Hello. Passengers of flight 17 bound for Caracas, with stops in Atlanta and Miami.

The departure gate has been changed to 30B. Also, there will be a slight departure
delay due to inclement weather outside. The ground crew is in the process of deicing
the wings in preparation for departure. It also looks like the flight is slightly
overbooked, so we are offering complimentary round-trip tickets to a few passengers
willing to take a later flight. We should be boarding about a quarter to the hour.
Thank you for your patience.

Key Vocabulary [Top]

• inclement (adjective): severe

- The game was canceled due to inclement weather.
• crew (noun): an organized group of workers
The ship's crew were very helpful during the cruise.
• deice (verb): make or become free of frost or ice, defrost
- You need to deice the windshield this morning. It dropped below freezing last
night.
• overbook (verb): too many seats, for example, have been reserved in advance
- Airlines tend to overbook seats on their flights which can be an inconvenience to
some passengers.
• complimentary (adjective): free, gratuitous
This hotel provides a complimentary breakfast for all its guests.
• board (noun): to get on an aircraft, ship, train, bus, etc.
- We should board the train at least ten minutes before departure.

Explanation of Answers

1. Who is probably making the announcement?

A. a pilot
B. a flight attendant
C. a ticket agent
D. a ground crew member

Correct Answer (C). Since the announcement deals with boarding location
and time, the ticket agent at the gate would take care of this. The pilot and
flight attendants make announcements after passengers board the plane.

2. What is the ultimate destination of the flight?

A. Atlanta
B. Miami
C. Caracas
D. Lima
Correct Answer (C). The plane makes stops in Atlanta and Miami, but the
final destination is Caracas, Venezuela.

3. What change has been announced?

A. the flight number

B. the gate number
C. the arrival time
D. the boarding time

Correct Answer (B). The ticket agent announces that the departure gate has
been changed to 30B.

4. What are the current weather conditions outside?

A. It's raining.
B. It's cloudy.
C. It's hailing.
D. It's windy.

Correct Answer (C). Since the ground crew needs to deice the plane, it
must be cold weather, and hail (small chucks of frozen rain) could
accumulate on the wings.

5. What time will the plane depart?

A. 9:50 AM
B. 12:15 PM
C. 4:05 PM
D. 8:45 PM

Correct Answer (D). The announcement says that passengers "should be

boarding about a quarter to the hour." A "quarter to the hour" is another
way to say fifteen until the hour, so the only possible answer would be 8:45
PM.