Express the main idea of the text in 5–7 sentences. Write your summary.

Retell the text according to the following plan.

 

1. Theory of fire extinguishment.

2. Starvation.

3. Blanketing.

4. Cooling.

5. Interruption of chain reaction.

 

Be ready to work on the following projects.

 

1. Hazards Caused by a Fire.

2. The Greatest Fires.

3. The Theory of Fire Extinguishment.

 

TEXT B

 

Read the text. Choose the best title for each part of the text from the following list.

 

– Death and Destruction

– Aftermaths

 

– Fire Hazards in the City

– Panic in the City

– Fire Extinguishment

– Failures in Fighting the Fire

– Reconstruction of the City

– The Causes of Fire

– Evacuation of Londoners

 

THE GREAT FIRE OF LONDON

 

1. The great fire of London is one of the most well-known disasters in

 

London’s history. The fire started at 1 a.m. on Sunday morning on September, 2 1666 in Thomas Farriner’s bakery on Pudding Lane lasted just under five days. It may have been caused by a spark from his oven falling onto a pile of fuel nearby. The fire spread easily because London was very dry after a long, hot summer. The area around Pudding Lane was full of warehouses containing highly flammable things like timber, rope, and oil. A very strong easterly wind blew the fire from house to house in the narrow streets.

 

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2. As the fire was spreading so quickly most Londoners concentrated on escaping rather than fighting the fire. They rescued as many of their belongings as they could carry and fled. Many Londoners fled to the river and tried to load their goods onto boats to get away to safety. Other people rushed through the City gates and went into fields outside London. They stayed there for many days, sheltering in tents and shacks. Some people were forced to live in this way for months and even years.

 

3. There was no fire brigade in London in 1666 so Londoners themselves had to fight the fire, helped by soldiers. They used buckets of water, water squirts and fire hooks. Equipment was stored in local churches. The best way to stop the fire was to pull down houses with hooks to make gaps or “fire breaks”, but this was difficult because the wind forced the fire across any gaps created. A quicker way of demolishing houses was to blow them up with gunpowder, but this technique was not used until the third day of the fire. Fire Posts, each staffed by 130 men, were set up around the city to fight the blaze. On Tuesday night the wind dropped and the firefighters finally gained control. By dawn on Thursday the fire was out.

 

4. The damage caused by the Great Fire was immense: 1/3 of London was destroyed and about 100,000 people were made homeless. It took nearly

 

50 years to rebuild the burnt area of London. The new regulations were designed to prevent such a disaster happening again. Houses now had to be faced in brick instead of wood. Some streets were widened and two new streets were created. Pavements and new sewers were laid, and London’s quaysides were improved. The results were noticeable: “(London) is not only the finest, but the most healthy city in the world”, said one proud Londoner.

 

Find the answer to the following questions in the text “THE GREAT FIRE OF LONDON”.

 

1. What caused the Great Fire of London?

2. Why did the fire spread so quickly?

 

3. What class of fire was it?

4. How did Londoners escape the fire?

5. Why did it take so long to put out the fire?

6. How was the fire put out? What methods of extinguishment were used?

7. Why did the fire cause so much damage?

8. How much of London was destroyed?

 

9. How much time did it take to rebuild the burnt area?

10. What good things came as a result of the Great fire of London?

 

 

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TEXT C

 

Translate the following text in writing.

 

A FIRE BLANKET

 

A fire blanket is a safety device designed to extinguish small incipient (starting) fires. It consists of a sheet of fire retardant material which is placed over a fire in order to smother it.

 

In order for a fire to burn, all three elements of the fire triangle must be present: heat, fuel and oxygen. A fire blanket either completely surrounds a burning object or is placed over a burning object and sealed closely to a solid surface around the fire. Whether the blanket is placed on top, or surrounding it, the job of the blanket is to cut off the oxygen supply to the fire, thereby putting it out.

 

Small fire blankets, such as for use in kitchens and around the home, are usually made of fibreglass and sometimes kevlar and are folded in to a quick-release container for ease of storage.

 

Larger fire blankets, for use in laboratory and industrial situations, are often made of wool (sometimes treated with a flame retardant fluid). These blankets are usually mounted in vertical quick-release cabinets so that they can be easily pulled out and wrapped round a person whose clothes are on fire.

 

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