62 Business Spotlight 2/2020 LANGUAGE
Foto: dade72/ Shutterstock.com; Gert KrautbauerPlanning the flight
James: I’ve done a bit of research on our trip to the
UK. There’s a logistical problem we have to
solve.
Ben: What’s that?
James: Our meeting in London starts at 10 a.m. and
is expected to last until mid-afternoon. But
our major customer has invited us to make
a presentation at an event in Manchester
that same evening. We should definitely be
there.
Beth: We’ll never make it!
James: Well, I’ve had a bright idea. Why don’t we
charter a helicopter to fly us to Manchester?
Ben: What? Wouldn’t that be very expensive?
James: It wouldn’t be cheap, but we’d make it on
time. And we’d all be bright-eyed and bushy-
tailed for our presentation.Booking the flight
Mary: Global Helicopters. Mary Kovacs. How may
I help you?
James: I’m calling to find out about helicopter
transfers between central London and Man-
chester.
Mary: One moment, sir. Let me just check that for
you... Yes, we fly from London Battersea Hel-
iport to Manchester Barton Airport.
James: Is the Battersea Heliport in central London?
Mar y: Yes, it is. The flight time to Manchester is
about 70 minutes.
James: There would be three of us. We’d need a
flight to Manchester at around four o’clock
in the afternoon.Mary: We could arrange that. We have a Robinson
R44 three-seater that would suit your pur-
pose.
James: That’s a safe one, I hope!
Mary: All our aircraft are very reliable, and they are
flown by seasoned pilots.Getting on board
Ben: I didn’t know what to expect, but this heli-
port is like any other airport terminal.
Beth: Have you ever flown by helicopter before?
Ben: No. I’m looking forward to it.
James: I took a helicopter sightseeing trip over the
Grand Canyon once. It was great.
Ground
crew: Your flight is ready now. Please follow me.
James: At least the rotors aren’t turning. We don’t
have to crouch down like the people on the
news.
Beth: May I sit up front with the pilot?
Ben: Sure. Ben and I can squeeze into the back.
Pilot: Welcome on board. I’m John Scott, your pi-
lot today. Please fasten your seat belts, and
we’ll soon be on our way to Manchester.In the air
Pilot: You get a good panoramic view of the city
from up here. If you follow the Thames to
the right, you can see the Houses of Parlia-
ment.
James: What’s that large sports arena down to our
left?
Pilot: That’s Wembley Stadium. We call it the
home of football.
James: Football? Here in London?
Ben: He means soccer. Not our football!
Pilot: Well, in fact, Wembley does host a couple
of American football games here each year.
There’s quite a large support base in the UK.
Beth: What’s that group of skyscrapers further
down the river?
Pilot: That’s the Canary Wharf financial district.
Ben: This was a great idea of yours, James. We’ll
be in Manchester in no time, and we’re get-
ting a great tour at the same time.
Beth: This is awesome! Thanks, James.aircraft [(eEkrA:ft]
, Flugzeug; -gerät
awesome [(O:sEm] ifml.
, fantastisch, toll
bright-eyed and bushy-
tailed [)braIt aId En (bUSi
teIld] ifml.
, voller Schwung und Elan
crouch down
[)kraUtS (daUn]
, niederkauern; hier: in
geduckter Haltung gehen
fasten one’s seat belt
[)fA:s&n wVnz (si:t belt]
, sich anschnallen
host sth. [hEUst]
, etw. austragen
in no time [In (nEU taIm]
, im Nu
look forward to sth.
[)lUk (fO:wEd tu]
, sich auf etw. freuen
make it [(meIk It]
, hier: es schaffen
on time [)Qn (taIm]
, pünktlich
reliable [ri(laIEb&l]
, zuverlässig
research: do ~ on sth.
[ri(s§:tS] , Recherchen
über etw. anstellen
seasoned [(si:z&nd]
, hier: erfahren
skyscraper
[(skaI)skreIpE]
, Wolkenkratzer
soccer [(sQkE] US
, Fußball
squeeze into sth.
[)skwi:z (Intu]
, sich in etw. hinein-
zwängen
suit sb.’s purpose
[)su:t )sVmbEdiz
(p§:pEs] , für jmdn. das
Richtige sein
support base
[sE(pO:t beIs]
, Fangemeinde
Thames [temz] , Themse
wharf [wO:f] , Werft; KaiIn a hurry? A
helicopter will get you
there on timeKEN TAYLOR
is a communication
consultant and
author of 50 Ways
to Improve Your
Business English
(Lulu Publishing).
Contact:
[email protected]LANGUAGE
ENGLISH ON THE MOVEA helicopter flight
Manchmal liegen Termine so knapp beieinander, dass man es
mit Auto oder Zug nicht rechtzeitig schaffen würde. Bleibt der
Hubschrauber, wie Sie in den Dialogen hier erfahren.
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