UNIT 7

CAREERS IN AVIATION

PEOPLE WHO WORK AT THE AIRPORT

Match the following careers with the definitions below

Airport Designer
Air Traffic Controller
Airways Engineer
Flight Dispatcher
Meteorologist
Ground Radio Operator
Security Officer
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The person who operates airline station radio equipment

The person responsible for the safety of all people in and around the airport
The person who plans and designs airport facilities
The person who analyzes weather data and makes weather reports
The person who directs all flight activities, gives advice and information by radio to
pilots and monitors planes in and around the airport.
6- The person who works with the pilot planning flight requirements, authorizes takeoffs or cancels flights, and advises pilots in the air on weather or route changes.
7- The person who plans electronic navigational aids, such as radar, instrument
landing systems, and airport approach lighting

ORAL WORK
Do you know what these people do?
Airport Baggage Handler
Firefighter
Airline Mechanic
Name more people who work at the airport and describe their jobs

SIMPLE PAST
INTERROGATIVE FORM

AFFFIRMATIVE
I SAW
YOU SAW
HE SAW
SHE SAW
IT SAW
WE SAW
YOU SAW
THEY SAW

INTERROGATIVE
DID I SEE?
DID YOU SEE?
DID HE SEE?
DID SHE SEE?
DID IT SEE?
DID WE SEE
DID YOU SEE?
DID THEY SEE?

Yuri Gagarin: Russian (1934 1968)

The first man in space
His early years
Yuri was born on a farm and his family was very poor. As a boy in World War II, he saw his
first plane a Russian fighter jet. At the moment, he knew that he wanted to be a pilot.
He studied hard so that he could join a flying club. His teachers thought he was a natural
pilot and told him to join the Russian Air Force.
What he did
He became an excellent pilot and he also became a husband and father. But when the first
Russian satellite went into space, he wanted to become an astronaut. After two years of
secret training, the doctors chose Yuri because he was the best in all the tests. On 12th
April 1961, when he was 27, he finally went into space. It was very dangerous, because
the doctors didnt know if Yuri could survive the journey. When he came back to Earth he
was famous, and he travelled around the world to talk about his experiences.
His last flight
He wanted to go into space again, so in 1967 he began training for the next space flight.
He was also a test pilot for new Air Force aeroplanes. But the next year he died when his
fighter jet crashed on a test flight. He was only 34.

EXERCISE 1
Turn the underlined sentences into interrogative form.
E.g.: When did he see his first plane?
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
EXERCISE 2
Complete the questions about Yuri.
Yuri
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Where_______________ he born? (be)

When_______________ he__________________ his first plane? (see)
Why________________ he________________ the Russian Air Force? (join)
Why_______________ doctors ____________________ Yuri to be an astronaut?
(choose)
5- What________________ he _______________ in 1961? (do)
6- Why_________________ he____________________ around the world? (travel)
7- How______________ he ______________? (die)

EXERCISE 3
Complete the following conversation between a journalist and a pilot who had a problem
during flight. Use Question Words and the simple past tense of the verbs.
Journalist:

(1)__________________(you/make) an emergency landing?

Captain:

Because we thought we could smell smoke on the flight deck.

Journalist:

(2)__________________(you/notice) the problem?

Captain:

About 40 minutes after we left Seoul.

Journalist:

(3)____________________(you/decide) to land immediately?

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Captain:

Yes, of course.

Journalist:

(4)____________________(you/land) at Daegu?

Captain:

We descended to Daegu because it was our closest airfield.

Journalist:

(5)____________________(the fire/start) ?

Captain:

Were not really sure, perhaps it was an electrical fault.

Journalist:

(6)________________________________(you/have) on board?

Captain:

We had 18 passengers with us.

