Listen to the audio recording and complete the task below. You can play the audio as many times as you like. When you are finished, check your work against the answer key and the full transcript.
Continue reading Listening: Off-Field Landing in FranceListen to the audio recording and complete the task below. You can play the audio as many times as you like. When you are finished, check your work against the answer key and the full transcript.
Continue reading Listening: Decompression at Cruise
When Hermeus flew its Quarterhorse Mk 2.1 past the sound barrier, every report wanted to know one thing: was it faster than anything a private company had flown before? To answer questions like that in English, we reach for comparatives and superlatives.
A comparative compares two things (the Mk 2.2 will be faster than the Mk 2.1). A superlative picks out one from a whole group (hypersonic flight is the company’s most ambitious goal).
Continue reading Structure: ‘Comparatives and superlatives’
An American aerospace company has broken the sound barrier for the first time as a private firm. Hermeus flew its Quarterhorse Mk 2.1 aircraft to Mach 1.21 on 26 May 2026. It was only the jet’s third test flight.
Continue reading Hermeus Breaks Sound Barrier with Unmanned Jet at Mach 1.21
Aircraft: Boeing 737-800
Callsign: Speedbird 472
Route: London Gatwick (EGKK) to Rome Fiumicino (LIRF)
Current state: You have just taken off from runway 26L at Gatwick and are climbing through 500 feet when the right engine fire warning activates. Your co-pilot is beginning the engine fire memory items. You are on Gatwick Departure frequency.
Souls on board: 137
Your role: Pilot Flying (PF)
The first conditional describes a real or likely situation in the future. It has two parts: an if-clause (the condition) and a result clause (what will happen). The key rule: after if, use the present simple — not a future form. The result clause uses will + a base verb.
Continue reading Structure: ‘The first conditional’