Berlin, East Germany, West Germany

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The Berlin Wall
By Sharon Fabian 		  
1     Berlin was an unusual city. At the end of World War II, it had been divided among the victorious Allies. The Soviet Union controlled the eastern half. The United States and other Allies controlled the western half.
 
2     Still, for the people of Berlin, life gradually returned to normal after the war. People went to work each day. They went to movies and dances. They visited family and friends.
 
3     The dividing line wasn't a problem. Families could travel back and forth across the line to visit relatives. People from East Berlin often crossed into West Berlin where the shopping and entertainment were better. Many workers who lived in the east crossed the line every morning when they went to their jobs in the west.
 
4     Something else was happening in Berlin too. Many people were crossing the line from East Berlin into West Berlin and not coming back. These people were refugees. They were leaving their homes in East Germany to find a better life in the west.
 
5     West Berlin was prospering. With aid from the United States, the city was rebuilding. Modern shops and theaters sprang up. Good jobs were created. More and more people decided to cross the line forever. By 1961, as many as 2,000 people were leaving East Germany every week.

Paragraphs 6 to 14:
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