Watch the news report and answer the following questions (answers in "comments").
Glossary:
Stranded /’strændɪd/left somewhere with no way of going anywhere else. Hundreds of passengers were left stranded at the airport.
Resumed /rɪ’zju:md/to be started again after being stopped temporarily. Flights were resumed.
Grind to a halt / Ground to a halt /hɔ:lt/to slowly come to a stop. Traffic on the interstate almost ground to a halt today because it was so foggy.
Reliant on /rɪ’laɪənt/depending on someone or something. A country heavily reliant on tourism.
To drag on to continue for longer than you want or think is necessary. Not allowing the chaos to drag on.
Questions:
1. When did the first flight take off from Madrid after hours of frustration and delay?
2. What does the Italian passenger in Barcelona say?
3. How long were Spain traffic control towers deserted?
4. Why did air traffic controllers go on strike?
5. How did the government react?
6. Why is this measure described as "a bitter pill to swallow"?
7. Why do just few Spaniards have sympathy for the controllers?
8. What's not quite over yet?
1. On Saturday evening
ReplyDelete2. She feels delighted and happy because it's been horrible. All night not knowing anything.
3. Nearly 24 hours.
4. Because there was a dispute over working hours.
5. They took drastic measures. They reacted imposing emergency measures not seen since military rule ended 35 years ago. The air traffic controllers had to return to work or face prosecution.
6. Because for a democratic cabinet it's very hard to use powers closely associated with Spain's fascist past.
7. Because some of them earn nearly half a million dollars a year.
8. The wait.