The Reading / Listening - Airplane Stowaway - Level 1

A woman hid on a Delta Air Lines airplane from New York to Paris. She was a stowaway – a person who gets on a plane without paying. The woman had a Russian passport. No airport staff saw her get on the plane. She got past many security checks. She had no boarding pass. Police say she hid in the toilets during the seven-hour flight. A flight attendant noticed the woman went to different toilets on the airplane many times.

Delta tried to fly her back to New York. However, she caused trouble while the plane was waiting to take off. A man who sat near her said the woman looked worried. She kept saying: "I do not want to go back to the USA. Only a judge can make me go back." Investigators are looking into how she got on the plane. A Delta spokesperson said nothing was more important than safety and security.

Try the same news story at these levels:

    Airplane Stowaway - Level 0 Airplane Stowaway - Level 2   or  Airplane Stowaway - Level 3

Sources
  • https://edition.cnn.com/2024/11/30/us/delta-stowaway-passenger-return-flight/index.html
  • https://www.cbsnews.com/news/stowaway-who-flew-new-york-to-paris-creates-disturbance-return-flight-to-u-s/
  • https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/airline-news/2024/11/28/delta-airlines-tsa-stowaway-nyc-paris-flight/76639097007/


Make sure you try all of the online activities for this reading and listening - There are dictations, multiple choice activities, drag and drop activities, sentence jumbles, which word activities, text reconstructions, spelling, gap fills and a whole lot more. Please enjoy :-)

Phrase Matching

Paragraph 1

  1. She was a
  2. a person who gets on a plane
  3. The woman had a Russian
  4. No airport staff saw her get
  5. She got past many security
  6. She had no boarding
  7. during the seven-hour
  8. A flight
  1. checks
  2. without paying
  3. attendant
  4. on the plane
  5. pass
  6. flight
  7. passport
  8. stowaway

Paragraph 2

  1. Delta tried to fly her
  2. she caused
  3. the plane was waiting
  4. A man who sat
  5. the woman looked
  6. Only a judge can make
  7. how she got
  8. more important than safety
  1. on the plane
  2. near her
  3. back to New York
  4. me go back
  5. to take off
  6. and security
  7. worried
  8. trouble

Listening — Listen and fill in the gaps

A woman (1) ___________________ Delta Air Lines airplane from New York to Paris. She was a stowaway - a person who gets on a (2) ___________________. The woman had a Russian passport. No (3) ___________________ her get on the plane. She got past many security checks. She had (4) ___________________. Police say she hid in the toilets (5) ___________________-hour flight. A flight attendant noticed the woman went to different toilets on the (6) ___________________.

Delta tried to (7) ___________________ to New York. However, she (8) ___________________ the plane was waiting (9) ___________________. A man who sat near her said the woman looked worried. She kept saying: "I do not want (10) ___________________ to the USA. Only a judge can make me go back." Investigators are looking into (11) ___________________ on the plane. A Delta spokesperson said nothing was more important than (12) ___________________.

Put a slash (/) where the spaces are

AwomanhidonaDeltaAirLinesairplanefromNewYorktoParis.Shewasa
stowaway-apersonwhogetsonaplanewithoutpaying.Thewomanha
daRussianpassport.Noairportstaffsawhergetontheplane.Shegotpas
tmanysecuritychecks.Shehadnoboardingpass.Policesayshehidinthe
toiletsduringtheseven-hourflight.Aflightattendantnoticedthewoma
nwenttodifferenttoiletsontheairplanemanytimes.Deltatriedtoflyher
backtoNewYork.However,shecausedtroublewhiletheplanewaswaiti
ngtotakeoff.Amanwhosatnearhersaidthewomanlookedworried.She
keptsaying:"IdonotwanttogobacktotheUSA.Onlyajudgecanmakem
egoback."Investigatorsarelookingintohowshegotontheplane.ADelt
aspokespersonsaidnothingwasmoreimportantthansafetyandsecurit
y.

Student survey

Write five GOOD questions about this topic 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.

(Please look at page 12 of the PDF to see a photocopiable example of this activity.)

Discussion — Write your own questions

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

(a) ________________

(b) ________________

(c) ________________

(d) ________________

(e) ________________

(f) ________________

(g) ________________

(h) ________________

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

(i) ________________

(j) ________________

(k) ________________

(l) ________________

(m) ________________

(n) ________________

(o) ________________

(p) ________________

Free writing

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

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Answers

(Please check your answers against the article above.

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