A lady got in trouble for running to a plane at an airport in Australia. She was late for her flight and was seen waving at the pilot. People caught this on video. Now, she can’t leave jail and has to go to court on Friday.

People are worried about how safe the airport is. They wonder how the lady got so close to the plane. The police are looking into it. They want to make sure this doesn’t happen again. We don’t know what will happen to the lady yet. Airports need to make sure they are safe.

Original news source: Woman arrested in Canberra after running up to plane on tarmac (BBC)

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Group or Classroom Activities

Warm-up Activities:

– Charades
Instructions: Write down key words from the article on separate pieces of paper. Have students take turns picking a word and acting it out without speaking. The other students can guess what word they are acting out.

– Opinion Poll
Instructions: Divide the class into small groups and have them discuss their opinions on airport safety. Then, have each group choose a spokesperson to share their group’s opinion with the class. Facilitate a class discussion comparing and contrasting the different opinions.

– Vocabulary Pictionary
Instructions: Give each student a piece of paper and have them draw a picture representing a word from the article. Once everyone is done, have students take turns showing their pictures and the rest of the class can guess the word they drew.

– Headline Creation
Instructions: Have students work in pairs or small groups to come up with a catchy headline for the article. Encourage them to use the vocabulary and main ideas from the article. Each group can share their headline with the class and discuss why they chose it.

– Two Truths and a Lie
Instructions: Have each student come up with two true statements and one false statement related to the article. In small groups, students take turns sharing their statements and the rest of the group has to guess which statement is the lie. This encourages students to review and recall information from the article.

Comprehension Questions:

1. Why did the lady get in trouble at the airport?
2. What was the lady doing when she got in trouble?
3. Why are people worried about the airport?
4. What are the police doing to find out how the lady got close to the plane?
5. What do the police want to make sure doesn’t happen again?
6. Do we know what will happen to the lady yet?
7. Why do airports need to be safe?
Go to answers ⇩

Listen and Fill in the Gaps:

A lady got in trouble for running to a plane at an airport in (1)______. She was (2)______ for her flight and was seen waving at the (3)______. (4)______ caught this on video. Now, she can’t leave jail and has to go to court on Friday.

People are worried about how safe the airport is. They wonder how the lady got so (5)______ to the plane. The police are looking into it. They (6)______ to (7)______ sure this doesn’t happen again. We don’t know what will happen to the lady yet. Airports (8)______ to make sure they are safe.
Go to answers ⇩

Discussion Questions:

Students can ask a partner these questions, or discuss them as a group.

1. What do you think the lady was doing at the airport?
2. How do you think the lady felt when she saw the plane leaving without her?
3. Do you like going to the airport? Why or why not?
4. What do you think the police will do to make sure this doesn’t happen again?
5. How would you feel if you were in the lady’s situation?
6. Do you think it’s important for airports to be safe? Why or why not?
7. Have you ever been late for something important? How did you feel?
8. What do you think will happen to the lady when she goes to court?
9. How do you think the people who caught the lady on video felt?
10. What do you think the lady should have done if she was late for her flight?
11. Do you think it’s okay to run to catch a plane? Why or why not?
12. How would you feel if you were in the pilot’s position and saw someone running towards your plane?

Individual Activities

Vocabulary Meanings:

Match each word to its meaning.

Words:
1. lady
2. trouble
3. plane
4. airport
5. late
6. jail
7. court
8. safe

Meanings:
(a) A big flying vehicle
(b) A woman
(c) Not in danger or harm
(d) Not on time
(e) A place where people who break the law go
(f) A place where people go to decide if someone broke the law
(g) A place where planes take off and land
(h) A problem or difficulty
Go to answers ⇩

Multiple Choice Questions:

1. Why did the lady get in trouble at the airport?
(a) She wanted to wave at the pilot
(b) She wanted to go to jail
(c) She wanted to go to court
(d) She was late for her flight

2. What did people catch on video?
(a) The lady waving at the pilot
(b) The lady running to the plane
(c) The lady going to jail
(d) The lady going to court

