Breaking News English

Home | Help This Site

Air France plane in bomb scare (22nd December, 2015)

The Reading / Listening - Level 3

There was a bomb scare on an Air France flight on Sunday. The plane was flying from the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius to Paris. A passenger found a strange-looking device made from a kitchen timer, cardboard and paper in a toilet. They alerted staff and the pilot decided to make an emergency landing in the Kenyan port city of Mombasa, which was the nearest airport. Air France's CEO Frederic Gagey said the device was harmless and caused a "false alarm". He said that someone probably put it in the toilet at some point during the flight. Mr Gagey added: "All the information available to us at the moment indicates that the object was not capable of creating an explosion or damaging a plane."

Some of the passengers were put on alternative flights to Paris. Five others are being questioned by the police. A Kenyan police chief told the Reuters news agency that: "[Some people] are now airborne, but a few among them, who we we're interrogating, have remained with us, until ongoing investigations are done." The plane was carrying 459 passengers and 14 crew members. One of those on board said the crew told them that the plane was being diverted because of a technical problem. He said: "The plane just went down, slowly, slowly, slowly, so we just realised probably something was wrong." He added: "The crew of Air France were just great, just wonderful. They kept everybody calm and really quiet.

Try the same news story at these easier levels:

Level 0, Level 1 or Level 2

Sources

http://www.reuters.com/article/kenya-airlines-airfrance-idUSKBN0U30BF20151221
http://www.the-star.co.ke/news/2015/12/21/5-held-in-mombasa-bomb-found-in-air-france-plane_c1264005
https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/travel/experts-jet-crew-shouldnt-tell-passengers-of-bomb-scare/2015/12/20/dad0d4b2-a793-11e5-b596-113f59ee069a_story.html

Make sure you try all of the online activities for this reading and listening - There are dictations, multiple choice, drag and drop activities, crosswords, hangman, flash cards, matching activities and a whole lot more. Please enjoy :-)

The 40 Lesson Activities on the PDF Handout

WARM-UPS

1. FLYING: Students walk around the class and talk to other students about Flying. Change partners often and share your findings.

2. CHAT: In pairs / groups, talk about these topics or words from the article. What will the article say about them? What can you say about these words and your life?

bomb / scare / passenger / timer / pilot / airport / device / false alarm / toilet / flight / passengers / questioned / police chief / airborne / investigations / crew / technical

Have a chat about the topics you liked. Change topics and partners frequently.

3. AIRPLANES: What are the good and bad things about these? How can we make them better? Complete this table with your partner(s). Change partners often and share what you wrote.

	Good	Bad	Improvements
Safety
Check-in
Comfort
Food
Entertainment
Booking

4. AIR SAFETY: Students A strongly believe air safety is excellent at the moment; Students B strongly believe it isn't. Change partners again and talk about your conversations.

MY e-BOOK

ESL resource book with copiable worksheets and handouts - 1,000 Ideas and Activities for Language Teachers / English teachers

See a sample

5. TRANSPORT: Rank these with your partner. Put the best way to travel at the top. Change partners often and share your rankings.

• airplane

• coach

• train

• motorbike

• boat

• taxi

• bicycle

• helicopter

6. SCARE: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word "scare". Share your words with your partner(s) and talk about them. Together, put the words into different categories.

BEFORE READING / LISTENING

1. TRUE / FALSE: Read the headline. Guess if a-h below are true (T) or false (F).

a.	The Air France plane was flying over the Atlantic Ocean.	T / F
b.	The device on the plane was made from a kitchen timer.	T / F
c.	The plane landed in Kenya.	T / F
d.	The device found on the plane was very dangerous.	T / F
e.	All of the passengers on the flight were held for questioning by police.	T / F
f.	Crew told passengers on the flight that there was a technical problem.	T / F
g.	The plan went down to land very quickly.	T / F
h.	The crew kept everyone on the plane very quiet.	T / F

2. SYNONYM MATCH: Match the following synonyms from the article.

1.	device	a.	redirected
2.	alerted	b.	in
3.	harmless	c.	harming
4.	during	d.	different
5.	damaging	e.	warned
6.	alternative	f.	relaxed
7.	interrogating	g.	gadget
8.	diverted	h.	noticed
9.	realised	i.	safe
10.	calm	j.	questioning

