Australia’s bushflre disaster

A FUND was set up in Britain yesterday to help families hit by the bushiires in south¬eastern Australia.
So far, more than 70 people have died and 2,000 homes have been destroyed. Several towns as well as large areas of forest and farmland have been burnt, and hundreds of thousands of sheep and cattle have been killed by the firestorm, which raced along 500 miles of coast from Adelaide to Mel¬bourne.
Bushfires - 90 per cent of which are now caused by humans — have always been common in Australia. If they occur in un¬inhabited areas, they are often allowed to burn themselves out. Where human life or property is threatened, they can usually be put out before too much damage has been caused. “Almost every time we can cope, but this was the one time we couldn't,” a fire officer said in Melbourne yesterday. “We have fought many fires before, but none like this. It wras frightening, the speed of the fire. There was nothing we could do to stop it. We didn't know where it was going. All we could do was try to get peo¬ple well out of the way.”
Helped by temperatures around 43 degrees and strong winds after a twelvemonth pe¬riod of dry weather, the fires spread at lightning speed. Some of them may have been started deliberately. In South Austra¬lia yesterday a 19-year-old unemployed worker was charged with deliberately lighting fires in the Adelaide Hills, where nine people died and 100 homes were de¬stroyed on Wednesday. For his own safety, the accused man was locked up until his trial.
Last night, thanks to cooler and less windy weather, the fires were largely under con¬trol. but higher temperatures have been forecast for this weekend. South Australian fire-service spokesman David Williams warned: “There arc large areas of land that haven't been burnt. They are extremely dry. and carelessness or a deliberate act could start it all again.”

Задания:

1. Дайте ответы.
a) Where was the bushfire disaster? b) How many people and animals were killed in the fires, and how many homes were destroyed? c) Why was it almost impossible to stop the fires? (What helped the fires?) d) Who or what were the fires caused by? e) What helped the fire fighters to get the fires under control eventually? f) What kind of weather has been forecast for the weekend? g) Why do you think fires in uninhabited areas are sometimes allowed to burn themselves out? h) Why do you think a fund to help people hit by the Austra¬lian bushfires was set up in Britain - not, for example, in Germany?

3. Преобразуйте активную форму в пассивную.

They have set up a fund. - A fund has been set up.

a) Someone has turned off the electric heater. b) The bushfires have hit thousands of people. c) The firestorm has destroyed 2.000 home. d) You must book hotel accommodation, e) We will arrange some excursions. f) Someone has to unload the truck. g) The staff locked the robber in. h) A spokesman praised the staff for stopping the train. i) A gunman seized £8.500 from a camera shop yesterday.
5. Употребите глаголы, данные в скобках, в соответствующей форме: to + Infinitive, -ing-форма или Past Participle.

a) In uninhabited areas, bushfires are often allowed (burn) themselves out. b) He was charged with (shoot) an assistant in a Baker Street camera shop. c) Most of the equipment (destroy) by the fire was rather old. d) Part of the money comes from a fund (set up) in Britain (help) people (hit) by the bushfires.