EXERCISE 4
Complete the sentences with the past tense of the verbs between brackets.
1- The pilot_________________(check) his documents twice yesterday.
2- He__________________(not travel) last week because he ___________
(be) ill.
3- Where ________________(you go) last year, Malaga or Barcelona?
4- How many flight plans_____________________(he file) yesterday?
5- When I __________________(go) to Italy, I_______________(visit)
The Fountain of Trevi.
6- He _________________(not know) how to do his job, but he _____________
(learn) two days ago.
7- The airbus __________________(not take off) at seven oclock, it___________
(land) at that time.
8- Mr. Jones ______________________(arrive) in Paris the day before yesterday.
9- It ___________________(start) to rain at five in the morning.
10- He___________________(not find) his passport so, he_________________
(not can) travel last night.

COLLOCATIONS
Collocations are common word combinations such as:
Leisure activities / travel agency
Match the following collocations:
Fighter

Force

Flying

Deck

Space

Jet

Air

Landing

Emergency

Flight

Flight

Club

There are a lot of collocations in aviation.

Make 8 collocations with the following words:
PUSH / FLIGHT / PILOT / RUNWAY / CLEARANCE / RUNWAY / LICENCE / BACK / CREW /
RUNWAY / ACTIVE / WEATHER / ATC / THRESHOLD / LINE / CONDITIONS.
Choose two of them and make sentences.
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
Do you know any other collocations?
Write down yours and your partners ones.
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________

LISTENING PRACTICE 27
Listen to a man explaining why he is late for work and answer these questions.
1- Whats his excuse today?
____________________________________________________________
2- What was his excuse yesterday?
____________________________________________________________
3- What was his excuse the day before that?
____________________________________________________________

ORAL WORK
Listen to the dialogue again but this time pay attention to the collocations used.
How many collocations are there in the dialogue?
Which are they?

FINDING AN AVIATION JOB

1- WRITING A CV
ORAL WORK
Have you ever had a job? What did you do?
How do people find jobs?
What sort of information do you have to include in a CV?

EXERCISE
Write your CV. Describe your qualifications and experience, state your present /
previous job. Explain why you believe you are suitable for this job.

Personal Information
Name: _____________________________________________________________
Age: _______________________________________________________________
Date of birth: ________________________________________________________
Place of birth: _______________________________________________________
Nationality: _________________________________________________________
ID: ________________________________________________________________
Address: ____________________________________________________________
E-mail: _____________________________________________________________

Studies
__________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________

Qualifications
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
Experience
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________

2- INTERVIEWS
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LISTENING PRACTICE 28
Listen to a woman speaking about her education and the start of her career. Put the
events in the right order. Then listen to the second part again and check.

I had an interview.
I heard about a great opportunity.
I sent a resume and a letter.
I joined the company.
They offered me a job.
I left University.

LISTENING PRACTICE 29
Listen to a job interview. Are these statements true (T) or false (F)?
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He wasnt born in New York.

He didnt grow up in Manhattan.
He didnt go to Harvard.
He didnt get a job as a consultant.
He didnt join his present company in 2002.
He didnt like the long hours at McKinsey.

_________
_________
_________
_________
_________
_________

Listen again and write down the questions the interviewer asks.
In pairs, think and write two more questions you would find interesting to ask in a job
interview. Share them with the class.

3- ORAL WORK
Work in pairs: Take turns and role play a similar interview with your partner.

FINAL TASK
To recycle what you have learnt in this unit, let us go back to the vocabulary at the
beginning, which are the definitions for the following professions?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

Airport Designer
Air Traffic Controller
Airways Engineer
Flight Dispatcher
Meteorologist
Ground Radio Operator
Security Officer

Work in 7 groups. Each group will design and write a job advertisement for one of the
posts above. (Your teacher will help you with examples)
Job Search

Now work in pairs with a partner from a different group. Exchange the job
advertisements and write your CV to apply for that job.
With your CV at hand, role-play a job interview, making sure you use the simple past for
past experiences and the simple present for abilities and present work situations.
Exchange roles and simulate a second interview. Be ready to represent the situation to
the class.

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