1 – Vocabulary

Following the Air France A380’s spectacular incident early this week, there has been a lot of talk about aircraft engines, and this seems as good a time as any to check your knowledge on the subject.

Start with a review of vocabulary on piston engines. Download the PDF and open it with Adobe Reader to access each word’s pronunciation.

And see how they work with this You Tube video (caution, British humour!)

2 – Reading comprehension

Then read this article on jet engines and answer a few questions:

– What is the other name for jet engines?

– What is the core of a gas turbine engine?

– In a turbofan, what is the bypass air used for?

– Why do turboprop engines need a reduction gearbox?

And see how they work with another You Tube video.

3 – Word search

4 – Listening comprehension

The listening comprehension exercise is going to take you where pilots are not too keen on going: engine failure.

Watch this AOPA’s Air Safety Institute video: Engine Out! From Trouble to Touchdown, at first preferably without turning on the subtitles, then listen again to check your comprehension and find the missing words in the transcript of the first half of the video here .

5 – General English corner

If you sign up at www.dictionary.com for their « Word of the Day », you’ll receive a new word each day with its definition, audio pronunciation, origin and more! Most of the time, the words are not the kind you’ll be able to use on a regular basis, but the emails are a daily reminder of the importance of regular practice and they can also be fun to read.

One of last week’s words was « pangram ».

Let’s finish Practice Paper #5 with a game: try to find a pangram on an aviation theme and send your result(s) to d_defossez@orange.fr . They will all be published in a newsletter to come!

Have fun and I hope I’ll be hearing from you soon!