10.3. Reading Improvement

Assignment 1. Three sentences in the next article have been removed. Choose from the sentences A-C the one which fits each gap.

Passengers panic over false crash alarm

The announcement was played as the plane was passing over the Atlantic Ocean on its way to London, Reported CNN.

British Airways is apologizing to passengers of a trans-Atlantic flight after a recorded message announcing the plane was about to make an emergency landing in the ocean was mistakenly played over the intercom. The incident, which happened on a flight from Miami to London late Friday, caused panic in the cabin.

Passengers told British newspapers that about three hours into the journey, a recorded voice suddenly gave a frightening announcement. (1) ___________

In fact, the flight was proceeding normally, but the frightening message led passengers to assume the worst.

(2) ______________ passenger Duncan Farquharson told The Telegraph.

"About 30 seconds later, one of the cabin crew told us to ignore the announcement. ... Imagining yourself plunging towards a cold, watery grave in the middle of the Atlantic is a pretty horrific thought, but they seemed very blasé about it."

British Airways isn't saying whether a technical glitch or human error caused the recording to play. "The cabin crew canceled the announcement immediately and reassured customers that the flight was operating normally," the airline said in a statement. (3) _____________

The plane landed safely at its destination.

A. "We looked at each other and figured we were both about to die. Families with children were distraught and people were in tears. It was very distressing."

B. "This is an emergency, we will shortly be making an emergency landing on water."

C. "We apologized to customers for causing them undue concern."

Assignment 2. You are going to read a newspaper article about a special course for people who are afraid of flying. Eight sentences have been removed from the article. Choose from the sentences (A–I) the one which fits each gap (1-7). There is one extra sentence which you do not need to use. There is an example at the beginning (0).

A Betty, a middle-aged lady with a lovely smile, admitted that she had panicked while stuck in a lift between floors in a Spanish hotel.

B Betty, delighted to be back on the ground, even gave me a friendly peck on the cheek.

C Everything there was under control and, of course, we understood that the 'bump' on landing was quite normal.

D No turning back now.

E More strange and potentially frightening noises occur at other

times, such as when the wheels are pulled up.

F Others disliked the movement of the plane when it is hit by air currents.

G However, stress and tension can be brought on simply by shallow breathing: we were therefore encouraged always to take deep, full breaths.

H We were then ready to analyse our problems, which were discussed and critically examined.

I Young, middle-aged and old: what we all had in common was a fear of flying.