How to do this dictation
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.
Before you listen — key vocabulary
These words appear in the recording. Knowing them before you listen will help you catch every word:
| pressurise (verb) | To keep the air pressure inside the cabin at a safe, comfortable level as the aircraft climbs. |
| outflow valve (noun phrase) | A valve that controls how much air escapes from the cabin, regulating cabin pressure. |
| level off (phrasal verb) | To stop climbing or descending and fly at a steady altitude. |
| uneventful (adjective) | Happening without problems or anything unusual. |
Your dictation task
This is an error-correction dictation. The text below is almost the same as the recording, but eight details have been changed — they are shown in bold. Listen carefully and write the correct word or number you actually hear for each one.
An Airbus A320 was flying from Madrid to Berlin early on a clear morning. As the aircraft climbed through three thousand feet after departing runway 36R at Barajas, the crew realised that the cabin was not pressurising normally. They informed air traffic control, levelled off at ten thousand feet, and turned back towards Berlin. The approach was uneventful, and the aircraft touched down smoothly about forty minutes later. Ground engineers inspected the pressurisation system and traced the fault to a faulty inflow valve. After repairs, the aircraft was cleared to depart again roughly ninety minutes after it had landed. It finally reached Berlin around fifteen minutes behind schedule.
Speaking follow-up
Imagine you are the captain of this flight. After landing back at Madrid, your operations centre asks for a short verbal report. Describe the problem you noticed, the actions you took, and how the flight ended.
Record yourself on a phone voice memo so you can play it back and self-review. There’s no single right answer — the goal is to produce a clear, structured response under time pressure.
Level: CEFR B2 / ICAO Level 5
Want to hear what happens when cabin pressure is lost much higher up, at cruising altitude? Listen: Listening: Decompression at Cruise.