Fire in Legends and Religion

We can only guess that man may have gained his knowledge of fire from observing things in nature, such as lightning, the fire of volcanoes, and the heat of the sun. Early man also must have noticed that sparks fly when stones are struck upon one another, or when the hoofs or claws of an animal strike some hard substance. In Persian literature, there is a story of the discovery of fire in a fight with a dragon. One of the stones which the hero used as weapons missed the monster and struck a rock. Light shone forth and man saw fire for the first time. The mythology of nearly all primitive races contains some account of the accidental or the supernatural happenings which first revealed fire to men. Fire was regarded as a true gift of the gods.

Fire was considered sacred because it was so essential to the welfare of man. Fire worship and sun worship have existed since very early times. Because fire was so hard to produce, the custom soon became common of keeping a public fire, which was never allowed to die out. These fires were kept in every village among the Egyptians, Persians, Greeks, and Romans. They were often in the civic center of the community.

The Temple of Vesta in Rome was an outstanding example of the importance of fire to the Romans. Vesta was originally the goddess of the hearth, and her shrine was in every home. But when religion became an affair of state, a temple was erected in which the sacred fire was kept constantly burning. This temple consisted merely of a round hearth. For its service there were selected the Vestal Virgins, who devoted their lives to the duty of attending the fire. They were selected by the high priest, or Pontifex Maximus, and the safety of the state was thought to depend upon the faithfulness of the Vestal Virgins.

A flame (from Latin flamma), is the visible (light-emitting) gaseous part of a fire. It is caused by a highly exothermic reaction (for example, combustion, a self-sustaining oxidation reaction) taking place in a thin zone.^[1] If a fire is hot enough to ionize the gaseous components, it can become a plasma.^[2]

The color and temperature of a flame are dependent on the type of fuel involved in the combustion, as, for example, when a lighter is held to a candle. The applied heat causes the fuel molecules in the wick to vaporize. In this state they can then readily react with oxygen in the air, which gives off enough heat in the subsequent exothermic reaction to vaporize yet more fuel, thus sustaining a consistent flame. The high temperature of the flame tears apart the vaporized fuel molecules, forming various incomplete combustion products and free radicals, and these products then react with each other and with the oxidizer involved in the reaction. Sufficient energy in the flame will excite the electrons in some of the transient reaction intermediates such as CH and C2, which results in the emission of visible light as these substances release their excess energy (see spectrum below for an explanation of which specific radical species produce which specific colors). As the combustion temperature of a flame increases (if the flame contains small particles of unburnt carbon or other material), so does the average energy of the electromagnetic radiation given off by the flame (see blackbody).

Other oxidizers besides oxygen can be used to produce a flame. Hydrogen burning in chlorine produces a flame and in the process emits gaseous hydrogen chloride (HCl) as the combustion product.^[3] Another of many possible chemical combinations is hydrazine and nitrogen tetroxide which is hypergolic and commonly used in rocket engines.

The chemical kinetics occurring in the flame is very complex and involves typically a large number of chemical reactions and intermediate species, most of them radicals. For instance, a well-known chemical kinetics scheme, GRI-Mech,^[4] uses 53 species and 325 elementary reactions to describe combustion of natural gas.

Make sentences out of the following.

Fire is DEADLY!

Smoke and toxic gases kill more people than flames do.

FireusesuptheoxygenyouneedandproducessmokeandpoisonousgasesthatkillBreathingevensmallamountsofsmokeandtoxicgasescanmakeyoudrowsydisorientedandshortofbreathTheodorlesscolorlessfumescanlullyouintoadeepsleepbeforetheflamesreachyourdoorYou maynot wake up in time to escape.

Fire is FAST!

There is little time!

Inlessthan30secondsasmallflamecangetcompletelyoutofcontrolandturnintoamajorfireItonlytakesminutesforthickblacksmoketofillahouseInminutesahousecanbeengulfedinflamesMostfiresoccurinthehomewhenpeopleareasleepIfyouwakeuptoafireyouwon’thavetimetograbvaluablesbecausefirespreadstooquicklyandthesmokeistoothickThereisonlytimetoescape.

Exercise 1.

Change the uncountable nouns in bold type into countable ones in the sentences using the words from Exercise 4.

Example: Buy some bread or. your way home. — Buy a loaf of bread on your way home.

1.I had luck in the casino yesterday. 2.I saw lightening and then heard thunder in the west. 3. How much luggage have you got with you? 4. Would you like some more cake? 5. Daddy brought me milk chocolate! 6, He blew smoke out of his pipe into the open window. 7', How much sugar do you take with your tea? 8. We need to buy some furniture for our kitchen. 9. Give me please brown shoe polish. 10, He told us very interesting information last night,

Exercise 2.

Fill in the blanks with the appropriate form of the verb to be

A

1, The crew___rescued by our boat, 2. Her clothes ___very fashionable. 3, Your advice___.always welcome. 4. The information he gave us___very useful. 5A little

money___better than nothing. 6. That species of spiders ___commonly seen in deserts of North Africa. 7.1 think her hair___dyed. 8. No news.___good news. 9.1 don't want to work here. The equipment___too complicated. 10. There___a lot of sheep in the field. 11.1 think this ___detailed research. 12. Where___my spectacles? 13. The phenomena___unusual. 14. Mathematics___ difficult, but physics___more difficult to my mind. 15, The cattle___up the hill.

