Question

Read the text below and match each paragraph A - D with the topic it covers 1 – 5. One topic is extra and in this case you should put down 0.
1. A method of fighting with fire paragraph _______
2. William Shakespeare as a firefighter paragraph _______
3. A metaphoric use of the phrase paragraph _______
4. The origin of the phrase paragraph _______
5. The mechanisms of fire paragraph _______

Can you really fight fire with fire?
A. The phrase “fight fire with fire” is well-known to Metallica’s fans. The phrase represents the track at the beginning of the band’s album Ride the Lightning. But does the phrase do with actual fire?
B. The phrase goes back at least as far as 1597, when William Shakespeare wrote in his play The Life and Death of King John: “Be stirring as the time; be fire with fire; Threaten the threatener and outface the brow of bragging horror”. In other words, if somebody attacks you use the same methods. Be aggressive when somebody is aggressive to you.
C. The phrase has a metaphorical meaning but it can be understood literally. In the real world fire helps people fight forest fires. It seems to be nonsense to use fire in firefighting. But if you think about it for a second you’ll change your mind. A fire won’t stop if there is oxygen and something that can burn, for example, leaves, plants and trees. If there’s nothing to burn, there will no longer be fire. Because there will be no chemical reaction.
D. Firefighters often face an oil-well fire. In such a case it is necessary for them to remove the oxygen. Firefighters do it by blowing up a little dynamite. The blast eats up all the local oxygen, leaving nothing to keep the fire going. When the whole forest is on fire, firefighters must quickly take away the undergrowth which can catch fire. And the best way to take away the undergrowth is to set it on fire!

Answer 1

1. A method of fighting with fire / paragraph D
2. William Shakespeare as a firefighter / paragraph B
3. A metaphoric use of the phrase / paragraph 0
4. The origin of the phrase / paragraph A
5. The mechanisms of fire / paragraph C