3. PHRASE MATCH: (Sometimes more than one choice is possible.)

1.	a strange-	a.	alarm
2.	make an emergency	b.	problem
3.	caused a false	c.	flights
4.	All the information available to	d.	an explosion
5.	not capable of creating	e.	investigations
6.	passengers were put on alternative	f.	wrong
7.	ongoing	g.	landing
8.	technical	h.	calm
9.	something was	i.	us at the moment
10.	They kept everybody	j.	looking device

GAP FILL

There was a bomb scare on an Air France flight on Sunday. The plane was flying from the Indian Ocean (1) ____________ of Mauritius to Paris. A passenger found a strange-looking (2) ____________ made from a kitchen timer, cardboard and paper in a toilet. They (3) ____________ staff and the pilot decided to make an emergency landing in the Kenyan port city of Mombasa, which was the (4) ____________ airport. Air France's CEO Frederic Gagey said the device was (5) ____________ and caused a "(6) ____________ alarm". He said that someone probably put it in the toilet at some point (7) ____________ the flight. Mr Gagey added: "All the information available to us at the moment indicates that the object was not (8) ____________ of creating an explosion or damaging a plane."

device
harmless
during
alerted
capable
island
false
nearest

Some of the passengers were put on (9) ____________ flights to Paris. Five others are being (10) ____________ by the police. A Kenyan police chief told the Reuters news agency that: "[Some people] are now airborne, but a few (11) ____________ them, who we were interrogating, have remained with us, until (12) ____________ investigations are done." The plane was carrying 459 passengers and 14 crew members. One of those on (13) ____________ said the crew told them that the plane was being (14) ____________ because of a technical problem. He said: "The plane just went down, slowly, slowly, slowly, so we just realised (15) ____________ something was wrong." He added: "The crew of Air France were just (16) ____________, just wonderful. They kept everybody calm and really quiet."

among
alternative
diverted
questioned
great
board
probably
ongoing

LISTENING - Guess the answers. Listen to check.

1)	A passenger found a strange-looking device made from ______
	a. a kitchen time b. a kitchen timer c. a kitchen timing d. a kitchen timed
2)	They alerted staff and the pilot decided to make an emergency landing in the Kenyan ______
	a. port city for Mombasa b. port city from Mombasa c. port city off Mombasa d. port city of Mombasa
3)	Air France's CEO Frederic Gagey said the device was harmless and ______
	a. caused a falsely alarm b. caused a false alarm c. caused a falsify alarm d. caused a falsified alarm
4)	He said that someone probably put it in the toilet at some point ______
	a. during the flights b. during that flight c. during this flight d. during the flight
5)	the object was not capable of creating an explosion or ______
	a. damage in a plane b. damaged a plane c. damaged in a plane d. damaging a plane
6)	Some of the passengers were put on alternative ______
	a. flightless to Paris b. flight to Paris c. flights to Paris d. frights to Paris
7)	The plane was carrying 459 passengers and ______
	a. 14 clue members b. 14 crew members c. 14 glue members d. 14 grew members
8)	the plane was being diverted because of a ______
	a. technician problem b. technicality problem c. technically problem d. technical problem
9)	The plane just went down, slowly, slowly, slowly, so we just realised probably ______
	a. something was wronged b. something was wrongly c. something was wrong d. something was wrongs
10)	The crew of Air France were just great, just wonderful. They ______
	a. swept everybody calm b. kept everybody calmly c. kept everybody calm d. kept everybody calmed

LISTENING – Listen and fill in the gaps

There was (1) ___________________ an Air France flight on Sunday. The plane was flying from the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius to Paris. A passenger found (2) ___________________ device made from a kitchen timer, cardboard and paper in a toilet. They alerted staff and the pilot (3) ___________________ an emergency landing in the Kenyan port city of Mombasa, (4) ___________________ nearest airport. Air France's CEO Frederic Gagey said the device was harmless and caused a "false alarm". He said that someone probably put it in the toilet (5) ___________________ during the flight. Mr Gagey added: "All the information available to us at the moment indicates that the object was not capable of creating an explosion or (6) ___________________."

