Unit 11 The Story of an Eyewitness
Key to the Exercises
Text comprehension
I. Decide which of the following best states the author's purpose of writing.
B
Judge, according to the text, whether the following statements are true or false. II.
T (Refer to Paragraph 1: The earthquake brought about a loss of thousands of dollars 1.
worth of housing while the conflagration burned up hundreds of millions of dollars worth
of property.)
within no estimating is said that There is 2. T (Refer to Paragraph 1, in which it
to impossible it wrought, meaning that is hundreds of millions the actual damage
estimate the actual damage within hundreds of millions of dollars.)
F (Refer to Paragraph 6, where it is indicated that the purpose of man's dynamiting 3.
maliciously than the furious fire rather the city was to prevent the advancement of
sort of admitdestroy the city.)
F (Refer to Paragraph 6, where it is shown that organized firefighters made efforts to 4.
combat the flames.)
F (Refer to Paragraphs 11?2, which tell us that the men broke their heart over their 5.
their trunks, which contained to because they were compelled abandon their trunks
family treasures and which they had been dragging along with great difficulty for a dozen
hours.)
earthquake, after the show 13?4, which that twenty hours 6. T (Refer to Paragraphs
miles and miles of magnificent buildings and skyscrapers still stood intact.)
nswer the following questions.  AIII.
Refer to Paragraph 4. They refer to the shrewd man-made conveniences of life and 1.
and telephone the steel rails, the in safeguards San Francisco such as the streets,
telegraph systems.
Inside it, was dead calm. 5. No. Away from the burning city, it to Paragraph 2. Refer
however, the flames were becoming more and more rampant and the heated air became
lighter and lighter and rose continuously. Thus a discrepancy of air pressure was formed.
Consequently, under the higher pressure from outside, air was pouring in upon the city
where the atmospheric pressure was lower.
the to halt man or It 6. was very hard even impossible for Paragraph Refer 3. to
be turned the to His the advancement of flames. efforts combat conflagration out to
useless.
4. Refer to Paragraph 7. As the author sees it, it will be impossible to know the exact
number of the victims of the earthquake because all their traces have been erased by the
flames.
5. Refer to Paragraph 11, which tells us that one of the tasks of the soldiers was to keep
the trunk-pullers moving so as to reduce the loss of lives in the disaster. 
6. Refer to Paragraph 16. Man had tried his best to fight against the flames, and yet the
conflagration was getting all the more rampant. Moreover, water and dynamite, with
which the firemen fought against the flames, were exhausted. So they had no choice but
to admit defeat.
IV.  Explain in your own words the following sentences.
1.
Except for some dwelling houses on its outskirts, San Francisco has almost
completely disappeared from the world and only remains in people's memories.
2. Nothing could stop the forceful advancement of the flames.
3. The courageous and brave deeds in the firefighting would fill up a library if related in
writing and exhaust the Carnegie medal fund if rewarded.
4. Sometimes all members of a family fastened themselves with straps to a carriage or
delivery wagon that was heavily loaded with their possessions. 
5. Two United States soldiers sat astride on their horses and calmly watched the
conflagration, their shapes contrasting sharply with the wall of flame behind them. 
Structural analysis of the text
The topic sentence is There is no estimating within hundreds of millions the actual
damage wrought, in Paragraph 1. It is developed in the following paragraphs by a
chronological description of the destruction caused by the earthquake and the subsequent
conflagrations as witnessed by the author. Furthermore, the author describes the physical
destruction of the city first and then the quiet and calm reactions of the city dwellers.
Rhetorical features of the text
In Paragraphs 8 and 14 there are similar structures:
I saw not one woman who wept, not one man who was excited, not one person who was

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