READING An unexpected journey

1. Look at the headline. What do you think the story is about?

A free flight to Dubai

A twenty-three-year-old student has enjoyed a short but unexpected holiday in Dubai.
Mr Frank Vreede, a business student, had taken a part-time job at Schiphol Airport to
help pay for his studies. He work as a baggage handler and was responsible for
loading the suitcases into the hold of passenger planes.
Last Friday night, after an exhausting day in the university library preparing for
his final exams, Frank was loading a plane at the airport. He was waiting for the next
baggage truck to arrive and he felt tired. He decided to have a quick rest, so he sat
down in the hold of the plane and shut his eyes – just for a moment.
However, while he was sleeping, the plane took off. An hour later, Frank woke
up and was horrified to discover that the plane was in the air. There was a terrible
noise from the engines, and he tried not to panic. It was dark, uncomfortable and very,
very cold. Frank knew the flight would be long because it was an airline from the
Middle East. He also knew he could not survive the freezing temperatures. It was an
impossible situation.
He decided to make as much noise as possible. He banged on the ceiling of the
baggage hold and houted at the top of his voice. Luckily, a passenger heard the noise
and called a flight attendant, who immediately informed the pilot. Once the captain
understood what was happening, he ordered hot air to be pumped into the hold.
When the plane arrived at Dubai International Airport, an ambulance was waiting
to take a very cold and frightened Mr Vreede to hospital. Doctors examined him, but
he was unhurt and was allowed to leave after a few hours. News spread quickly
about this ‘stowaway’. The Managing Director of one Dubai’s top hotels offered him
a free room for the weekend. ’He must have wanted to come to Dubai very much if
he was prepared to travel in the hold!’ joked the MD.
‘Everyone’s been so kind,’ said Mr Vreede. ‘I;m really enjoying my stay in Dubai
and I’m getting a lot of rest, so I won’t fall asleep on the job again!’
When frank returned to Schiphol Airport on Monday, his friends and relatives
were overjoyed to see him. ‘When he didn’t come home after his evening shift on
Friday, I called the airport – but nobody had seen him for hours,’ his mother said to
reporters. Frank explained that he was very lucky because it is possible to die of cold
in the hold of an aircraft. He apologized to his boss for sleeping at work instead of
working, and promised it would not happen again. ‘During the flight I was petrified. I
thought I was going to die!’ said Mr Vreede. ‘I wouldn’t want to do it again. Nexst
time, I’ll catch a regular flight!’

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2. Make questions about the article. Use the question words in the box.

Why … ? Where … ? Who ….? When … ? What …. ? How …. ?

Example: Why was it a free flight?

3. Read the article and answer the questions.

1) Who is the article about?

2) What other people are mentioned in the article?
3) Where did the events happen?
4) When did the events happen?
5) What was the problem?
6) How was the problem solved?

4. Read STUDY SKILL. Copy the table. Guess the meaning of the words in bold in the
article A Free flight to Dubai. Use the part of speech and the context to help.

STUDY SKILL Meaning fom context

Texts often contain words we don’t know. Looking up every word takes time and
slows down your reading.

To help you guess the meaning from the context:

 Look at the words and sentences around the unknown word.
 Identify the part of speech.
 Use your knowledge of the world (what you already know about the
situation).
 Think about whether the world has a generally negative or positive meaning.
 Replace the unknown word with another word with a similar meaning and
check that it makes sense in the sentence.

Word Part of speech Context Guess

Baggage noun Job or duty / airport responsible Person who puts
handler for loading suitcases/passenger bags on a plane
planes

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5. WRITING Mistaken identity
Look at paragraph 1 of the newspaper article A Case of Mistaken Identity below.
Separate it into six sentences. Punctuate the sentences correctly. To do these, read
STUDY SKILL.

STUDY SKILL Sentences

 Write short, clear sentences.

 Join ideas and sentences using linking words, for example, however, after,
etc.
 Punctuate correctly using capital letters, full stops, question marks, and
exclamation marks.

6. Complete paragraph 2 of the article using the words in the box.

after and unfortunately but because so

7. Read the beginning of paragraphs 3 and 4 of the article. Choose which sentences, a
or b, from 1 – 5 belong to each paragraph. Write the paragraphs.

a Then the car stopped in front of a large conference centre. Paragraph 3

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b He told John that everything was ready for him. Paragraph 4
a Mr taylor jumped out of the car with his briefcase and rushed into the
2 centre.
b ‘Follow me, please,’ he said.
a John Taylor got up, checked his tie was straight, and picked up his briefcase.
3
b There, to his relief, he was greeted in English by the conference organizer.
a He followed the organizer out of the room.
4 b ‘Welcome to Paris, Mr Taylor,’ said the smartly-dressed organizer and he led
John Taylor down a long corridor and into a small room.
a After giving Mr Taylor a coffee, the organizer went off to make sure
everything was ready.
5
b The organizer opened a door and led Joh Taylor into a large hall full of
…school children!

8. Look at the next paragraphs. Which is paragraph 5/ which is paragraph 6? Read

STUDY SKILL.

STUDY SKILL Paragraph

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 To help your writing flow:
 Group ideas on the same topic together in one paragraph.
 Make sure there is a clear link between the content of one paragraph and the
next.
9. Read paragraph 1 of the article again. Find an example of the Present Perfect, Past
Simple, Past Continuous, and Past Perfect. Read STUDY SKILL.

STUDY SKILL Varying the structure

Interesting writing often contains a variety of tenses.
For example:
 Past simple – It was a comfortable flight.
 Past Continuous – He was loading a plane at the airport.
 Present Perfect – He has been to France before.
 Past Perfect – He had taken a part-time job at the airport.

A case of mistaken identity

1 have you ever been mistaken for someone else last week Mr John Taylor, an
Australian businessman, went to Paris for an important meeting he was sent by
Australian government to give a speech to French businessmen and women it was to
encourage more trade it was, therefore, a very important speech and Mr Taylor had
prepared it carefully at the same time a Mr Paul Taylor was also travelling on the
same flight to Paris
2 it was a comfortable flight 1 ___________ his plane arrived on time. John Taylor
was expecting a driver to pick him up from the airport. 2 _________ going through
customs and immigration control, he went to find the driver. He saw a man who was
holding a sign saying ‘Mr Taylor’. 3 _________ he introduced himself. The driver
replied in French. 4 ____________, Mr Taylor did not speak French, 5 ________ he
did understand the words ‘hotel’ and ‘seminar’. 6 _________ the meeting was early
that morning. John Taylor decided to go straight to the seminar. He nodded his head
at the driver and repeated ‘seminar’.
3 While the car was speeding through Paris, Mr Taylor went through his note one
more time.____________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
4 The organizer returned a few minutes later. _____________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________

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_____________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________

Paragraph
This case of mistaken identity was quickly noticed and put right. Both Mr
Taylors, Paul and John, were put into taxis and driven at great speed to their correct
meetings.
Fortunately, both presentations were hugely successful, as they discovered
when they were seated next to each other on the flight back to Australia!

Paragraph

John Taylor looked around in horror at the children. Then he heard the organizer
asking them to welcome Mr Paul Taylor. He was going to tell them about kangaroo
farming in Australia! Meanwhile, on the other side of the city, Mr Paul Taylor was
also in a large hall full of people. Paul, dressed in blue jeans and cowboy boots, was
staring in horror at 200 smartly-suited businessmen and women.