UNIT
1 The longer read
C an you imagine being in the countryside
surrounded by smoke? Can you feel the
heat and hear the crackle of the flames?
Are you brave enough to fight a bush fire?
Over the summer of 2019–2020 (remember
the Australian summer is from December to
February), thousands of firefighters in Australia
were doing just that.
Who are the firefighters who are brave enough
to fight the bush fires? There is a professional
firefighting force in Australia with around 20,500
firefighters. However, they usually deal with
urban fires in the main cities. It is the 195,000
volunteer firefighters, often called ‘firies’, that
battle the bush fires. (Bush means land that is
not used for growing food so it is undeveloped.)
The average age of the volunteers is 48, but
many are older than that. This is partly because
many younger people move to the cities to work
rather than stay on in the countryside or bush.
Why do these men and women volunteer to do
such dangerous work? In most cases, they feel
a sense of duty to help their local community
and they want to protect people. One
volunteer said it wasn’t a hobby but a way of
Get Involved! American Edition Level 3A © Macmillan Education Limited 2022
helping people in trouble, and another said that
the real motivation was working in a team and
knowing that everyone will take care of each
other whatever the danger.
These ideas of supporting the community and
working as a team are repeated by many other
‘firies’. They are prepared to risk their lives to
protect people’s property and put out fires
because they believe a good community is one
where everyone is happy to help others.
Over the summer of 2019–2020, the volunteers
faced their most difficult season yet. After three
years with little rain, the ground was extremely
dry and temperatures often reached over 40
degrees Celsius. This combination of dry land
and extreme heat created the perfect conditions
for bush fires. At one point in January, over 150
fires were burning all over Australia, destroying
millions of hectares of land.
Before 2019, volunteers used to take a few days
off work to fight a fire perhaps two or three
times during a summer, but in the summer of
2019–2020, they were fighting fires for weeks
at a time, and when they defeated one fire,
another one started. They faced dangerous
situations day after day and required a
great deal of stamina to work in the terrible
conditions with so much heat and smoke. They
also found it very emotionally difficult as they
couldn’t save everyone’s property and, sadly,
even experienced the loss of fellow firefighters.
In addition, they were powerless to help wildlife
due to the size and speed of the fires which at
times led to despair. They became physically
exhausted and they couldn’t always return to
work quickly.
However, despite all the challenges and risks,
these brave men and women didn’t give up.
They remained confident and hard-working as
they were determined to win the battle against
the bushfires. This determination to succeed
against all the odds makes them fantastic
firies to me.
 UNIT

1 The longer read

5 What challenges did the firefighters face?

Subskill: Reading for gist/skimming a a lack of fitness and many
Read the text quickly first to get a general emotional situations
idea of what it is about. You could read b unhealthy working conditions and
the first and last sentences of each sad events
paragraph to give you some ideas.
6 Why does the author think the firefighters
are heroes?
1 Look at the picture and describe what you a because they experienced emotionally
see. What do you think the text will be difficult situations
about? Read the first and last sentences of
b because they continued to fight the
paragraph 1 quickly. When did the events in
fires even when it seemed impossible
this article happen?
4 Read the text again and write a description
for each number.
2 Read the first and last sentence of each 1 2019–2020 the summer of very bad forest   
paragraph. Choose the best title for the
fires in Australia            
text and write it above the article.
2 20,500
1 The Beastly Bush fire
3 195,000
2 Future Firefighters
4 48
3 Australia’s Fantastic Firefighters
5 150
3 Read the text and choose the 5 Word work Complete the sentences with
correct answers.
the underlined words in the text.
1 Why are so many volunteer firefighters
1 If something happens ,
over 50?
then it means it happens despite lots
a because a lot of young people don’t of difficulties.
work in the country
2 To have means having the
b because volunteers prefer to fight fires physical strength to do something that
than work in the city is not easy.
2 What is one reason volunteers give for 3 is the loss of hope.
becoming a firefighter?
4 is what encourages you to
a They need something to do in their do something.
free time.
5 If you something, then it
b They want to support people in means there is a chance that something
their community. bad could happen.
3 Why was the summer of 2019–2020 6 People who have a feel they
perfect for a forest fire? have a responsibility toward others.
a The land was dry but it wasn’t too hot.
6 Answer the questions for you.
b The land was dry and it was very hot.
4 Why was the 2019–2020 season 1 Would you volunteer to be a bush
particularly difficult for the volunteers? firefighter? Why/Why not?
a There were so many fires and they
weren’t easy to put out.
2 Can you think of another volunteer job
b They didn’t usually fight bush fires.
that requires similar qualities?

Get Involved! American Edition Level 3A © Macmillan Education Limited 2022