Poetry in motion: over London by airship

Level 1 Elementary

1 Key words

Fill the gaps in the sentences using these key words from the text.

airship sway inflammable gondola decade

neat gentle float dull smooth

1. If something is _____________________, it is boring or not interesting.

2. A _____________________ is the part fixed to a balloon or an airship that people travel in.

3. A _____________________ is a period of ten years.

4. An _____________________ is an aircraft without wings that is filled with gas and has an engine.

5. When something _____________________ in the air, it is lighter than air and moves slowly through it.

6. A _____________________ movement does not use or need much force or effort.

7. To _____________________ means to move or swing gently from side to side.

8. A _____________________ flight does not shake or frighten you.

9. If something is _____________________, it burns easily.

10. If something is _____________________, it is carefully arranged and looks nice.

2 Find the information

Look in the text and find the following information as quickly as possible.

1. At what height does the airship fly?

2. How fast does it fly?

3. How many passengers does it carry?

4. How much does a 45-minute flight cost?

5. How long has Fritz Guenther been flying airships?

6. What gas is used to fill the airship?

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NEWS LESSONS / Poetry in motion: over London by airship / Elementary

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Poetry in motion: over London by airship
Level 1 Elementary

Poetry in motion: over London 6 Fritz Guenther is the company’s flight operations
by airship manager and a former East German air-force
pilot. He has been flying airships for 18 years:
Stephen Bates
“I am from the eastern world and after the fall of
July 15, 2008
the Berlin Wall I had to find something else to
1 There are a lot of ways to see the sights of do. Now I think it is the best way of flying.” He
London. One way, which is very relaxing but flies the airship above the River Thames with a
quite expensive, is to float over the city 1,000 London street map on his knees – something that
feet above the ground at 30mph in an airship. makes sense when you are travelling only a little
Below you can see the great sights of the city: faster than the traffic in the streets below.
the Houses of Parliament, Buckingham Palace 7 Guenther’s co-pilot, Katharine Board, is British
and the River Thames. and the first female airship pilot in the world. “I
2 But the famous sights are not the most can’t believe how lucky I am,” she said. “Aircraft
interesting thing you see. You also see small are just a little bit dull. Here I learn something
details: the neat back gardens of houses, the new every day. It is like riding the waves, like a
tennis courts and cricket pitches in the parks, boat on the water. There’s no other aircraft you
people walking their dogs and an early morning can fly this low, this slow. They pay me to float
swimmer in an open-air swimming-pool. There around the world.”
are a lot of green spaces too – does south 8 You have to book the flights in advance and
London really have all those trees? The flight is and they will probably be more interesting for
so gentle that you feel you are a spy flying over business customers than families on days out.
London as the city wakes up and begins with The airship carries just 12 people a time, plus the
its business. pilot and the co-pilot. The airship has a licence to
3 A few passengers will be able to enjoy this fly for five hours a day but if the weather is wet
experience during the next six weeks – if the or windy it cannot fly. The ship was supposed to
weather is good – if they have £360 for the arrive last week but had to stay on the ground in
hour-long flight. This is more than the cost of a Cologne for five days waiting for the weather to
return plane ticket to Florida, but it is about the improve before it could fly across the Channel.
same as a one-hour flight in a helicopter... and 9 The balloon is filled with 8,425 cubic metres of
much quieter. helium, not the inflammable gases which the
4 The flights take off from an airfield north of Hindenburg and R101 airships used before
London, so a half-hour flight for £180 will take the Second World War when both airships
you as far as the Millennium Dome. A 45-minute had terrible accidents. Similar airships already
trip costing £270 will allow you to float over operate passenger trips over Germany and
Greenwich for a while. Tokyo. The flight itself is not completely smooth:
the gondola rocks slowly. Over the river, the cool
5 Passengers have not flown over London in air makes things peaceful but the concrete and
airships for several decades. A Belgian beer pavements of the city send up hot air that makes
company sponsors the 75-metre airship and a the airship sway and rock from side to side.
German company built it. This is probably the
© Guardian News & Media 2008
first time in 90 years that an airship built by
First published in The Guardian, 15/07/08
Zeppelin, with a German pilot, has been in the
sky above London. Then it was a time of war and
the airship flight was certainly not relaxing!
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NEWS LESSONS / Poetry in motion: over London by airship / Elementary

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Poetry in motion: over London by airship
Level 1 Elementary

3 Comprehension check

Match the beginnings and endings to make sentences about the text.

1. The small details…

2. A one-hour flight in the airship…

3. The airship pilot thinks…

4. The airship co-pilot thinks…

5. The airship cannot fly…

6. Before the Second World War…

a. … if the weather is bad.

b. … it is the best way of flying.

c. … costs more than a return plane ticket to Florida.

d. … airships were filled with inflammable gases.

e. … are the most interesting things that you see.

f. … it is like being in a boat on the water.

4 Compound nouns

Match the nouns from the left-hand column with those in the right-hand column to make words from
the text.

1. swimming a. map

2. tennis b. ticket

3. cricket c. manager

4. plane d. trip

5. one-hour e. pitch

6. operations f. pool

7. street g. flight

8. passenger h. court
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NEWS LESSONS / Poetry in motion: over London by airship / Elementary

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Poetry in motion: over London by airship
Level 1 Elementary

5 Chunks

Rearrange the words to make phrases from the text.

1. the above feet 1,000 ground

2. 45 a trip minute

3. five day for hours a

4. 90 the time in years first

5. the War World Second before

6. the London see to of sights

6 Adjectives

Complete these adjectives from the text.

1. e __ p __ n __ __ v __

2. g __ __ t l __

3. s __ o o t __

4. r __ l __ x __ ng

5. w __ n d __

6. i__ f __ a m __ a b l __
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NEWS LESSONS / Poetry in motion: over London by airship / Elementary

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Poetry in motion: over London by airship
Level 1 Elementary

KEY

1 Key words 4 Compound nouns

1. dull 1. f
2. gondola 2. h
3. decade 3. e
4. airship 4. b
5. floats 5. g
6. gentle 6. c
7. sway 7. a
8. smooth 8. d
9. inflammable
10. neat
5 Chunks

2 Find the information 1. 1,000 feet above the ground

2. a 45-minute trip
1. 1,000 feet 3. for five hours a day
2. 30mph 4. the first time in 90 years
3. 12 5. before the Second World War
4. £270 6. to see the sights of London
5. 18 years
6. helium
6 Adjectives

3 Comprehension check 1. expensive

2. gentle
1. e 3. smooth
2. c 4. relaxing
3. b 5. windy
4. f 6. inflammable
5. a
6. d
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NEWS LESSONS / Poetry in motion: over London by airship / Elementary

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