FLYING HIGH 2 STUDENT BOOK 1-2

Mass passenger transport really began with trains
(1825) and buses (1895). Both kinds of transport havechanged a lot over the years, and there are now high-speed trains that get you to your destination muchquicker – the TGV in France, the Bullet Train in Japan,and the ICE in Germany, for example. Buses and trainscontinue to provide a means of transport for mostpeople in the world.

The other type of mass transport is, of course, theplane. Planes have been used for taking passengersfor only the last 50 years. Jet planes were first used
for passengers in 1952, and in 1970, jumbo jets wereintroduced. They allowed enormous numbers ofpeople to fly from country to country and continent tocontinent quickly, safely and relatively cheaply.

The numbers of passengers now are impressive.Chicago’s O’Hare Airport claims that it is the busiest inthe world, moving almost 200,000 passengers a day,over 70 million a year. The management of London’sHeathrow Airport says it moves the most internationalpassengers (many of O’Hare’s passengers are ondomestic flights), with over 60 million a year on morethan 90 different airlines. But Chicago and London
are closely followed by Atlanta, Paris and hundreds
of other airports around the world. How will transportchange in the next 50 years?

Speaking, writing and reading
aIn pairs, select a city you both know where
tourism is (or could become) important,
and complete these notes. The city may be inSaudi Arabia or abroad.