Part 1 – Reading Comprehension
The 1983 Soviet Nuclear False Alarm (Stanislav Petrov)
In September 1983, the Cold War was still running hot, and both the United States and the Soviet Union were watching each other very closely. On one late night, a Soviet officer named Stanislav Petrov was sitting in a secret command center when alarms suddenly went off. The system told him that American missiles were on their way to attack the Soviet Union.
The computer showed five missiles flying across the ocean. If this were true, it could mean the beginning of World War III. Petrov was expected to report it immediately as an attack. If he did, Soviet leaders would almost certainly launch their own missiles back — a move that could destroy the world.
But Petrov had doubts. Something didn’t feel right. He thought: if the Americans really wanted to attack, wouldn’t they send hundreds of missiles, not just five? He trusted his gut and decided not to report the warning. It was a risky choice, but he kept calm.
Minutes later, the radar confirmed his suspicion. There were no missiles. It had been a false alarm, caused by sunlight reflecting off clouds. By choosing not to panic, Petrov may have saved the world from nuclear war. Many people today call him “the man who saved the world.”
