Earthquake and a Fire

1. On April 18, 1906 great earthquake having disastrous consequences occurred in San-Francisco. Fallen or blocked chimneys and overturned stoves started fires in 50 or more points within the city. Most of the fire stations and alarm systems had been wrecked by the earthquake, but nevertheless, the firemen rallied quickly and worked systematically.

2. At first their efforts were successful, but after a short time the water in their hoses stopped. The water main having been broken, they were going to fight the fires without their normal water supply. They pumped water from ditches, cisterns and wells, and from the bay itself. But the flames jumped from one point to another faster than they could be fought. As the heat grew to an intense level, buildings which might have been fire-resistant burst into flames spontaneously as their interiors appeared to be above the kindling point. The fire-fighters attempted to use dynamite to make fire breaks in the city, but this was ineffective; the fire moved too fast.

3. By midnight on the 18^th, most of the downtown of San-Francisco had been destroyed. The fires continued for 3 more days, on 3 fronts. They were gradually brought under control by the persistent efforts of the firemen using the limited amounts of water they could find in cisterns, and through ruthless use of dynamiting. Whole blocks were blasted in order to provide an effective fire break. By the morning of the 21^st, the last of the fires which was threatening the waterfront and docks from the north was subdued by the combined efforts of the firemen on land and fire boats in the bay.

4. Now the city could count its losses: 30 schools, 80 churches and the homes of 250,000 people had been destroyed, with a loss of some 450 lives. The libraries, courts and jails, the theatres and restaurants had disappeared. The transportation system was completely wrecked. It has always been a matter for argument how much of this damage should be attributed to the earthquake and how much to the fire.

6. Ответьте на вопросы:

а) What occurred on April 18, 1906 in San-Francisco?

б) What started fires in 50 or more points within the city?

в) The attempt of using dynamite was ineffective, wasn’t it?

г) How many people had lost their homes?

Составьте два общих вопроса по тексту.

Составьте два специальных вопроса по тексту.

10. Составьте по-английски план пересказа текста.

ВАРИАНТ 7

1. Переведите однокоренные слова, обращая внимание на словообразовательные элементы:

а) distortion, distorter, distorting, distort;

б) escalator, escalate, escalation, escalating;

в) content, contention, contentment, contentious;

Найдите во втором абзаце текста предложение с зависимым причастным оборотом, переведите его.

Найдите в четвертом абзаце текста объективный инфинитивный оборот, переведите предложение.

4. Образуйте наречия от следующих прилагательных: vertical, horizontal, rapid, serious, high.

5. Образуйте существительные от следующих глаголов:to occur, to act, to manage, to work, to intensify.

Переведите текст на русский язык, обращая внимание на перевод пожарно-технических терминов.

Fire at Orly Airport

1. On December 3, 1973, a destroying fire occurred at Orly- South Airport (Paris). The fire started just before 3.00 p.m. in the second basement. Unsealed shafts allowed the fire to spread horizontally to a bar- room and vertically to control rooms on the ground storey.

2. On reaching the ground storey the fire destroyed all the equipment in the control rooms and caused serious damage to the metal framework of the floor above these areas. This resulted in distortion of the walls and floors, which allowed the gases and probably flames to pass directly up to the first storey.

3. The contents of the book shop, customs and post office on the first storey helped to intensify the fire which then spread horizontally. Furthermore, a non-enclosed staircase ascending from the first to the fourth storey allowed the fire to spread rapidly to the higher storeys - due chiefly to a cavity about 10 centimeters wide between a timber lining and the wall which acted as a flue for the hot gases.

4. The central group of escalators allowed large quantities of hot gases to reach the fourth storey by another route. Above the escalators heat set fire to the plastic tiles of the false ceiling. The burning tiles falling from the ceiling increased the firefighters' difficulties. Finally the fire reached the cinema hall on the fifth storey via an unclosed staircase.

5. The fire brigade arrived very quickly following the alarm which was given by the fire detection system. It was only at about 8.00 p.m. and after 5 hours of firefighting under extremely difficult conditions that the firemen managed to control the fire.Very difficult conditions were caused by poor visibility because of vast amount of smoke and the need to work with breathing apparatus.

6. Damage caused directly by the fire covered a surface area of about 6000 m². In addition, 300 m² were damaged chiefly by smoke. Fortunately, there were no casualties.

7. Ответьте на вопросы:

а) Where did the fire start?.

б) What helped to intensify the fire on the first storey?

в) What were difficult conditions caused by?

г) What damage caused directly by the fire?