Some of the passengers (7) ___________________ alternative flights to Paris. Five others are being questioned by the police. A Kenyan police chief told the Reuters (8) ___________________: "[Some people] are now airborne, (9) ___________________ them, who we were interrogating, have remained with us, until ongoing investigations are done." The plane was carrying 459 passengers and 14 crew members. (10) ___________________ board said the crew told them that the plane was being diverted because of a technical problem. He said: "The plane (11) ___________________, slowly, slowly, slowly, so we just realised probably something was wrong." He added: "The crew of Air France were just great, just wonderful. They kept everybody (12) __________________ quiet."

COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS

1.	On what day of the week was there a bomb scare?
2.	What ocean was the plane flying over?
3.	In which country did the plane make an emergency landing?
4.	What did the Air France CEO say about the device found on board?
5.	What was the device not capable of?
6.	How many of the passengers were being questioned by police?
7.	How many passengers were on board?
8.	What excuse did the crew give passengers for landing earlier?
9.	How did the plane go down?
10.	Who kept the passengers calm?

MULTIPLE CHOICE - QUIZ

1.	On what day of the week was there a bomb scare?	6.	How many of the passengers were being questioned by police?
	a) Monday b) Sunday c) Tuesday d) Wednesday		a) 5 b) 6 c) 7 d) 8
2.	What ocean was the plane flying over?	7.	How many passengers were on board?
	a) the Atlantic Ocean b) the Pacific Ocean c) the Indian Ocean d) the Antarctic Ocean		a) 456 b) 457 c) 458 d) 459
3.	In which country did the plane make an emergency landing?	8.	What excuse did the crew give passengers for landing earlier?
	a) Croatia b) United Arab Emirates c) Seychelles d) Kenya		a) there was a possible bomb on board b) some passengers were sick c) there was a technical problem d) there was turbulence ahead
4.	What did the Air France CEO say about the device found on board?	9.	How did the plane go down?
	a) it was dangerous b) it was harmless c) it was mysterious d) it didn't work so well		a) smoothly b) bumpily c) quickly d) slowly
5.	What was the device not capable of?	10.	Who kept the passengers calm?
	a) exploding b) radio contact c) turning on d) timing		a) the pilot b) the crew c) a comedian d) other passengers

ROLE PLAY

Role A – Airplane

You think airplane is the best way to travel. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them things that are wrong with their ways of travelling. Also, tell the others which is the worst of these (and why): train, boat or bicycle.

Role B – Train

You think train is the best way to travel. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them things that are wrong with their ways of travelling. Also, tell the others which is the worst of these (and why): airplane, boat or bicycle.

Role C – Boat

You think boat is the best way to travel. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them things that are wrong with their ways of travelling. Also, tell the others which is the worst of these (and why): train, airplane or bicycle.

Role D – Bicycle

You think bicycle is the best way to travel. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them things that are wrong with their ways of travelling. Also, tell the others which is the worst of these (and why): train, boat or airplane.

AFTER READING / LISTENING

1. WORD SEARCH: Look in your dictionary / computer to find collocates, other meanings, information, synonyms … for the words 'bomb' and 'scare'.

bomb

scare

Share your findings with your partners.

Make questions using the words you found.
Ask your partner / group your questions.

2. ARTICLE QUESTIONS: Look back at the article and write down some questions you would like to ask the class about the text.

Share your questions with other classmates / groups.
Ask your partner / group your questions.

3. GAP FILL: In pairs / groups, compare your answers to this exercise. Check your answers. Talk about the words from the activity. Were they new, interesting, worth learning…?

4. VOCABULARY: Circle any words you do not understand. In groups, pool unknown words and use dictionaries to find their meanings.

5. TEST EACH OTHER: Look at the words below. With your partner, try to recall how they were used in the text:

Sunday
strange
toilet
harmless
during
damaging

others
chief
few
459
technical
calm

FLYING SURVEY

Write five GOOD questions about Flying in the table. Do this in pairs. Each student must write the questions on his / her own paper.

When you have finished, interview other students. Write down their answers.

	STUDENT 1 _____________	STUDENT 2 _____________	STUDENT 3 _____________
Q.1.
Q.2.
Q.3.
Q.4.
Q.5.

Now return to your original partner and share and talk about what you found out. Change partners often.

