Text Leveling System

Fire! Fire!

RDQ:	645	Max Word/Sent	23	Total Words	989		Diff Words	339
Lex	670	Ave Word/.Sent	9	Hi Freq occurs	544	55%	Hi freq	97	28.6%
AR	3.0	Long Sentences	3.7	Low Freq occurs	76	7.7%	Low freq	50	14.7%

Fire! Fire! In the city...

In an apartment house, a breeze has blown a towel up into the 
flame of a hot stove.  A fire begins.  The smoke alarm screams.]]
   A phone call alerts the fire-dispatch center.  Instantly,
a dispatcher calls the firehouse nearest the fire.]]
   A loudspeaker blares out the address of the fire, and 
the firefighters go into action.  They slide down brass
poles to the ground floor, where the fire engines are, and 
hurry into their fire-fighting gear.
   Then they take their positions on their engines.]]
   The big trucks roar out of the firehouse.  
Sirens scream and lights flash.]]
   The fire engines arrive at the scene.
   The fire is bigger now
   The fire chief is in charge.  He decides the best way
is fight this fire.]]
   Hoses are pulled from the trucks.
   Each separate fire truck is called a ""company.""
Each separate company has an officer in charge.
The fire chief tells each officer in charge what he wants
the firefighters to do.]]
   Firefighters are ordered to search the building to make
sure no one is still inside.
   A man is trapped.  A ladder tower is swung into action.
The man is rescued quickly.]]
   At the same time, an aerial ladder is taking other
firefighters to the floor above the fire.
   Inside, the firefighters attach a hose to the building's 
standpipe.  Water is sprayed onto the fire to keep it from 
moving up through the apartment house.]]
   Now the aerial ladder is swung over to the roof of the 
burning building.
   Firefighters break holes in the roof and windows to let
out poisonous gases, heat, and smoke before they can
cause a bad explosion.  There's less danger now for the 
firefighters working inside the building.]]
   Firefighters are battling the blaze from the outside of 
the building too.  Fire hoses carry water from the fire
hydrants to the trucks.]]
   Pumps in the fire trucks control the water pressure and 
push the water up through the discharge hoses.  Streams 
of water hit the burning building and buildings next door
to keep the fire from spreading.]]
   The fire is under control.]]
   The fire is out.
   The firefighters clean up the rubble.
   Back at the firehouse, they clean their equipment
and make an official report on the fire.]]
   City firefighters take turns living at their firehouse.
They are firefighters on duty day and night.
   Between alarms, they practice and train.
They teach people fire prevention, too.]]

Fire! Fire! In the country...

A barn has caught on fire.  A spark from an old electrical wire
has ignited some hay.]]
   An emergency call is made to the fire-dispatch center.
This is a ""central"" fire-dispatch center for several country
towns.]]
   The dispatcher calls the volunteer firefighters in the town 
where the fire is.  They get the message on their beepers.
   Volunteer firefighters must leave their jobs or homes to 
answer a fire alarm, day or night.  They don't live at the 
firehouse.]]
   The volunteers hurry into their fire-fighting gear
that they keep in their cars.
   Some go to the firehouse to get the fire trucks.
Others will meet the trucks at the fire.]]
   Here come the volunteers.
   There isn't a fire hydrant here to supply water.
The pumper truck carries its own water.  It pumps the 
water through the hose onto the fire.]]
   The pumper truck runs out of water.  A tanker truck is 
standing by to help out.]]
   This fire is big! It might spread to the farmhouse.
   The fire chief calls the dispatch center for more
equipment and firefighters.  Another town is called for
help.  This time an alarm is sounded from the firehouse.]]
   Two more pumper trucks arrive with volunteers.
   There is a stream nearby.  Water from the stream is 
sucked through a hose into one pumper truck, then
pumped along to the other trucks.]]
   The trucks spray water on the fire.  The fire dies down.]]
   The fire is out.
   The farmhouse Is save.]]
   The chief makes notes for his official report while
the firefighters help clean up.
   The volunteers return to their firehouses to clean their
trucks and equipment.
   They will go back to their jobs and homes until they
are called again.]]

Fire! Fire! In the forest...

Lighting has struck.  It hasn't rained for a long time, and 
the ground and trees are dry.  A fire begins.
   In a fire tower, a lookout spots a plume of smoke.
He radios the forest-ranger station to report the fire.]]
   In moments, propeller planes fly in to help.
Smoke jumpers in their jumpsuits parachute down
to the scene.  The fire-fighting supplies are dropped in.]]
   The firefighters cut down trees and dig a fire stop-
a cleared area in front of the fire.  A bulldozer arrives
to help clear, too.  The ground is doused with water.
Now the fire can't spread.
   Overhead, a plane sprays chemicals to smother
the flames.]]
   The fire is over.
   The smoke jumpers and supplies are picked up.
   Back at the forest-ranger station, a fire-report form
is filled out and filed.
   Some time later, new young trees will be planted
to help the damaged forest grow again.]]

Fire! Fire! On the waterfront...

Some oily rags in a n old pier building have begun to 
burn.  The fire faces out over the water, and fire trucks
can't get close enough to fight it.  Fireboats-floating fire
companies-must answer the alarm.]]
   The fireboats aim their water nozzles at the pier
building.  Big pumps in the boats suck up large amounts 
of water and force it through the nozzles.  Jets of water
stream onto the fire.]]
   The fire sizzles and crackles.  The fire is out.]]
   The firefighters clean up and write their report.
   Back with the other fireboats, they will patrol the
waters, on the alert for the next fire emergency.]]
Different kinds of fire!
Different kinds of firefighters!
They are ready to fight a fire the moment they are needed.]]

Subjective Criteria

Illustrations: Some support

Simple graphics supplementary to text comprehension

Vocabulary: More decoding/definition issues

Language: Few descriptive words

Sentences: Multiple phrases

Text structure: Formal

Features

Topic

Accidents

*Safety

Fire

Helping

*Careers

Firemen

Low Frequency Words

aerial	beepers	blares	carries	chemicals
companies	discharge	dispatch	dispatcher	doused
electrical	emergency	engines	equipment	fireboats
firehouses	gases	hoses	hydrant	hydrants
ignited	instantly	jumpers	jumpsuits	lighting
loudspeaker	moments	official	parachute	patrol
pier	plume	poisonous	positions	pressure
prevention	propeller	pumper	radios	rescued
rubble	separate	sirens	sizzles	smother
standpipe	supplies	volunteer	volunteers	waterfront