Wildfires Reading Answers

Dec 6, 2022

Wildfires Reading Answers assesses students based on their ability to read a passage and answer subsequent questions. These are the KPIs that are used to evaluate a candidate's reading abilities in the IELTS examination. The details are required to be remembered in IELTS reading from the passage that is presented to them. Wildfire IELTS reading answers include questions like correct headings, no more than three words, and Sentence completion. Candidates face similar topics in IELTS reading practice papers.

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Section 1

Read the Passage to Answer the Following Questions

Wildfires Reading Answers

Wildfires are usually the product of human negligence . Hurtians start about 90% of wildfires and lightning causes the other 10%. Regular causes for wildfires include arson, camping fires, throwing away cigarettes, burning rubbish, and playing with fireworks or matches. Once begun, wildfires can spread at a rate of up to 23 kph and, as a fire spreads over a landscape, it could undertake a life of its own - doing different things to keep itself going, even creating other blazes by throwing cinders miles away. Three components are necessary to start a fire: oxygen, fuel and heat. These three make up "the fire triangle" and fire fighters frequently talk about this when they are attempting to put out blazes. The theory is that if the fire fighters can remove one of the triangle pillars, they can take control of and eventually put out the fire.
The speed at which wildfires spread depends on the fuel around them. Fuel is any living or dead material that will burn. Types of fuel include anything from trees, underbrush and grassland to houses. The quantity of inflammable material around a fire is known as "the fuel load" and is determined by the amount of available fuel per unit area, usually tons per acre. How dry the fuel is can also influence how fires behave. When the fuel is very dry, it burns much more quickly and forms fires that are much harder to control. Basic fuel characteristics affecting a fire are size and shape, arrangement and moisture, but with wildfires, where fuel usually consists of the same type of material, the main factor influencing ignition time is the ratio of the fuel's total surface area to its volume. Because the surface area of a twig is not much bigger than its volume, it ignites rapidly. However, a tree's surface area is much smaller than its volume, so it requires more time to heat up before ignition.
Three weather variables that affect wildfires are temperature, wind and moisture. Temperature directly influences the sparking of wildfires, as heat is one of the three pillars of the fire triangle. Sticks, trees and underbrush on the ground receive heat from the sun, which heats and dries these potential fuels. Higher temperatures allow fuels to ignite and burn more quickly and add to the speed of a wildfire's spread. Consequently, wildfires tend to rage in the afternoon, during the hottest temperatures. The biggest influence on a wildfire is probably wind and this is also the most unpredictable variable. Winds provide fires with extra oxygen, more dry fuel, and wind also makes wildfires spread more quickly, Fires also create winds of their own that can be up to ten times faster than the ambient wind. Winds can even spread embers that can generate additional fires, an event known as spotting. Winds also change the course of fires, and gusts can take flames into trees, starting a "crown fire". Humidity and precipitation provide moisture that can slow fires down and reduce their intensity, as it is hard for fuel to ignite if it has high moisture levels. Higher levels of humidity mean fewer wildfires.
Topography can also hugely influence wildfire behavior. In contrast to fuel and weather, topography hardly changes over time and can help or hamper the spread of a wildfire. The principal topographical factor relating to wildfires is slope. As a rule, fires move uphill much faster than downhill and the steeper the slope, the quicker fires move. This is because fires move in the same direction of the ambient wind, which generally blows uphill. Moreover, the fire can preheat fuel further uphill as smoke and heat rise in that direction. On the other hand, when the fire reaches the on top of a hill, it has to struggle to come back down.
Each year thousands of firefighters risk their lives in their jobs. Elite fire fighters come in two categories; Hotshots and Smokejumpers. Operating in 20 man units, the key task of hotshots is to construct firebreaks around fires. A firebreak is a strip of land with all potential fuel removed. As their name suggests, smokejumpers jump out of aircraft to reach smaller fires situated in inaccessible regions. They attempt to contain these smaller fires before they turn into bigger ones. As well as constructing firebreaks and putting water and fire retardant on fires, firefighters also use "backfires". Backfires are created by fire fighters and burn towards the main fire incinerating any potential fuel in its path. Firefighters on the ground also receive extensive support from the air with tankers dropping thousands of gallons of water and retardant. tankers dropping thousands of gallons of water and retardant. Dropped from planes and helicopters, retardant is a red chemical containing phosphate fertilizer, which slows and cools fires.

Section 2

Solution and Explanation
Questions 1-13
You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 1-13 which are based on Reading Passage.

Questions 1 – 4:
Reading Passage 1 has 5 paragraphs (A – E).
From the list of headings below choose the most suitable headings for paragraphs B – E.
Write the appropriate number (i – viii) in boxes 1 – 4 on your answer sheet.
NB There are more headings than paragraphs, so you will not use them all.

Climate Conditions
Solutions from the Air
Fire Starters
Battling the Blaze
The Lie of the Land
Rain – The Natural Savior
Fuelling the Flames
Fires and Trees

Q1. Paragraph B

Answer: vii
Supporting Sentence: The speed at which wildfires spread depends on the fuel around them.
Keywords: Fuel around them, material that will burn
Keyword Location: Paragraph B, lines 1-2
Explanation: The author states that the speed of wildfire is often accelerated by the surrounding materials that act as fuel. Such materials can either be living or dead, and they burn rapidly. Hence, “Fuelling the Flames” is the correct answer.

Q2. Paragraph C

Answer: i
Supporting Sentence: Three weather variables that affect wildfires are temperature, wind, and moisture.
Keywords: Weather variables
Keyword Location: Paragraph C, line 1
Explanation: As per the passage, the weather conditions like wind, moisture, and temperature act as a catalyst and aggravate wildfires. Hence, weather conditions or climatic conditions affects wildfires.