Make mini-presentations to other groups on your findings.

FLYING DISCUSSION

STUDENT A’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student B)

1)	What did you think when you read the headline?
2)	What springs to mind when you hear the word 'flying'?
3)	What do you think about what you read?
4)	What do you worry about when you fly?
5)	What should happen to the person who made this bomb scare?
6)	Do you worry about terrorism?
7)	How scary would it have been on the Air France plane?
8)	What things do you like about flying?
9)	How can we make airports and airplanes safer?
10)	Why do you think the person did this?

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

STUDENT B’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student A)

11)	Did you like reading this article? Why/not?
12)	What advice would you give someone who was afraid of flying?
13)	What would you have done if you had been on that flight?
14)	What should the crew tell passengers in situations like this?
15)	What do you do on an airplane to pass the time?
16)	What is your favourite airline and why?
17)	What do you think it's like to be a pilot?
18)	What are the good and bad things about being a flight attendant?
19)	How professional do you think airline crew are?
20)	What would you like to ask a passenger on the flight?

DISCUSSION (Write your own questions)

STUDENT A’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student B)
1.	________________________________________________________
2.	________________________________________________________
3.	________________________________________________________
4.	________________________________________________________
5.	________________________________________________________
6.	________________________________________________________

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

STUDENT B’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student A)
1.	________________________________________________________
2.	________________________________________________________
3.	________________________________________________________
4.	________________________________________________________
5.	________________________________________________________
6.	________________________________________________________

LANGUAGE - CLOZE

There was a bomb scare on an Air France flight on Sunday. The plane was (1) ____ from the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius to Paris. A passenger found a strange-looking device made from a kitchen (2) ____, cardboard and paper in a toilet. They alerted staff and the pilot decided to (3) ____ an emergency landing in the Kenyan port city of Mombasa, which was the nearest airport. Air France's CEO Frederic Gagey said the device was (4) ____ and caused a "false alarm". He said that someone probably put it in the toilet at some (5) ____ during the flight. Mr Gagey added: "All the information available to us at the moment indicates that the object was not (6) ____ of creating an explosion or damaging a plane."

Some of the passengers were put on alternative flights to Paris. Five others are (7) ____ questioned by the police. A Kenyan police chief told the Reuters news agency that: "[Some people] are now airborne, but a (8) ____ among them, who we were interrogating, have remained with us, until (9) ____ investigations are done." The plane was carrying 459 passengers and 14 crew members. One of those on board said the crew told them that the plane was being (10) ____ because of a technical problem. He said: "The plane just went down, slowly, slowly, slowly, (11) ____ we just realised probably something was wrong." He added: "The crew of Air France were just great, just wonderful. They kept everybody calm and really (12) ____."

Put the correct words from the table below in the above article.

1.	(a)	flies	(b)	flight	(c)	flown	(d)	flying
2.	(a)	timing	(b)	times	(c)	timed	(d)	timer
3.	(a)	be	(b)	make	(c)	done	(d)	land
4.	(a)	harmed	(b)	harm	(c)	harmless	(d)	harming
5.	(a)	point	(b)	dot	(c)	angle	(d)	line
6.	(a)	capable	(b)	able	(c)	ability	(d)	capability
7.	(a)	was	(b)	be	(c)	been	(d)	being
8.	(a)	few	(b)	several	(c)	numeral	(d)	two
9.	(a)	oncoming	(b)	ongoing	(c)	outgoing	(d)	going
10.	(a)	diverse	(b)	diversion	(c)	diverted	(d)	divisive
11.	(a)	such	(b)	for	(c)	so	(d)	of
12.	(a)	quite	(b)	quiet	(c)	quit	(d)	quilt

SPELLING

Paragraph 1
1.	a strange-looking eviced
2.	They elderat staff
3.	make an gcemryeen landing
4.	All the information abalvleia to us
5.	creating an sxoilpeon
6.	amgiadng a plane
Paragraph 2
7.	put on lnetvteaari flights to Paris
8.	aeemdnir with us
9.	The plane was carrying 459 npaesgsser
10.	the plane was being dtrdviee
11.	because of a naehicctl problem
12.	we just ardselie (UK) / eiredlza (USA)

PUT THE TEXT BACK TOGETHER

Number these lines in the correct order.

