UNIT 3

IN FLIGHT SERVICE

Ask a pair/some pairs of students to read the dialogue. After the teacher’s explanation,
practice the dialogue with your classmates.

Conversation #3: On the plane

The people who work inside the airplane serving food and drinks are called flight attendants.
Both men and women who have this job are called flight attendants. Listen to this conversation
that Dan has with the flight attendant when dinner is served on the flight.

Flight attendant: Chicken or pasta?

Dan: Sorry?
Flight attendant: Would you like chicken or pasta?
Dan: I’ll have the chicken.
Flight attendant: Anything to drink?
Dan: What kind of soda do you have?
Flight attendant: Coke, Diet Coke, Sprite, Orange, and Dr. Pepper.
Dan: A Diet Coke, no ice, please.
Flight attendant: Here you go.
Dan: Thanks.

Conversation Tips:

If you didn’t understand what the flight attendant said, you can say Sorry? or Pardon? to ask him or her
to repeat it.
If you want to ask for something, you can use the phrase “Can I have…?” or “Could I have…?” Practice
your pronunciation with these common requests:

 “Can I have a pillow?”

 “Can I have a blanket?”
 “Can I have a pair of headphones?” / “Could I have a headset?”
 “Could I have some water/coffee/tea?”
 “Could I have some extra napkins?”

Finally, if you need to stand up, but there is a person sitting between you and the aisle, you can say
Excuse me and make a motion to start standing up. The person sitting next to you will understand and
stand up to let you get out of your seat.

Source: https://www.espressoenglish.net/travel-english-conversations-in-the-airport/
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 A. Read the text carefully, discuss it with a friend next to you and together answer
the questions thoroughly.

Which is the safest seat on an aircraft?

The latest in our Travel Truths series looks at the safest place to be seated if you're
unlucky enough to be involved in a plane crash.
By Oliver Smith 8:50AM GMT 28 Mar 2013

Although some claim that seats over the wing of an aircraft are best (because the plane is
“strongest” there), popular opinion has it that, in the event of a plane crash, the rear of an aircraft
is the safest place to be. This theory is supported by several studies, including a recent one
featured on a Channel 4 documentary.

The producers of the documentary, The Crash, arranged for a Boeing 727 carrying cameras,
sensors and crash test dummies with breakable “bones” to be deliberately crashed into the
Sonoran Desert in Mexico.

After hitting the ground, the front of the plane and the first 11 rows of seats – usually reserved
for first-class, business-class or premium-economy passengers – were ripped off. A force of 12G
was recorded in this section of the aircraft. Further back, the force fell to around 6G. Experts
concluded that none of the plane’s first-class passengers would have survived, but 78 percent of
the other passengers would have, with the chance of survival increasing the closer they were
sitting to the rear of the aircraft. According to a survey by sunshine.co.uk, the results of the
study led to a sharp fall in the number of enquiries for first-class seats.

Though an analysis of a single crash is hardly decisive, its findings did support a study by
Popular Mechanics, carried out in 2007. The magazine analysed all crashes since 1971 and
found that those in rear seats (behind the wing’s trailing edge) were safest – survival rates were
69 per cent as opposed to 56 per cent over the wing and 49 per cent for those at the front of the
plane.

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Despite such research, the world’s two biggest aircraft manufacturers insist that no conclusive
evidence is available.

“One seat is as safe as another,” said a spokesman for Boeing. “Especially if you stay buckled
up.” That is an important point. Last year’s study in Mexico also saw three dummies placed in
the same row, but in different positions: one in the brace position and wearing a seatbelt, one
buckled up but sat normally, and one sat normally minus the belt. The unfastened traveller
would have been the only one to perish, experts claimed. And as we pointed out in this column
last week, the most common cause of injury on an aircraft is when a plane is jolted by turbulence
and passengers are wandering around the cabin, or not wearing a seatbelt. To avoid injuries from
falling luggage or out-of-control dining carts, then surely a window seat is best?

Airbus said much the same as its rival, adding dryly that: “the safest aircraft is one that doesn’t
crash and is well maintained”. Quite. It cited certification processes and evacuation testing –
adding that the world’s biggest aircraft, the A380, can be emptied of 850 passengers, in pitch
darkness with half the doors closed, in under 90 seconds.

This evacuation issue is also a key. Contrary to the popular belief, the majority of plane crashes
are survivable. One US government analysis of all 568 plane crashes in the US between 1993
and 2000, involving 53,487 passengers and crew, found that 51,207 – or over 90 per cent –
survived. Even on the 26 crashes deemed the worst, more than half walked away. So surely a
seat close to an exit would be safest? That theory is supported by a University of Greenwich
study, commissioned by the CAA. Researchers checked the accounts of 2,000 survivors in 105
accidents around the world. Those sat more than six rows from an exit were found to be far less
likely to survive, though the difference between window and aisle seat was “marginal”.

Conclusion
Flying is very safe. The odds of being killed on a single flight are 1 in 4.7 million, according to
the website planecrashinfo.com.
But you might raise that figure slightly by sitting in economy class, with your seat belt fastened,
by the window, within a few rows of an emergency exit.

1. Have you ever flown before? What is the name of the airline did you use?
2. How was the service when you are flying?
3. How many kinds of seat are there in a plane? What are they?
4. Based on the article above, which seat on a plane is the safest?
5. What is the meaning of “buckle up”?
6. In your opinion, what preparations should be done by the airline to flight save?
7. Is it possible for an airline for crashing its planes more than one time? If yes, why? If
not, why not?
8. When you are flying, what seat will you take? Give us the reason!

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B. Group projects -- Find out about the safest airline in Indonesia or in the world
(you should choose). Present the report to the class!

An arrow can only be shot by pulling it backward.

When life is dragging you back with difficulties,

It means It’s goIng to launch you Into somethIng great.

www.bestenglishquotes4u.com

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