Task 4. (7 points)
You are going to read two texts connected with fire. For questions 4.1.-4.7., choose
the answer that best matches the text and circle the appropriate letter (A, B, C or D).
Text 1
A FAREWELL TO ALARMS
I squeezed the handles of the pliers and tugged, the brass pin slowly slid back
and the enamelled badge fell into the palm of my hand. I gazed at it for the last time, as in
a few minutes it would be ‘returned to stores’ with the rest of my kit. I recalled how,
as a young man of twenty, I had struggled to fit a similar badge to a fireman’s cap for the very
first time.
A few weeks earlier, with retirement looming large on the horizon, I had sat idly in front of
a computer staring at a ‘Fire Gateway’ website. I noticed a link to a questionnaire designed
to help you decide whether you have the potential to be a successful firefighter. I took the test
and with a shiver of anticipation I scrolled down to check my results.
‘Your responses suggest that you may not be suited to a career as a firefighter. [ 1 ]
You may find some of the day-to-day tasks of a firefighter very difficult.’ The computer
definitely ‘says no’; but I have been in ‘the job’ for 30 years, 20 of those years as a Station
Officer, I thought indignantly.
My mind wandered from the computer screen back to a fire station lecture room in January
a neatly trimmed moustache and a ‘slashed peak’ on his cap, a sign of refinement back then.
He told us a few home truths about ‘the job we had just had the privilege to join.’ The essence
of what he said that day has always remained with me.
‘You just remember, every time the bells go off, there is someone out there who
is in trouble, and you and the others on your fire engine are probably the only people who can
help them. [ 2 ] Beware when you join a watch, as you will come across some lazy individuals
who don’t care a bit about the job and they will try to lead you astray, but don’t be taken in.’
I wondered what he would make of things today. Probationary firemen had shiny shoes
and short hair in his day, now they have ponytails and piercings. Firemen used to learn
topography, now firefighters have satellite navigation. Firemen used to test their hydrants,
now they peddle free smoke detectors door to door. Drill, once a daily institution, is now
an occasional activity that takes place when firefighters think themselves in need of a little
light refreshment.
Firefighting hasn’t changed much though; the kit is better these days, and we now have
the proper equipment and training to carry out water and rope rescues, but it is still a dirty,
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dangerous and mentally taxing job. 3 You don’t want to put the burden of distress
on outsiders, even those closest to you. It is, and always was, a decent occupation, with
the immense satisfaction of delivering help to others when their need is greatest but with
the immense pressure of responsibility as well.
The mist cleared from my eyes and I peered through my spectacles to focus again on
the computer screen. I was still puzzled why I had done badly in the test, when after all, I was
in ‘the job’. 4 ] Slowly the answer dawned on me; the modernizers were now recruiting
people with the qualities to do ‘a job’.
abridged from www.ex-fire.org.uk/shortstories.html
4.1. Look at the squares marked 1-4 in the text and decide where the following sentence
best fits in the passage.
You experience some situations that you will only want to share with others in ‘the job’.
A. In the space marked [ 1 ].
B. In the space marked [ 2 ].
C. In the space marked [ 3 ].
D. In the space marked [ 4 ].
4.2. In paragraphs 1-3 we learn that
A. the results of the test amused the writer.
B. the writer felt anxious about the results of the test.
C. the writer cut off the badge because he no longer wanted it.
D. the same badge has been attached to the writer’s cap since he started his career.
4.3. Which sentence is TRUE about the lecture described in paragraphs 4 and 5?
A. The lecturer appeared ridiculously old-fashioned to the narrator.
B. The listeners were urged to reconsider their choice of profession.
C. The novice firefighters were cautioned against a lack of moral fibre.
D. The lecture contained some drills replicating real fire alarm situations.
4.4. Why does the writer change the way he refers to firefighting from the job to a job
in the last paragraph?
