Air Travel - Video for Listening Comprehension

Ever since the day when Icarus and his father Dedalus made their wings of wax, Man has dreamt of flying. He can swim like a fish, he can run like a cheetah, but without a machine, he cannot fly like a bird.

Admittedly he can throw himself into the void, but free falling isn't the same thing as floating in the wind. Without wings, Man finds himself deprived of one of the greatest sensations.

Flying over mountains and following the thermal currents is indeed only possible in a hang-glider, and it's only in his dreams that Man can be an eagle.

Some people like to play at being human cannonballs because this number always impresses the crowd. The explosion must have made this man deaf: he can't hear the applause or the people warning him his net has got holes in it!

With the invention of the airship at the beginning of the twentieth century, Man was able to fly over cities and even over seas. Go left! Right! Straight on! No, turn around! Mind you don't get airsick...

Today, aeroplanes have reached such perfection that they can take people more or less anywhere, and more or less whenever they want, so long as there's a runway to land on. The number of airports is growing and these days every major city has one.

Even in Hong Kong, where space is very limited, there's an airport. The runway is so narrow the pilots must really feel like they're landing on a matchstick!

The helicopter is another means of air transport. It is said that Leonardo da Vinci drew up the first plans for the rotary mechanism. This might explain the Mona Lisa's enigmatic smile: she must have thought the man painting her portrait was a madman!

Flying machines! The very idea of it! But he who laughs last, laughs longest. Leonardo da Vinci was right... Thanks to its blades, the helicopter can take off and land vertically.

Jet planes are the fastest. They can fly so fast, they can break the sound barrier. What a deafening noise! Don't bother looking up, it's already far away! A jet's like a sprinter who leaves his shadow behind when pulling away!

For more peaceful travelling, with your head in the clouds, there are hot-air balloons. Filled with heated air, they get carried along by the winds. They rise serenely up into the sky and their passengers can admire the landscape that unfolds at their feet.

You can also make flying objects at home. For most children, the paper plane is their first contact with aerodynamics.

Man has been trying to defy gravity for a long time, and today he has found ways of taking advantage of it. Bungee jumping is an amazing sport with extreme sensations.

Is this man the right way up or upside down? It doesn't look like he knows what his exact position is. Maybe he thinks he's changed into a human yo-yo!

On Earth, Man has only known how to fly for a century, but maybe others elsewhere have more experience in the field... Who knows?



See other video scripts of the same level (Advanced+):
World Tourism
Accommodation
Stop Thief!
Transport
Air Travel
Means of transport

Other script of different level can be found here:
Video for Listening Comprehension from Tell me More Advanced+ Level
Video for Listening Comprehension from Tell me More Advanced Level
Video for Listening Comprehension from Tell me More Intermediate+ Level
Video for Listening Comprehension from Tell me More Intermediate Level
Video for Listening Comprehension from Tell me More Beginner Level


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