谷战峰

空降森林灭火员是一种特殊类型的消防员。与普通消防员的工作方式不同，他们从飞机上跳下来，或被直升机降落到很难通过乘车或步行到达的地区。

Every year， wildfires destroy millions of hectares of forest land， leaving many homes damaged and a lot of people homeless. Luckily， smoke jumpers help to stop this. They are brave guardians for us.

Smoke jumpers are a special type of firefighters. Unlike regular firefighters， they work in a different way.

They jump from planes or are lowered by helicopters into areas that are difficult to reach by car or on foot， such as the middle of a mountain forest. They race to put out fires as fast as they can.

At a fire site， smoke jumpers first examine the land and decide how to fight the fire. Their main goal is to stop a fire from spreading or to slow its progress until full， ground?based firefighters arrive. Using basic equipment such as shovels（铲子） and axes（斧头）， smoke jumpers clear land of burnable materials， like dry grass and dead trees. They carry water with them， too， but only a limited amount.

Although the majority of smoke jumpers are men， more women are joining now. The most important factors are your height and weight. Smoke jumpers employed in the United States， for example， must be between 120 and 200 pounds （between 54 and 91 kilograms） so they dont get blown away by the strong winds or get hurt when they land. Smoke jumpers must also be capable of surviving in the wilderness. In Russia， many smoke jumpers know how to find food in the forest and can even make simple furniture from trees so that they can survive in the wild.

The work is dangerous， and the hours are long. But for these firefighters， smoke jumping isnt just an occupation. They love being able to jump out of planes， fight fires， and live in the forest. As 28?year?old Russian smoke jumper Alexi Tishin says， “This is the best job for tough guys.”

Reading Check

1. What is the reading mainly about？

A. The life of a Russian smoke jumper.

B. Why people become smoke jumpers.

C. Interesting facts about a new occupation.

D. Who smoke jumpers are and what they do.

2. When a smoke jumper reaches a fire site， what is the first thing he or she does？

A. Looking for water. B. Clearing the land.

C. Studying the land. D. Recording the accident.

3. If you want to be a smoke jumper， you must be            .

A. male B. unmarried

C. a university graduate D. within a certain weight range

4. What can be inferred about a smoke jumper according to the text？

A. Smoke jumpers are paid more than regular firefighters.

B. Smoke jumpers must learn to survive in the wilderness.

C. Smoke jumpers appear as an occupation only in recent years.

D. Smoke jumpers play a more important role than regular firefighters.

5. In Alexi Tishins opinion， why do people become smoke jumpers？

A. To earn money. B. To get excitement.

C. To help their country. D. To rescue people in need.

Language Study

Ⅰ. Complete the information with words from the box in a proper form.

[capable      employ      equip      major      occupation      race]

As an 18?year?old student， A.J. Coston lived with his family during the week. But on the weekends， Coston lived and worked at a fire station， where he was 1.   ______________ as a volunteer firefighter. Several times each weekend， he had to 2.    ______________ to the scene of a fire.

Firefighting is a dangerous 3.  ______________. To get the job， Coston took classes and learned safety skills. He also learned to use firefighting 4.  ______________ such as axes and hoses. After Coston became 5.   ______________  of using these well， he was allowed to work inside burning buildings.

Although firefighters spend the 6. ______________ of their time putting out fires， they also rescue people from accidents and other dangerous situations. Coston hopes to be a flight paramedic（医务辅助人员） in the future， but he will never forget his days as a firefighter.

Ⅱ. We can add “?ment” to some verbs to form nouns. Complete the sentences using the verbs in the box.

[agree      employ      equip     improve]1. The new smoke jumper is getting better at his job， but there is still room for __________.

2. Besides a shovel， what other __________ does an archeologist need？

3. After graduating from college， she found ___________ at a local bank.

4. If no ___________ was reached， the army would step in.