ESL Podcast 270 – Airport Announcements

I was walking through the airport to Gate 11 to catch my flight when I heard this announcement:

“Attention passengers on English Air flight 232 to Boise. The departure¹ gate has been changed. The flight will now be leaving from Gate 26.”

That was my flight! I looked at the flight information monitors, turned around, and walked in the opposite direction. As I was approaching Gate 26, there was another announcement:

“This is an announcement for passengers on flight 232 to Boise. The flight has been delayed due to bad weather conditions. The flight crew has arrived at the gate, but the ground crew is still de-icing the wings of the aircraft. Our new departure time is 10:50 AM.”

I thought the gate agent was done, but she had another announcement to make:

“I’m afraid that flight 232 is overbooked. We’re looking for passengers who are willing to take a later flight in exchange for a travel voucher² worth $300. Any passenger who is interested should see an agent at Gate 26.”

Oh, no, I thought. I hope I don’t get bumped³ from this flight. Fortunately, a few minutes later, I heard this. It was music to my ears.

“We are now ready for boarding.”


Script⁴ by Dr. Lucy Tse

1 departure   

n.离开，起程；背离，违反

参考例句：

• Do you know what lies behind her sudden departure for London?你知道她突然去伦敦的原因吗？
• She took over his work after his departure.他离开以后，她接替了他的工作。

2 voucher   

n.收据；传票；凭单，凭证

参考例句：

• The government should run a voucher system.政府应该施行凭证制度。
• Whenever cash is paid out,a voucher or receipt should be obtained.无论何时只要支付现金，就必须要有一张凭据或者收据。

3 bumped   

凸起的，凸状的

参考例句：

• In the dark I bumped into a chair. 我在黑暗中撞上了一把椅子。
• I bumped against an old friend in town today. 我今天在城里偶然碰见了一个老朋友。

4 script   

n.剧本，广播稿；文字体系；笔迹，手迹

参考例句：

• It's easy to identify his script.他的笔迹容易辨认。
• The script is massaged into final form.这篇稿子经过修改已定稿。