Author:  Artur Heiley Video

Title:     Airport (Unabridged)

Genre:  Thriller 
English Type:  British English  

Narrator: Jahangir Abdullaev 

Airport (Unabridged)

Description

Lincoln International Airport is hit by a violent snowstorm and a plane gets stuck on the main runway. As staff struggle to keep the airport open their personal relationships cause more problems. To make matters worse, a man arrives at the airport determined to blow up a plane. The drama unfolds as the storm reaches its peak.

Penguin Readers are simplified texts designed in association with Longman, the world famous educational publisher, to provide a step-by-step approach to the joys of reading for pleasure. Each book has an introduction and extensive activity material. They are published at seven levels from Easystarts (200 words) to Advanced (3000 words).

Series Editors: Andy Hopkins and Jocelyn Potter

ACTIVITIES

Chapters 1-8

Before you read

1. List as many people as you can who work at
an airport. What do you think are the problems and satisfactions of their jobs?

2. Check the meaning of these words in your
dictionary. They are all in the story.

air hostess, agent, aviation, calendar,
cigar, conscience, divorce, maintenance, runway, sigh, snowplough, stowaway,
terminal, truck.

Read the clues and complete the crossword puzzle with the
new words.

Clues
across

1. a thing that people smoke

4. an unsuccessful marriage may end in this

5. a sad person may make this sound

7. she serves food and drinks to aeroplane
passengers

9. a table showing the days, weeks and months
of the year

10. this tells you if something is right or
wrong

12. a person who represents a company

13. the surface, like a road, on which planes
land and take off

Clues
down

2. the science or practice of flying

3. building in which people wait for planes,
buses, ships, etc.

5. use this to clear snow off the road

6. regular repairs to a machine

8. a person who hides on a plane or ship to
avoid buying a ticket

11. a large road vehicle

After
you read

3. Explain why:

a. runway three zero cannot be used.

b. there are crowds of people inside the
airport terminal.

c. the airport is receiving complaints from
Meadowood.

d. Mel is rarely eager to go home.

e. Patsy throws a book at a passenger.

f. Joe Patroni’s progress to the airport is
slow.

g. Vernon is looking forward to his stay in
Italy.

h. Mel can no longer fly planes.

4. What are the relationships between:

a. Mel and Vernon?

b. Mel and Keith?

c. Mel and Tanya?

d. Mel and Cindy?

e. Tanya and Patsy?

f. Vernon and Gwen?

5. Patsy throws a book at a difficult
customer. Discuss other ways of dealing with rudeness in work situations. Try
them by acting out conversations in pairs between an awkward customer and a
ticket agent at a ticket desk.

Chapters 9-16

Before
you read

6. List the problems facing Mel Bakersfeld
both professionally and personally. Which problems are easier to solve? Which
are more difficult?

7. Find these words in your dictionary: abortion, airline, chairman, parachute,
policy, radar.

Circle the correct word to complete each
sentence below.

a. The system showed the position of the
aeroplane.

(i) radar

(ii) airline

b. The ………… of the company made all the
important decisions.

(i) policy

(ii) chairman

c. We chose to travel with an independent…………
with a good record for safety and efficiency.

(i) parachute

(ii) airline

d. After her husband died, Mrs Crane
collected money from his insurance …………

(i) policy

(ii) chairman

e. Because of medical problems, Mrs Jackson
had to have …………

(i) an abortion

(ii) radar

f The aeroplane was in trouble. The captain
told the passengers to put on their …………

(i) policies

(ii) parachutes

After you read

8. Answer the questions.

a. Why is it Important for the air traffic
controller to clear a path for Air Force KC-135 to land?

b. Why do you think Elliot Freemantle is such
a success at the Meadowood meeting?

c. What is D. O. Guerrero’s plan?

d. Why is Joe Patroni angry with the police?

e. What is Vernon surprised about in Gwen’s
apartment?

f. What news does Gwen give Vernon at the
apartment? How does he feel about the news?

g. What is the importance of the key in
Keith’s pocket?

h. What help does Tanya want from Ada
Quonsett?

i. Why is Cindy planning to come and see Mel
at the airport?

j. What was the reason for Mel and Vernon’s
big argument? Who won?

9. Describe the air traffic radar room in
which Keith works.

10. Describe Keith’s plan and explain the
reasons behind it.

Chapters 17-24

Before
you read

11. What preparations do you imagine are made
before a plane is ready for passengers to come on board?

After you read

12. What do you know about the Golden Argosy?

a. Which airline owns the plane?

b. Where Is it leaving from and where is it
going to?

c. Which gate do passengers leave from?

d. Who is flying the plane? Who Is with him
at the plane’s controls?

e. Name one of the air hostesses on the
flight.

f. Why is the flight delayed?

g. What does it fly over immediately after
take-off?

h. Which passenger’s name does not appear on
the passenger list?

i. Which passenger has no intention of
completing the journey?

13. If Guerrero succeeds, what are the police
likely to find out about his movements before he boarded the plane? Who should
they interview?

14. What do you think Gwen and Vernon will
decide about their baby? What decisions do you think they should make?

Chapters 25-32

Before you read

15. Inez Guerrero is left sitting outside
Mel’s office by the police chief. What do you think she believes her husband is
doing? What do you think she will do next?

After you read

16. Correct the statements that are false.

a. Mel is upset about losing Cindy.

b. Mrs Quonsett is about sixty years old and
dressed in black.

c. Harris does not believe in abortion.

d. Ada Quonsett is sitting behind Guerrero.

e. Mel becomes very angry with Elliott
Freeman.

17. Answer these questions.

a What facts do the airport team discover
about Guerrero to worry them?

b How does the Aéreo-Mexican pilot make Joe
Patroni’s job more difficult?

c Why does Ordway think Bunnie was crazy to
sell Guerrero an insurance policy?

d What does Inez tell Ordway that makes them
sure Guerrero has a bomb?

18 Describe Vernon’s plan and what happens
when they try to carry it out.

Chapters 33-41

Before you read

19. What do you think happens in the plane as
a result of the bomb going off?

After you read

20. Correct this paragraph to describe how
the story really ends.

Guerrero’s bomb blows a hole in the side of
the plane, killing Gwen and injuring others. Vernon takes the plane down to ten
thousand feet so that the passengers can breathe. At the airport, Mel fails to
persuade the people of Meadowood to go home. He urgently needs to clear the
blocked runway so that the plane can take off. The plane that is stuck is
pushed to one side with snowploughs just in time. Keith is too upset to guide
the Golden Argosy down, but it lands safely.

21. How does the story end for:

a. Mel and Cindy?

b. Gwen’s unborn child?

c. Keith?

d. Joe Patroni?

e. Mel and Tanya?

22. Discuss which characters have grown
stronger as a result of this terrible night, and how this is shown in the
story?

Writing

23. Write a newspaper report describing how
Joe Patroni managed to clear the runway.

24. Imagine that you live in one of the
Meadowood houses. Write a letter of complaint to the airport authorities, and propose
a solution to the noise problem.

25. Describe what happened on the Golden
Argosy after the explosion, from the point of view of one of the passengers.

26. Write the letter that Guerrero wanted to
write to his wife, explaining why he feels that his plan is necessary.

27. Compare the different relationships
between men and women in this story, and the reasons why they work or fail.

28. Discuss Mel Bakersfeld’s view that it is
perhaps better not to know about an airport’s dangers and weaknesses.