Reading Passage 2

READING PASSAGE 2
More than two thousand years ago, Roman emperor Augustus organized a group of
watchmen whose job was mainly to look out for fires and sound an alarm in the
event of one. For many centuries that followed, fire equipment was limited to buckets
of water that got passed from person to person. The ax was later found to be a
useful tool both for removing fuel in large fires and for opening holes to allow smoke
and flames to escape from burning buildings. Watchmen also learned to create
firebreaks with long hooked poles and ropes in order to pull down structures that
provided fuel for a fire. In 1066, in order to reduce the risk of fire in thatched-roof
houses, King William the Conqueror made a ruling: Citizens had to extinguish their
cooking fires at night. His term couvre-feu,, meaning “cover fire,” is the origin of the
modern day term curfew, which no longer carries a literal translation.
The event that had the largest influence in the history of fire fighting was the Great
Fire of London in 1666. The devastating blaze originated at the King’s Bakery near
the London Bridge. At the onset, Lord Mayor Bludworth showed little concern for the
fire, assuming it would extinguish itself before he could organize a group of men to
attend to it. However, the summer of 1666 had been uncharacteristically hot and dry,
and the wooden houses nearby caught fire quickly. Within a short time* the wind had
carried the fire across the city, burning down over 300 houses in its path. Although
the procedure of pulling down buildings to prevent a fire from spreading was
standard in Britain, the mayor grew concerned over the cost it would involve to
rebuild the city and ordered that the surrounding structures be left intact. By the time
the king ordered the destruction of buildings in the fire’s path, the fire was too large
to control. It was not until the Duke of York ordered the Paper House to be destroyed
in order to create a crucial firebreak that the London fire finally began to lose its fuel.
When it became clear that four-fifths of the city had been destroyed by the fire,
drastic measures were taken in London to create a system of organized fire
prevention. At the hands of architects such as Christopher Wren, most of London
was rebuilt using stone and brick, materials that were far less flammable than wood
and straw. Because of the long history of fires in London, those who could afford to
build new homes and businesses began to seek insurance for their properties. As
insurance became a profitable business, companies soon realized the monetary
benefits of hiring men to extinguish fires. In the early years of insurance companies,
all insured properties were marked with an insurance company’s name or logo. If a
fire broke out and a building did not contain the insurance mark, the fire brigades
were called away and the building was left to burn.
The British insurance companies were largely responsible for employing people to
develop new technology for extinguishing fires. The first fire engines were simple
tubs on wheels that were pulled to the location of the fire, with water being supplied
by a bucket brigade. Eventually, a hand pump was designed to push the water out of
the tub into a hose with a nozzle. The pump allowed for a steady stream of water to
shoot through a hose directly at the fire source. Before long, companies began to
utilize water pipes made from hollowed tree trunks that were built under the roadway.
By digging down into the road, firemen could insert a hole into the tree-trunk pipe
and access the water to feed into the pump.
Fire fighting became a competitive business, as companies fought to be the first to

arrive at a scene to access the water pipes. After a series of fires destroyed parts of
London, fire-fighting companies were forced to reconsider their intentions. By the
eighteenth century, fire brigades began to join forces, and in 1833 the Sun Insurance
Company along with ten other London companies created the London Fire Engine
Establishment. In 1865, the government became involved, bringing standards to both
fire prevention and fire fighting and establishing London’s Metropolitan Fire Brigade.
Though the firemen were well paid, they were constantly on duty and thus obliged to
call their fire station home for both themselves and their families.
New technology for fighting fires continued to develop in both Europe and the New
World. Leather hoses with couplings that joined the lengths together were
hand-sewn in the Netherlands and used until the late 1800s, when rubber hoses
became available. The technology for steam engine fire trucks was available in
Britain and America in 1829, but most brigades were hesitant to use them until the
1850s. It was the public that eventually forced the brigades into putting the more
efficient equipment to use. In the early 1900s, when the internal-combustion engine
was developed, the trucks became motorized.1 This was a timely advancement in
fire-fighting history, as World War I put added pressure on brigades throughout the
world
Questions 14—20 Complete the chart below.
Use NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the text for each answer. Write your
answers on lines 14—20 on your answer sheet
CAUSE EFFECT
Men used poles and ropes to pull down buildings near The fire did not have 14
a fire. __________________
The King ordered people to 15

________________their fires
Thatched-roof houses burn down easily. nightly.
At the time of the Great Fire of London, the weather

was 16 ____________________________ The fire spread quickly
The Mayor of London thought it would be too He told people not to pull down
expensive to 17___________________________ buildings in the fire’s path.
People built new buildings out of

The Great Fire destroyed most of London 18_____________
There had been many 19________________ in People started to buy insurance to
London over time. protect their homes.
Insurance companies did not want to pay for Insurance companies hired men
rebuilding clients’ houses destroyed by fire. to 20.__________________
Questions 21-23 Choose the correct letters, A—C, and write them on lines
21—23 on your answer sheet.
21. The first fire engines
A carried water to the site of the fire.
B used hand pumps.
C had very long hoses.
22. In 1865,
A London was destroyed by a series of fires.
B fire brigades began to join forces.
C the Metropolitan Fire Brigade was established.
23. Firemen who worked for the Metropolitan Fire Brigade
A earned low salaries.
B lived at the fire station.
C were not allowed to marry.
Questions 2 4 -2 6
Do the following statements agree with the information in the reading passage? On
lines 24—26 on your answer sheet, write:
YES if the statement agrees
NO if the statement contradicts
NOT GIVEN if there is no information
24 Leather hoses for fire fighting were made by machine.
25 Steam engine fire trucks were used until the early 1900s.
26 Fires caused a great deal of damage in London during World War I

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READING PASSAGE 2

Fire fighting became a competitive business, as companies fought to be the first to

The King ordered people to ​15

At the time of the Great Fire of London, the weather

People built new buildings out of

21. The first fire engines

A​ carried water to the site of the fire.

​B ​used hand pumps.

C​ had very long hoses.

A London was destroyed by a series of fires.

B​ ​fire brigades began to join forces.

C the Metropolitan Fire Brigade was established.

23. Firemen who worked for the Metropolitan Fire Brigade

A​ earned low salaries.

B ​lived at the fire station.

C​ were not allowed to marry.

YES​ if the statement agrees

NO​ if the statement contradicts

​NOT GIVEN​ if there is no information

​24​ Leather hoses for fire fighting were made by machine.

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The King ordered people to 15

A carried water to the site of the fire.

B used hand pumps.

C had very long hoses.

B fire brigades began to join forces.

A earned low salaries.

B lived at the fire station.

C were not allowed to marry.

YES if the statement agrees

NO if the statement contradicts

NOT GIVEN if there is no information

24 Leather hoses for fire fighting were made by machine.