( )	them, who we were interrogating, have remained with us, until ongoing investigations are done." The plane was
( )	moment indicates that the object was not capable of creating an explosion or damaging a plane."
( )	landing in the Kenyan port city of Mombasa, which was the nearest airport. Air France's CEO Frederic Gagey said the
( 1 )	There was a bomb scare on an Air France flight on Sunday. The plane was flying from the Indian
( )	device was harmless and caused a "false alarm". He said that someone probably put it in the toilet at some
( )	Some of the passengers were put on alternative flights to Paris. Five others are being questioned by the
( )	slowly, slowly, so we just realised probably something was wrong." He added: "The crew of Air France
( )	were just great, just wonderful. They kept everybody calm and really quiet."
( )	point during the flight. Mr Gagey added: "All the information available to us at the
( )	carrying 459 passengers and 14 crew members. One of those on board said the crew told them that the plane was
( )	Ocean island of Mauritius to Paris. A passenger found a strange-looking device made from a kitchen
( )	timer, cardboard and paper in a toilet. They alerted staff and the pilot decided to make an emergency
( )	police. A Kenyan police chief told the Reuters news agency that: "[Some people] are now airborne, but a few among
( )	being diverted because of a technical problem. He said: "The plane just went down, slowly,

PUT THE WORDS IN THE RIGHT ORDER

1.	on a flight an bomb There on Air scare was Sunday France .
2.	made from a kitchen timer A strange - looking device .
3.	emergency decided landing to make The an pilot .
4.	alarm" was harmless and caused a "false . The device
5.	information us moment the to the All available at .
6.	flights of were alternative Some passengers on the put .
7.	the are police being questioned Five by others .
8.	plane was being diverted because of a technical problem The .
9.	probably realised just We wrong was something .
10.	calm everybody kept They quiet really and .

CIRCLE THE CORRECT WORD (20 PAIRS)

There was a bomb / bombing scare on an Air France flight on Sunday. The plane was flight / flying from the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius to Paris. A passenger found a strange-looking device made from a kitchen timing / timer, cardboard and paper in a toilet. They alert / alerted staff and the pilot decided to make an emergency landed / landing in the Kenyan port city of Mombasa, which was the nearest airport. Air France's CEO Frederic Gagey said the device was harmless and caused a "false / falsely alarm". He said that someone probably put it in the toilet at / by some point during the flight. Mr Gagey added: "All the information available as / to us at the moment indicates that the subject / object was not capable of / for creating an explosion or damaging a plane."

Some of the passengers were put on alternative flights / flight to Paris. Five others are being questioned by / to the police. A Kenyan police chief told the Reuters news agency that: "[Some people] are now airborne, but a few among / between them, who we were interrogating, have reminded / remained with us, until ongoing investigations are doing / done." The plane was carrying / carried 459 passengers and 14 crew members. One of those on board / bored said the crew told them that the plane was being diversion / diverted because of a technical problem. He said: "The plane just went down, slowly, slowly, slowly, so we just realised probably / probable something was wrong." He added: "The crew of Air France were just great, just wonderful. They kept everybody calm and really quite / quiet."

Talk about the connection between each pair of words in italics, and why the correct word is correct.

INSERT THE VOWELS (a, e, i, o, u)

Th_r_ w_s _ b_mb sc_r_ _n _n __r Fr_nc_ fl_ght _n S_nd_y. Th_ pl_n_ w_s fly_ng fr_m th_ _nd__n _c__n _sl_nd _f M__r_t__s t_ P_r_s. _ p_ss_ng_r f__nd _ str_ng_-l__k_ng d_v_c_ m_d_ fr_m _ k_tch_n t_m_r, c_rdb__rd _nd p_p_r _n _ t__l_t. Th_y _l_rt_d st_ff _nd th_ p_l_t d_c_d_d t_ m_k_ _n _m_rg_ncy l_nd_ng _n th_ K_ny_n p_rt c_ty _f M_mb_s_, wh_ch w_s th_ n__r_st __rp_rt. __r Fr_nc_'s C__ Fr_d_r_c G_g_y s__d th_ d_v_c_ w_s h_rml_ss _nd c__s_d _ "f_ls_ _l_rm". H_ s__d th_t s_m__n_ pr_b_bly p_t _t _n th_ t__l_t _t s_m_ p__nt d_r_ng th_ fl_ght. Mr G_g_y _dd_d: "_ll th_ _nf_rm_t__n _v__l_bl_ t_ _s _t th_ m_m_nt _nd_c_t_s th_t th_ _bj_ct w_s n_t c_p_bl_ _f cr__t_ng _n _xpl_s__n _r d_m_g_ng _ pl_n_."

