Units 1-3 test Reading What type of person makes a good firefighter? We asked four firefighters what they thought. a - Jason I've been in the job since I was 20-that's a long time! I don't think there is a particular type of person, but I'd say they need to be hard-working and sociable. Getting along with your team is very important because the job is so dangerous. Oh, and they should keep fit - it's very important to be strong and healthy. You need to be able to move quickly sometimes. c - Anya I was a nurse but decided to change my career after ten years. I think that the most important qualities are the ability to remain calm under pressure (that was the same in my old job) and to be confident when communicating with your team. You also need to be able to follow instructions there's no time to explain twice during a fire. b - Chris I'm the station manager. I've been in the job for too long now! For me, I'd say that they need to be reliable and hard-working. Too many of the new people I see just want to be promoted quickly and want to be paid well. As a firefighter you need to be prepared to risk your own life to save others, and I'm not sure that all of our new staff are brave like that. d - Michelle I've worked as a firefighter for a year now. I think the best advice I got when I was a new recruit was to take the job seriously - you need to be sensible about things - there's no room for jokes when you're on your way to a fire. You also need to remain positive, even when things start to go wrong. It's a tough job, and it's easy to feel stressed. 11 Read the text. Then match people a-d with the statements. Some people match more than one statement. Two of the statements don't match any of the people. 1 It's dangerous if people don't understand what they need to do.