• 94…………… which was found at the site is very important since it confirms that the 95…………….. found inside are Lapita. A proof B
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    THE-BIBLE-OF-IELTS-READING-BOOK

     
     
     
    Questions 91-95 
    Completing Summary (
    Complete the summary using the list of words and phrases
    A-J,
     below.)
     
    The Efate burial site 
     
    A 3,000-year-old burial ground of a seafaring people called the Lapita has been found on an 
    abandoned 
    91……………….
    on the Pacific island of Efate.
    The cemetery, which is a significant 
    92 ………….. ,
    was uncovered accidentally by an agricultural worker. 
    The Lapita explored and colonised many Pacific islands over several centuries. They took many things with 
    them on their voyages including 
    93……………
    and tools. 
    The burial ground increases the amount of information about the Lapita available to scientists. A team of 
    researchers, led by Matthew Spriggs from the Australian National University, are helping with the excavation 
    of the site. Spriggs believes the 
    94……………
    which was found at the site is very important since it confirms 
    that the 
    95……………..
    found inside are Lapita. 
    A
    proof 
    B
    plantation 
    C
    harbour 
    D
    bones 
    E
    data 
    F
    archaeological 
    discovery 
    G
    burial urn 
    H
    source 

    animals 
    J
    maps 
     
     
     
     


    122 
     
    READING PASSAGE 19 
    The megafires of California
    Drought, housing expansion, and oversupply of tinder make for bigger, hotter fires in the western United 
    States
    Wildfires are becoming an increasing menace in the western United States, with Southern California being the 
    hardest hit area. There's a reason fire squads battling more frequent blazes in Southern California are having 
    such difficulty containing the flames, despite better preparedness than ever and decades of experience fighting 
    fires fanned by the ‘Santa Ana Winds’. The wildfires themselves, experts say, are generally hotter, faster, and 
    spread more erratically than in the past. 
    Megafires, also called ‘siege fires’, are the increasingly frequent blazes that burn 500,000 acres or more - 10 
    times the size of the average forest fire of 20 years ago. Some recent wildfires are among the biggest ever in 
    California in terms of acreage burned, according to state figures and news reports. 
    One explanation for the trend to more superhot fires is that the region, which usually has dry summers, has had 
    significantly below normal precipitation in many recent years. Another reason, experts say, is related to the 
    century- long policy of the US Forest Service to stop wildfires as quickly as possible. 
    The unintentional consequence has been to halt the natural eradication of underbrush, now the primary fuel for 
    megafires. 
    Three other factors contribute to the trend, they add. First is climate change, marked by a 1-degree Fahrenheit 
    rise in average yearly temperature across the western states. Second is fire seasons that on average are 78 days 
    longer than they were 20 years ago. Third is increased construction of homes in wooded areas. 
    ‘We are increasingly building our homes in fire-prone ecosystems,’ says Dominik Kulakowski, adjunct 
    professor of biology at Clark University Graduate School of Geography in Worcester, Massachusetts. ‘Doing 
    that in many of the forests of the western US is like building homes on the side of an active volcano.' 
    In California, where population growth has averaged more than 600,000 a year for at least a decade, more 
    residential housing is being built. ‘What once was open space is now residential homes providing fuel to make 
    fires burn with greater intensity,’ says Terry McHale of the California Department of Forestry firefighters' 
    union. ‘With so much dryness, so many communities to catch fire, so many fronts to fight, it becomes an 
    almost incredible job.' 
    That said, many experts give California high marks for making progress on preparedness in recent years, after 
    some of the largest fires in state history scorched thousands of acres, burned thousands of homes, and killed 
    numerous people. Stung in the past by criticism of bungling that allowed fires to spread when they might have 
    been contained, personnel are meeting the peculiar challenges of neighborhood - and canyon- hopping fires 
    better than previously, observers say. 
    State promises to provide more up-to-date engines, planes, and helicopters to fight fires have been fulfilled. 
    Firefighters’ unions that in the past complained of dilapidated equipment, old fire engines, and insufficient 
    blueprints for fire safety are now praising the state's commitment, noting that funding for firefighting has 
    increased, despite huge cuts in many other programs. ‘We are pleased that the current state administration has 
    been very proactive in its support of us, and [has] come through with budgetary support of 
    the infrastructure needs we have long sought,' says Mr. McHale of the firefighters’ union. 


    123 
    Besides providing money to upgrade the fire engines that must traverse the mammoth state and wind along 
    serpentine canyon roads, the state has invested in better command-and-control facilities as well as in the 
    strategies to run them. ‘In the fire sieges of earlier years, we found that other jurisdictions and states were 
    willing to offer mutual-aid help, but we were not able to communicate adequately with them,’ says Kim 
    Zagaris, chief of the state's Office of Emergency Services Fire and Rescue Branch. 
    After a commission examined and revamped communications procedures, the statewide response ‘has become 
    far more professional and responsive,’ he says. There is a sense among both government officials and residents 
    that the speed, dedication, and coordination of firefighters from several states and jurisdictions are resulting in 
    greater efficiency than in past ‘siege fire’ situations. 
    In recent years, the Southern California region has improved building codes, evacuation procedures, and 
    procurement of new technology. ‘I am extraordinarily impressed by the improvements we have witnessed,’ 
    says Randy Jacobs, a Southern California- based lawyer who has had to evacuate both his home and business 
    to escape wildfires. ‘Notwithstanding all the damage that will continue to be caused by wildfires, we will no 
    longer suffer the loss of life endured in the past because of the fire prevention and firefighting measures that 
    have been put in place,’ he says. 

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