S_m_ _f th_ p_ss_ng_rs w_r_ p_t _n _lt_rn_t_v_ fl_ghts t_ P_r_s. F_v_ _th_rs _r_ b__ng q__st__n_d by th_ p_l_c_. _ K_ny_n p_l_c_ ch__f t_ld th_ R__t_rs n_ws _g_ncy th_t: "[S_m_ p__pl_] _r_ n_w __rb_rn_, b_t _ f_w _m_ng th_m, wh_ w_ w_'r_ _nt_rr_g_t_ng, h_v_ r_m__n_d w_th _s, _nt_l _ng__ng _nv_st_g_t__ns _r_ d_n_." Th_ pl_n_ w_s c_rry_ng 459 p_ss_ng_rs _nd 14 cr_w m_mb_rs. _n_ _f th_s_ _n b__rd s__d th_ cr_w t_ld th_m th_t th_ pl_n_ w_s b__ng d_v_rt_d b_c__s_ _f _ t_chn_c_l pr_bl_m. H_ s__d: "Th_ pl_n_ j_st w_nt d_wn, sl_wly, sl_wly, sl_wly, s_ w_ j_st r__l_s_d pr_b_bly s_m_th_ng w_s wr_ng." H_ _dd_d: "Th_ cr_w _f __r Fr_nc_ w_r_ j_st gr__t, j_st w_nd_rf_l. Th_y k_pt _v_ryb_dy c_lm _nd r__lly q___t."

PUNCTUATE THE TEXT AND ADD CAPITALS

there was a bomb scare on an air france flight on sunday the plane was flying from the indian ocean island of mauritius to paris a passenger found a strange-looking device made from a kitchen timer cardboard and paper in a toilet they alerted staff and the pilot decided to make an emergency landing in the kenyan port city of mombasa which was the nearest airport air france's ceo frederic gagey said the device was harmless and caused a "false alarm" he said that someone probably put it in the toilet at some point during the flight mr gagey added "all the information available to us at the moment indicates that the object was not capable of creating an explosion or damaging a plane"

some of the passengers were put on alternative flights to paris five others are being questioned by the police a kenyan police chief told the reuters news agency that "[some people] are now airborne but a few among them who we were interrogating have remained with us until ongoing investigations are done" the plane was carrying 459 passengers and 14 crew members one of those on board said the crew told them that the plane was being diverted because of a technical problem he said "the plane just went down slowly slowly slowly so we just realised probably something was wrong" he added "the crew of air france were just great just wonderful they kept everybody calm and really quiet"

PUT A SLASH ( / ) WHERE THE SPACES ARE

TherewasabombscareonanAirFranceflightonSunday.Theplanewasfl
yingfromtheIndianOceanislandofMauritiustoParis.Apassengerfound
astrange-lookingdevicemadefromakitchentimer,cardboardandpa
perinatoilet.Theyalertedstaffandthepilotdecidedtomakeanemergen
cylandingintheKenyanportcityofMombasa,whichwasthenearestairp
ort.AirFrance'sCEOFredericGageysaidthedevicewasharmlessandca
useda"falsealarm".Hesaidthatsomeoneprobablyputitinthetoiletatso
mepointduringtheflight.MrGageyadded:"Alltheinformationavailable
tousatthemomentindicatesthattheobjectwasnotcapableofcreatinga
nexplosionordamagingaplane."Someofthepassengerswereputonalt
ernativeflightstoParis.Fiveothersarebeingquestionedbythepolice.A
KenyanpolicechieftoldtheReutersnewsagencythat:"[Somepeople]a
renowairborne,butafewamongthem,whowewereinterrogating,hav
eremainedwithus,untilongoinginvestigationsaredone."Theplanewa
scarrying459passengersand14crewmembers.Oneofthoseonboards
aidthecrewtoldthemthattheplanewasbeingdivertedbecauseofatech
nicalproblem.Hesaid:"Theplanejustwentdown,slowly,slowly,slowly,
sowejustrealisedprobablysomethingwaswrong."Headded:"Thecrew
ofAirFrancewerejustgreat,justwonderful.Theykepteverybodycalma
ndreallyquiet."