3. What day does the lady have to go to court?
(a) Monday
(b) Friday
(c) Tuesday
(d) Wednesday

4. What are people worried about?
(a) The lady’s flight
(b) The safety of the airport
(c) The lady’s jail time
(d) The lady’s court appearance

5. What are the police looking into?
(a) How the lady got to jail
(b) How the lady got to court
(c) How the lady got close to the plane
(d) How the lady got her flight

6. What do airports need to make sure of?
(a) They are safe
(b) They are fun
(c) They are big
(d) They are small

7. What do we not know yet about the lady?
(a) Where she is from
(b) How old she is
(c) Why she was late for her flight
(d) What will happen to her

8. Why was the lady late for her flight?
(a) She overslept
(b) She got lost
(c) We don’t know
(d) She was playing at the airport

Go to answers ⇩

True or False Questions:

1. It is not important for airports to ensure safety.
2. People are worried about how safe the airport is.
3. She was late for her flight and was waving at the pilot.
4. The police are investigating the incident to prevent it from happening again.
5. People did not record a video of the lady running towards the plane.
6. A lady was in trouble for running towards a plane at an airport in Australia.
7. They do not want to know how the lady got so close to the plane.
8. Now, she can leave jail and does not have to go to court on Friday.
Go to answers ⇩

Write a Summary:

Write a summary of this news article in two sentences.

Writing Questions:

Answer the following questions. Write as much as you can for each answer.

1. What happened to the lady at the airport in Australia?
2. Why was the lady running to the plane?
3. What did people do when they saw the lady waving at the pilot?
4. Why are people worried about the airport?
5. What are the police doing to make sure this doesn’t happen again?

Answers

Comprehension Question Answers:

1. Why did the lady get in trouble at the airport?
Because she did something wrong.

2. What was the lady doing when she got in trouble?
She was running towards the plane and waving at the pilot.

3. Why are people worried about the airport?
Because they want to make sure it is safe and nothing bad happens.

4. What are the police doing to find out how the lady got close to the plane?
They are investigating and looking into it.

5. What do the police want to make sure doesn’t happen again?
They want to make sure that someone doesn’t get close to a plane like the lady did.

6. Do we know what will happen to the lady yet?
No, we don’t know yet.

7. Why do airports need to be safe?
Because they want to make sure that everyone is safe and nothing bad happens.
Go back to questions ⇧

Listen and Fill in the Gaps Answers:

(1) Australia
(2) late
(3) pilot
(4) People
(5) close
(6) want
(7) make
(8) need
Go back to questions ⇧

Vocabulary Meanings Answers:

1. lady
Answer: (b) A woman

2. trouble
Answer: (h) A problem or difficulty

3. plane
Answer: (a) A big flying vehicle

4. airport
Answer: (g) A place where planes take off and land

5. late
Answer: (d) Not on time

6. jail
Answer: (e) A place where people who break the law go

7. court
Answer: (f) A place where people go to decide if someone broke the law

8. safe
Answer: (c) Not in danger or harm
Go back to questions ⇧

Multiple Choice Answers:

1. Why did the lady get in trouble at the airport?
Answer: (d) She was late for her flight

2. What did people catch on video?
Answer: (a) The lady waving at the pilot

3. What day does the lady have to go to court?
Answer: (b) Friday

4. What are people worried about?
Answer: (b) The safety of the airport

5. What are the police looking into?
Answer: (c) How the lady got close to the plane

6. What do airports need to make sure of?
Answer: (a) They are safe

7. What do we not know yet about the lady?
Answer: (d) What will happen to her

8. Why was the lady late for her flight?
Answer: (c) We don’t know
Go back to questions ⇧

True or False Answers:

1. It is not important for airports to ensure safety. (Answer: False)
2. People are worried about how safe the airport is. (Answer: True)
3. She was late for her flight and was waving at the pilot. (Answer: True)
4. The police are investigating the incident to prevent it from happening again. (Answer: True)
5. People did not record a video of the lady running towards the plane. (Answer: False)
6. A lady was in trouble for running towards a plane at an airport in Australia. (Answer: True)
7. They do not want to know how the lady got so close to the plane. (Answer: False)
8. Now, she can leave jail and does not have to go to court on Friday. (Answer: False)
Go back to questions ⇧