Spotlight：Across the globe in 16.5 hours

[2017.03.08] 發表

【明報專訊】Do you enjoy taking a long-haul flight? Now you have a chance of spending more than 16 hours on a plane that takes you from the Middle East to Oceania. Last month, Qatar Airways (卡塔爾航空) launched the world's longest commercial flight, which flies from Doha (多哈), Qatar, to Auckland (奧克蘭), New Zealand. The journey covers 14,535 km.

The flight took off in Qatar's capital. It had flown 16 hours and 23 minutes before it landed in Auckland five minutes ahead of schedule. The aircraft, manned by four pilots, crossed ten time zones, when 15 crew members served 1,100 cups of tea and coffee, 2,000 cold drinks and 1,036 meals on board, according to Qatar Airways.(sources: Ming Pao, Daily Mail, AFP)

■Game １

It is now 4:30 pm in Hong Kong. Bill wants to call a friend of his who lives in London and another who lives in Tokyo. What is the time in London, and that in Tokyo? (Hint: Hong Kong is 8 hours ahead of London in March, and Tokyo is 1 hour ahead of Hong Kong.)

■Game ２

Pat visited Sydney last month, but she brought the wrong clothes! Which of the following items should she have taken with her? (Hint: Hong Kong is in the northern hemisphere, while Sydney is in the southern hemisphere. When it is summer in the northern hemisphere, it is winter in the southern hemisphere.)

(Answers on next text)

■English highway﹕take off

If an aircraft takes off, it rises into the air from the ground.

e.g. The plane is scheduled to take off in Hong Kong tomorrow morning.

■Glossary

long-haul flight (n phr) 長途航班

ahead of (prep phr) 早於

crew (n) 機務人員

on board (n phr) 在飛機上