Which is safer ── staying at home, traveling to work on public transport, or working at the office? Surprisingly, each of these carries the same risk, which is very low. However, what about flying compared to working in the chemical industry? Unfortunately, the former is 65 times riskier¹ than the latter! In fact the accident rate of workers in the chemical industry is less than that of almost any of human activity, and almost as safe as staying at home.

The trouble with the chemical industry is that when things go wrong they often cause death to those living nearby. It is this that chemical accidents so newsworthy. Fortunately, they are extremely rare. The most famous ones happened at Texas City (1947), Flixborough (1974), Seveso (1976), Pemex (1984) and Bhopal (1984).

Some of these are always in the minds of the people even though the loss of life was small. No one died at Seveso, and only 28 workers at Flixborough. The worst accident of all was Bhopal, where up to 3,000 were killed. The Texas City explosion² of fertilizer³ killed 552. The Pemex fire at a storage plant for natural gas in the suburbs⁵ of Mexico City took 542 lives, just a month before the unfortunate event at Bhopal.

Some experts have discussed these accidents and used each accident to illustrate⁶ a particular danger. Thus the Texas City was caused by tons of ammonium nitrate, which is safe unless stored in a great quantity. The Flixborough fireball was the fault of management, which took risks to keep production going during essential repairs. The Seveso accident shows what happens if the local authorities⁷ lack knowledge of the danger on their doorstep. When the poisonous gas drifted⁸ over the town, local leaders were incapable⁹ of taking effective action. The Pemex fire was made worse by an overloaded¹⁰ site in an overcrowded suburb⁴. The fire set off a chain reaction of exploding storage tanks. Yet, by a miracle¹¹, the two largest tanks did not explode. Had these caught fire, then 3,000 strong rescue team and fire fighters would all have died.

1. Which of the following statements is TRUE?

A. Working at the office is safer than staying at home.

B. Travelling to work on public transport is safer than working at the office.

C. Staying at home is safer than working in the chemical industry.

D. Working in the chemical industry is safer than traveling by air.

2. From the passage we know that ammonium nitrate is a kind of _____.

A. natural gas, which can easily catch fire

B. fertilizer, which can't be stored in a great quantity

C. poisonous substance, which can't be used in overcrowded areas

D. fuel, which is stored in large tanks

3. From the discussion¹² among some experts we may conclude that _____.

A. to avoid any accident we should not repair the facilities in chemical industry

B. the local authorities should not be concerned with the production of the chemical industry

C. all these accidents could have been avoided or controlled if effective measures had been taken

D. natural gas stored in very large tanks is always safe

KEY: 1. D 2. B 3. C