Text 1. Fire on a Russian submarine

I. Read the text and give answers to the questions below.

1. On what ship did the fire start?

2. What damage did the icebreaker sustain?

3. What was the potential danger?

4. Were there any people injured?

23 December, 1996

One crew member was killed when a fire broke out aboard a nuclear-powered Russian icebreaker early Monday, Russian news agencies said. The shipping company said the nuclear reactor powering the ship was not affected by the fire, which broke out in a cabin, and there was no leak of radiation. The crew extinguished the blaze within 30 minutes, but could not save the life of the mechanic whose cabin caught fire. The ship, the Yamal, was operating out of the port of Murmansk, near Russia's border with Norway and to the north of the Arctic Circle.

Vocabulary

to break out	начаться внезапно
to affect	наносить ущерб
leak	утечка
to extinguish	гасить, тушить
blaze	пламя
to catch fire	загореться

II. Vocabulary Practice

1.Find an odd word.

a) affect, harm, damage, hit, hurt;

b) begin, start, break out, enforce, commence;

c) leak, lack, leakage, escape.

2. Fill in the gaps with one of the words from the vocabulary.

1. A fire … aboard a Russian ice-breaker. (start)

2. The nuclear reactor of the icebreaker was not … by the fire. (damaged)

3. It took the crew 30 minutes to … the …. (put out, fire)

4. There was no … of radiation. (escape)

III. Speech Practice

Speak about the accident. Make use of the following conversational formulas:

Luckily… Fortunately…	К счастью,…
Unfortunately…	К сожалению,…

Text 2. Search for Jakarta ferry victims

I. Read the text and give answers to the questions below.

1. What happened with the passenger ferry?

2. Were there any casualties (пострадавшие)?

3. Why was the real number of passengers on board not known?

4. What problems are typical of shipping in Indonesia?

Make sure you understand the words below:

previously	before
ill-fated	unfortunate, unlucky

23 February, 2007

The Indonesian five navy ships are still searching for survivors of ferry fire in the Bay of Jakarta, which killed at least 16 people.

Another 17 people are known to be missing, but there are fears that more people than previously thought could have been on board the ill-fated ship.

The Levina I was 80 km (50 miles) from Jakarta's port when the fire broke out.

The blaze is the latest in a sequence of deadly incidents in Indonesia, leading to concern over its safety record.

Based on data from the ship's log, 16 people are dead and 17 remain missing.

But officials fear there could have been many more than 307 registered passengers, as Indonesian ferries regularly have stowaways on board, trying to avoid paying fares.

"It is common for people who have no ticket to force their way [12] on board using whatever way they find", said an Indonesian navy spokesman.

Many of the survivors from the fire rushed off the blazing vessel into the sea to escape the flames.

Yas Rijal, 33, was with his wife and son on the upper deck when the fire broke out.

"Suddenly flames burst from the lower deck. The crew ordered us to put on yellow life vests and we jumped", he told the Associated Press news agency.

The accident is the most deadly sea disaster since a passenger ferry carrying around 600 people capsized in late December off Java island, leaving more than half the passengers feared dead.

Indonesia, an archipelago of thousands of islands, relies on ferries to provide a cheap and extensive passenger network.

But many vessels are badly maintained, and there have been a number of new accidents.

Vocabulary

at least	по крайней мере
sequence	серия, ряд
deadly	смертельно опасный
safety record	зд. показательбезопасности судов
ship's log	судовой журнал
stowaway	безбилетный пассажир
flame	огонь, пламя
to burst	прорываться
life vest	спасательный жилет
to rely (on)	зависеть (от чего-л.); полагаться
to provide	предоставлять; обеспечивать
extensive	громадный, большой
network	сеть
to maintain	поддерживать, сохранять

II. Translate the text from English into Russian starting from "The Indonesian five navy ships…" up to "…to escape the flames".

III. Vocabulary Practice

Find an odd word.

a) fire, blaze, flame, burn;

b) expensive, vast, extensive, widespread;

c) check, series, chain, sequence;

d) burst, explode, enforce, erupt.

IV. Grammar Review

1. Find in the text the sentence with Complex Subject with the Infinitive.

2. Transform the following sentences using Complex Subject with the Infinitive:

1. It is supposed that there were more people on board.

2. It is known that Indonesian ferries regularly carry stowaways.

3. It is reported that many of the survivors jumped into the sea to escape the fire.

4. It was said that the flames burst from the lower deck.

5. This accident will certainly give rise to studies into the safety standards of the country.

V. Speech Practice

1. Explain in English what the following words and word-groups mean:

archipelago; ship's log; stowaway; to force one's way; life vest.

2. Speak about the accident.