Q3. Paragraph D

Answer: v
Supporting Sentence: The principal topographical factor relating to wildfires is the slope.
Keywords: Principal topography, slope
Keyword Location: Paragraph D, line 3
Explanation: We can see that besides fuel and weather conditions, the slope of the land also affects wildfires. The slope or the way in which the land is laid also affects wildfire. Fire tends to spread faster in the case of uphill than downhill.

Q4. Paragraph E

Answer: iv
Supporting Sentence: Each year thousands of firefighters risk their lives in their jobs.
Keywords: Firefighters, risk their lives
Keyword Location: Paragraph E, line 1
Explanation: The passage states that firefighters risk their lives. Firefighters play an essential role in curbing down the fire hazards by risking their lives every year. This means they fight or battle the blaze or fire.

Questions 5 – 9:
Using NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from Reading Passage 2, answer the following questions.
Write your answers in boxes 5 – 9 on your answer sheet.

Q5. Complete the last pillar of the fire triangle.

(5) _______________

heat fuel
source

Answer: air/oxygen
Supporting Sentence: Three components are necessary to start a fire: oxygen, fuel, and heat.
Keywords: Oxygen, fire, heat, the fire triangle
Keyword Location: Paragraph A, lines 5-6
Explanation: According to the firefighters, the presence of three components, oxygen, heat, and fuel, is required to start a fire. Together they compose the fire triangle. Hence, the third one of the three pillars is air or oxygen.

Q6. What is measured in tons per acre?

Answer: the fuel load
Supporting Sentence: The quantity of inflammable material around a fire is known as “the fuel load” and is determined by the amount of available fuel per unit area, usually tons per acre.
Keywords: The fuel load, available fuel per unit area, tons per acre.
Keyword Location: Paragraph B, line 4
Explanation: The passage directly states that the fuel obtained from around the fire is called the fuel load. This is generally measured in tons per acre. Hence, fuel load is measured in tons per acre.

Q7. When do wildfires burn at their fiercest?

Answer: In the afternoon
Supporting Sentence: Consequently, wildfires tend to rage in the afternoon, during the hottest temperatures.
Keywords: Tend to rage in the afternoon, hottest temperature
Keyword Location: Paragraph C, line 5
Explanation: As per the author, wildfires come at their peak during the afternoon. Wildfires blow out the most during afternoons, especially when the temperatures are the highest.

Q8. What can travel in the wind to create fires at some distance from the initial fire?

Answer: Embers
Supporting Sentence: Winds can even spread embers that can generate additional fires, an event known as spotting.
Keywords: Spread embers, additional fire, spotting
Keyword Location: Paragraph C, line 9
Explanation: Sometimes winds carry embers and spread them in the adjacent areas causing additional fire accidents. This event is known as spotting.

Q9. Name a method using an additional fire that firefighters use to control wildfires.

Answer: backfire(s)
Supporting Sentence: Backfires are created by fire fighters and burn towards the main fire incinerating any potential fuel in its path.
Keywords: Created by firefighters, incinerating any potential fuel
Keyword Location: Paragraph E, line 8
Explanation: In order to slow down and eventually put out the wildfire, firefighters use a technique known as backfires. In this method, a fire is started that moves towards the main fire and burns all potential fuel in its way.

Questions 10 – 13:

Complete each of the following statements (Questions 10 – 13) with words taken from Reading Passage.
Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 10 – 13 on your answer sheet.

Q10. The most important factor in how quickly a wildfire catches fire is the surface to volume _____________________.

Answer: ratio (of fuel)
Supporting Sentence: Basic fuel characteristics affecting a fire are size and shape, arrangement, and moisture, but with wildfires, where fuel usually consists of the same type of material, the main factor influencing ignition time is the ratio of the fuel’s total surface area to its volume.
Keywords: The main factor influencing ignition time is the ratio of the fuel’s total surface area to its volume
Keyword Location: Paragraph B, line 6
Explanation: As per the passage, Various factors determine the speed and magnitude of a wildfire. They are moisture, arrangement, etc. But most important of all these is the ratio between the fuel's surface area to its volume.

Q11. The most significant weather factor to affect wildfires’ actions is _____________________.

Answer: the wind
Supporting Sentence: The biggest influence on a wildfire is probably wind and this is also the most unpredictable variable.
Keywords: Biggest influence, wind
Keyword Location: Paragraph C, line 6
Explanation: We can see that the wind acts as an active catalyst on wildfires and strengthens them. The passage directly states that wind has biggest influence. Furthermore, it is not easy to predict its course or influence.

Q12. Fires on the tops of trees are known as _____________________.

Answer: crown fire
Supporting Sentence: Winds also change the course of fires, and gusts can take flames into trees, starting a “crown fire”.
Keywords: Gusts can take flames into trees, starting a "crown fire"
Keyword Location: Paragraph C, line 10
Explanation: As wind plays an active role in aggravating wildfires, it can change the course of the fire and take the flames on top of trees. Such a phenomenon is called a crown fire that can be seen on treetops.

Q13. Wildfires usually travel much faster _____________________ because of the typical direction of prevailing winds.

Answer: uphill
Supporting Sentence: As a rule, fires move uphill much faster than downhill, and the steeper the slope, the quicker fires move. This is because fires move in the same direction as the ambient wind, which generally blows uphill.
Keywords: Fires move uphill much faster than downhill, move in the same direction as the ambient wind, generally blows uphill
Keyword Location: Paragraph D, lines 4-5
Explanation: The passage mentions about uphill and downhill. These are the topography of the land that can also impact the wildfire's directions. It usually spreads faster uphill as the winds tend to blow in that direction.

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