FREE WRITING

Write about flying for 10 minutes. Comment on your partner’s paper.

_____________________________________________________________________________

ACADEMIC WRITING

Many people think it is too dangerous to fly. What do you think?

_____________________________________________________________________________

HOMEWORK

1. VOCABULARY EXTENSION: Choose several of the words from the text. Use a dictionary or Google’s search field (or another search engine) to build up more associations / collocations of each word.

2. INTERNET: Search the Internet and find out more about air safety. Share what you discover with your partner(s) in the next lesson.

3. AIRPLANES: Make a poster about airplanes. Show your work to your classmates in the next lesson. Did you all have similar things?

4. AIR SAFETY: Write a magazine article about air safety. Include imaginary interviews with people who think things are safe enough as they are, and with people who would like to see more security.

Read what you wrote to your classmates in the next lesson. Write down any new words and expressions you hear from your partner(s).

5. WHAT HAPPENED NEXT? Write a newspaper article about the next stage in this news story. Read what you wrote to your classmates in the next lesson. Give each other feedback on your articles.

6. LETTER: Write a letter to an expert on flying. Ask him/her three questions about flying. Give him/her three of your ideas. Read your letter to your partner(s) in your next lesson. Your partner(s) will answer your questions.

A Few Additional Activities for Students

Ask your students what they have read, seen or heard about this news in their own language. Students are likely to / may have have encountered this news in their L1 and therefore bring a background knowledge to the classroom.

Get students to role play different characters from this news story.

Ask students to keep track of this news and revisit it to discuss in your next class.

Ask students to male predictions of how this news might develop in the next few days or weeks, and then revisit and discuss in a future class.

Ask students to write a follow-up story to this news.

Students role play a journalist and someone who witnessed or was a part of this news. Perhaps they could make a video of the interview.

Ask students to keep a news journal in English and add this story to their thoughts.

Also...

Buy my 1,000 Ideas and Activities for Language Teachers eBook. It has hundreds of ideas, activity templates, reproducible activities for:

News
Warm ups
Pre-reading / Post-reading
Using headlines
Working with words
While-reading / While-listening
Moving from text to speech
Post-reading / Post-listening
Discussions
Using opinions
Plans
Language
Using lists
Using quotes
Task-based activities
Role plays
Using the central characters in the article
Using themes from the news
Homework

Buy my book

$US 9.99

ANSWERS

TRUE / FALSE (p.4)

a

F

b

T

c

T

d

F

e

F

f

T

g

F

h

T

SYNONYM MATCH (p.4)

1.	device	a.	gadget
2	alerted	b.	warned
3.	harmless	c.	safe
4.	during	d.	in
5.	damaging	e.	harming
6.	alternative	f.	different
7.	interrogating	g.	questioning
8.	diverted	h.	redirected
9.	realised	i.	noticed
10.	calm	j.	relaxed

COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS (p.8)

1.	Sunday
2.	The Indian Ocean
3.	Kenya
4.	It was harmless
5.	Creating an explosion
6.	Five
7.	459
8.	There was a technical problem
9.	Slowly
10.	The crew

MULTIPLE CHOICE - QUIZ (p.9)

1.

b

2.

c

3.

d

4.

b

5.

a

6.

a

7.

d

8.

c

9.

d

10.

b

ALL OTHER EXERCISES

Please check for yourself by looking at the Article on page 2.
(It's good for your English ;-)

Back to the top

Help Support This Web Site

Please consider helping Breaking News English.com

Sean Banville's Book

Download a sample of my book "1,000 Ideas & Activities for Language Teachers".

Breaking News English

Home | Help This Site

Air France plane in bomb scare (22nd December, 2015)

PRINT

LISTEN

READ

GRAMMAR

SPELL

WORDS