Diagram

IELTS General reading

www.youtube.com/watch?v=LvXYuj8qTFw&t=229s

'We are increasingly building our houses in fire prone ecosystems' Says Dominique Kulakowski ,adjunct professor of biology at Clark university Graduate School of geography in Worcester,Massachusetts."doing that in many of the forests of the western US is like building homes on the side of an active volcano.'
In California ,where population growth has averaged more than 600,000 a year for at least a decade , more residential housing is being built."What once was open space is now residential homes providing fuel to make fires burn with greater intensity.says Tery McHale of the California Department of forestry firefighters' union.'With so much dryness  so many communities to catch fire,so many fronts to fight it becomes an almost incredible job'
That said many experts give California high marks for making progress on preparedness in recent years,after some of the largest fires  in state history scorched thousands of acres,burned thousands of homes,and killed numerous people.Stung in the past by criticism of bungling that allowed fires to spread  when they might have been  contained,personnel are meeting the peculiar challenges of neighborhood - and canyon - hopping fires better than previously, observers say.

state promises to provide more up to date engines.planes and helicopters to fight fires have been fulfilled Firefighters unions that in the past complained of dilapidated equipment , old fire engines and insufficient blue prints for fire safety are now praising the states commitment ,noting that funding for firefighting has increased ,despite huge cuts in many other programs .."We are pleased that the current state administration  has been very proactive in its support of us, and has come  through with budgetary support of the infrastructure needs we have long sought,' says Mr Mchale of the firefighters union.
Besides providing money to upgrade the fire engines that must traverse  the mammoth state and wind along serpentine canyon roads, the state has invested in better command - and- control facilities as eel as in the strategies to run them.'In the fire sieges  of  earlier years , we found that other  jurisdiction and states  were willing  to offer mutual - aid help, but we were not able to communicate adequately with them say kim Sagaris chief of the states office emergency services fire and rescue branch after commission examine and revamp communication procedures , the ste wide response has become far more professional and responsive, he says. there is a sense among both government officials and residence that the speed , dedication and cor ordination of firefighters from several states and jurisdiction are resulting i greater efficiency than in past. 'siege fire situations'.
In recent years , thew Southern California regain has improved  building codes, ,evacuation procedures, and procurement of new technology.'I am extraordinarily impressed by   the  improvements  we have witnessed , says Randy Jacobs , a Southern California based lawyer who has had  to evacuate both his home and business to escape notwithstanding all the damage that will continue to be caused by wildfires, we will no longer suffer the loss  of life endured in the past because of the fire prevention and firefighting measures that have been put in place, he says.


True
False
Not given

7. The amount of open space in California has diminished over the last ten years.
8. Many experts believe  California has made little progress in readying itself to fight fires.
9. Personnel in the past have been criticized for mishandling fire containment.
10. California has replaced a range of firefighting tools.
11. More firefighters have been hired to improve fire-fighting capacity.
12. Citizens and government groups disapprove of the efforts of different states and agencies working together.
13/ Randy Jacobs believes that loss of life from fires will continue at the same levels,despite changes made.

IELTS book 10 Test 4 reading passage 1

The megafires of California
Drought, housing expansion, and oversupply of tinder make for bigger, hotter fires in the western Unite States

Wildfires are becoming an increasing menace In the western United states, with Southern California being the hardest hit area. There's a reason fire squads battling more frequent  blazes in Southern California are having such difficulty containing the flames, despite better preparedness than ever and decades of experience fighting fires fanned by the “Santa Anna Winds". The wildfires themselves ,experts say, are generally hotter, faster ,and spread more erratically than in the past.

Megafires also called ‘siege fires’ are the increasingly frequent blazes that burn 5000,000acres or more -10 times the size of the average forest fire of 20 years ago. Some recent wildfires are amongst the bigger ever in the California in term of acreage burned, according to state figures and news reports.

One explanation for the trend to more superhot fires is that the region, which usually has dry summers , has had significantly below normal precipitation in many recent years. Another reason ,experts say, is related to the century long policy of the US forest service to stop wild fires as quickly as possible. The unintentional consequence has been to halt the natural eradication of underbrush , now the primary fuel for mega fires.

Three other factors contribute to the trend ,they add. The first is climate change, marked by a 1 – degree Fahrenheit rise in average yearly temperature across the western states .Second is fire seasons that on average are 78 days longer than they were  20 years ago .Third is increased construction of homes in wooded areas.

Complete Notes below
ONE WORD AND / OR  A  NUMBER

Characteristics of wildfires conditions today compared to the past ;

- occurrence      –      more frequent

- temperature   –      hotter

- speed                –      faster

- Movement       -     (1)…………. more unpredictably.

- Size of the fires      (2) …………..  greater on average than two decades ago.

Reasons wildfires cause more damage today compared to the past

-Rainfall (3) ………………. Average

-More brush to act as (4) ……………..

- increase in yearly temperature.

- extended fire (5) ……………………..

-More building of (6) ……………………  in vulnerable places

Please watch the video to find the answers.

IELTS General Reading