A. to signal that firefighting is now nothing more than a regular line of work
B. to condemn the falling standards in firefighters’ appearance
C. to ridicule firefighters’ attitude to physical stamina
D. to show that he has accepted his approaching retirement
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Text 2
FIRE IN A HOTEL
The fire began in the kitchen and spread to the hotel dining room. Without warning,
or perhaps just the one muffled cry of alarm, a ball of fire rolled through the arched doorway
from the kitchen, a sphere of moving colour so remarkable, it was as though it had life
and menace, when, of course, it did not. For a moment, I felt paralyzed, and I remember
in the greatest detail the way the flame climbed the long vermilion drapes with a squirrel’s
speed and agility and how the fire actually leapt from valance to valance, disintegrating the
fabric and causing it to fall as ash. It was impossible to witness such an event and not think
a cataclysm had been visited upon the diners for their sins, past or future.
If the fact of the fire did not immediately penetrate my consciousness, the heat of the blast
did and soon propelled me from my seat. All around me, there was a confusion of upended
tables, overturned chairs, bodies pitched toward the door of the dining room, and the sounds of
broken glass and crockery. Fortunately, the windows toward the street, large windows through
which a body might pass, had been thrown open by an enterprising diner. I remember that
I rolled sideways through one of these window frames and fell onto the snow and immediately
moved aside to allow others to land as I had - and it was at that moment that my altruism was
finally triggered. I rose to my feet and, with no ambulance in sight, began to assist those who
had sustained cuts and bruises and broken bones, or who had been mildly crushed in the chaos.
A few men made heroic attempts to go back into the hotel to save those who remained behind,
but generally there was no thought of reentering the burning building once one had escaped.
Later we would learn that the fire began with a few drops of oil a zealous chef had spilled
onto a kitchen fire, and that the undercook who stood near to the stove, a bit mindlessly, threw
upon it a pitcher of water and then started fanning the flames with a cloth she was holding,
which might have made it even worse. Surprisingly, only one of the kitchen staff had a brush
with death, owing to the fact that the back door had been left open, and the fire, moving with the
particular drafts between door and windows, sped toward the dining room, allowing most
of the staff to escape unharmed, including the jittery undercook.
abridged from All He Ever Wanted by Anita Shreve
4.5. When the fire broke out, the narrator
A. was alerted to the danger by someone letting out a loud scream.
B. found it difficult to dismiss thoughts of the fire being an act of retribution.
C. was unable to move because the flames prevented her from getting out.
D. gazed in awe at the fire changing colour in contact with the fabrics it burnt.
4.6. In the second paragraph, we learn that the narrator
A. quickly made room for others once she had landed on the snow.
B. assisted the emergency services helping the injured on site.
C. made a heroic attempt to help people trapped inside.
D. broke a window to get out of the burning room.
4.7. In the last paragraph, the narrator
A. shows approval of the actions geared towards aiding the kitchen staff.
B. is astonished that the method the undercook used to stop the fire didn’t work.
C. blames the chef for being downright negligent.
D. implies that the undercook’s instinctive reaction aggravated the situation.
TRANSFER YOUR ANSWERS TO THE ANSWER SHEET!
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Official CKE answer key found in corpus at arkusze/jezyk-angielski-2012-maj-matura-dwujezyczna-odpowiedzi (matura.lol's automatic pairing missed it); transcript at .../jezyk-angielski-2012-maj-matura-dwujezyczna-transkrypcja. 'A Farewell to Alarms' / 'Fire in a Hotel': 4.1 sentence fits in space [3] -> C. 4.2 paragraphs 1-3 -> B (the writer felt anxious about the results of the test - 'shiver of anticipation'). 4.3 lecture (paragraphs 4-5) -> C (novices cautioned against a lack of moral fibre - lazy individuals who don't care, don't be led astray). 4.4 'the job' to 'a job' in last paragraph -> A (signals firefighting is now nothing more than a regular line of work). 4.5 when fire broke out, narrator -> B (found it difficult to dismiss thoughts of the fire being an act of retribution - 'cataclysm... visited upon the diners for their sins'). 4.6 second paragraph, narrator -> A (quickly made room for others once she had landed on the snow). 4.7 last paragraph, narrator -> D (implies the undercook's instinctive reaction - fanning the flames with a cloth - aggravated the situation).
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