Too Little, Too Late

Vocabulary

area blaze

pump hose

This morning at five o'clock, the Green Mountain Restaurant caught on fire. Nobody noticed the fire until six o'clock, when the house next door started to burn. Firefighters came from all over the area. They began to fight the fire at seven o'clock. Now it's eight o'clock, and the fire is still going strong. The fire fighters are working hard, but they haven't brought the blaze under control yet. Every few minutes they call for more help.

Fire Chief Brown says that in another hour they'll have put out the fire in the house. At that time, the house will have been burning for three hours. Half the house will be gone. Chief brown is afraid that the fire in the restaurant may go on until 10 o'clock. Before it's out, the restaurant will have been blazing for five hours. Every few minutes, part of the building falls in.

Firefighters will have been fighting the fire in the restaurant for three hours.

They'll have been pumping water out Green Mountain Lake to put out the fire. They'll have been holding their hoses on the fire the whole time. However the fire will have been burning too long. By the time the fire is under control, nothing will remain of the restaurant. The firefighters will have been working with all their strength, but it will have been too little and too late.

Activity

Exercise 237

Answer the questions.

1. How long had the restaurant been burning before somebody noticed it?

2. How long had the house been on fire before the firefighters arrived?

3. Which fire will the firefighters put out first?

4. How long will the house have been burning when the fire stops?

5. What will the house look like?

6. How long will the restaurant have been burning at ten o'clock?

7. How long will the firefighters have been working?

8. What will they have been doing to put out the fire?

9. Why will the owner lose his restaurant?

10. Should the restaurant owner be angry with the firefighters?

Exercise 238

Make sentences which include these time markers.

1. for three hours at that time

2. for five hours by ten o'clock

3. every few minutes for three hours by the time the fire is out

4. for three hours when they are finished

5. the whole time

6. too long by that time

Exercise 239

Interpreting Sentences

For each sentence, tell when the activity started, how long it will continue, and what will happen next.

Example:

• Our neighbours will have been watching the fire for four hours by ten o'clock, when it is out.

• The neighbours started to watch the fire at six o'clock.

• They will watch it for four hours.

• They will stop at ten o'clock, when it is out.

1. The firefighters will have been working three hours at that time.

2. The restaurant will have been burning for five hours by ten o'clock.

3. The house will have been burning for three hours by nine o'clock, when the fire is out.

4. The firefighters will have been working for two hours by nine o'clock.

5. They'll have been pumping water the whole time the fire burns.

Exercise 240

Translate the sentences from Russian into English. Mind the use of the Future Perfect Continuous.

1. К концу месяца он проживёт в гостинице в течение двух недель.

2. Ко дню твоего приезда я буду вязать этот шарф уже неделю.

3. Как долго ты будешь учиться в этой группе, скажем, к февралю?

4. В течение скольких лет наша страна будет исследовать космос к

середине 21 века?

5. Вы хотите знать, сколько лет я буду изучать английский язык к пятому

курсу?

6. Ко времени прибытия самолета они будут ожидать делегацию в аэропорту в течение часа.

7. кобеденному перерыву секретарь будет печатать эти письма уже два часа.

8. К концу нашего отпуска наша соседка будет поливать наши цветы в

течение десяти дней.

9. К сентябрю она уже будет делать ремонт в течение трех недель.

10. Мама будет готовить обед все утро к моменту, когда мы вернемся

домой.