1. Look out! The stairs___.very old. 2. In my opinion, looks___very important for an actor. 3. The police___ responsible for these actions. 4. Criteria___changing, you know. 5. The committee___set up several months ago. 6. The traffic___very heavy in this street. Be careful

at the corner. When the traffic-lights___red, don't cross the street. 7. The working wages ___ up. 8. The knowledge she has got at college___very deep. 9. The carrots___delicious. 10. The vacation___always fun. 11. The funeral ___ usually a sad occasion. 12. The evidence___against him. 13. The contents of the letter ___made public. 14. The opera-glasses___out of focus.

15. The grapes___ripe.

Exercise 3 Choose the right variant.

1. His advice___always reasonable. I advise you to follow___.

a) are, them c) is, it

b) are, it d) is, them

2. The applause___deafening. I can't stand___any longer. Let's go out.

a) are, them c) is, them

b) is, it d) are, it

3. The second witness's evidence___more convincing. ___made me believe that the suspect is innocent.

a) are, it c) are, they

b) is, it d) is, they

4. Look, her clothes___brand new. Where did she get the money to buy___?

a) is, it c) are, them

b) are, it d) is, them

5. The Browns who lived in___house___dining with the Harrisons who___their best friends.

a) a three-storey, were, were c) a three-storey's, were, were

b) three-storeys, were, was d) three-storeys', was, were

6. The information he gave us___convincing. I don't think we should check___.

a) is, it c) are, them

b) is, them d) are.it

7. Her pyjamas___made of silk. I like___very much.

a) is, it c) are.it

b) is, them d) are, them

8. These scissors___dull! I can't cut anything with

a) are, them c) is, it

b) is, them d) are, it

9. When I move to London, I'll have to find lodgings. I'm afraid___will be very expensive and I'll have to pay for___half of my salary,

a) it, it c) they, it

b) they, them d) it, them

10.1 think billiards___a dull game. I wonder why the youth nowadays___so fond of___?

a) are, is, it c) are, are, them

b) is, are, it d) is, are, them

11. He is so depressed. The contents of the letter___ made public. General public___discussing___.

a) have been, is, them c) have been, are, them

b) has been, are, it d) has been, is, it

12. Look! Goods___displayed in the window. The manager says that there will be___sale.

a) are, two-days' c) are, a two-days

b) is, two-day's d) is, a two-day

13. Our family ___ good at playing draughts. Draughts___our favourite game. We play___every weekend.

a) is, is, it c) are, are, them

b) are, is, it d) is, are, it

14. Stop! The traffic___heavy and the traffic lights ___red. In___time you will cross the street.

a) is, is, two-minutes c) are, is, a two-minutes'

b) are, are, a two-minute d) is, are, two-minutes'

15. He spent___holiday at the___,

a) a week, Richardsons' c) a weeks, Richardsons

b) week's, Richardson d) week, Richardson's

16. She was going for___walk across the fields to the___house. She was sure that he would help her because it was the duty of___to help poor people like her.

a) a ten-miles, governor's-general, governor-generals

b) a ten-mile's, governor-general's, governors-general

c) a ten-mile, governor-general's, governor-generals

d) ten miles', governor-generals', governors-general

17. She wished she had a little garden with___and like that of___.

a) lilies-of-the-valleys, forgets-me-nots, Mrs. Sand

b) lily-of-the-valleys, forget-me-nots, Mrs. Sand's

c) lilies-of-the-valiey, forget-me-nots, Mrs. Sand's

d) lilies-of-the-valleys, forgets-me-not, Mrs. Sand

18. Take your___and get out with___! You got my ___ notice, didn't you?

a) belonging, it, two weeks c) belongings, them, two week's

b) belongings, it, a two weeks d) belonging, them, two week's

19. We want to equip our factory with___and to install___ in the assembly shop.

a) new machineries, them c) new machines, it

b) a new machinery, it d) new machinery, it

20. Have you got all the___of Byron in your home library? — Yes, I have, but I haven't read all of___.

a) works, them c) works, it

b) work, it d) work, them

Exercise 4.

Translate into English.

1. Будьте добры, передайте мне соль, пожалуйста. 2. Вечер был влажный (damp) и прохладный. 3. Был холодный и ветреный (windy) день. 4. Вино слишком сладкое. 5. Я люблю сухое вино. 6. Она нашла такую хорошую работу. 7. Погода плохая. Ночь была очень холодная. Я не хочу гулять в такую холодную погоду. 8_t Человек приручил (domesticate) собаку много лет назад. 9. Это неожиданная новость. 10. Он обладает обширными знаниями в области медицины. 11. Кипр к Мальта известные туристические центры. 12. Она прожила трудную жизнь. 13. Нефть используют для производства (production) бензина. 14. Шотландия - гористая (mountainous) часть Великобритании. Самая высокая гора — пик Бен-Невис. 15. Где они останови­лись? — В отеле «Континенталь». Это на Хай-стрит.