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Bright Lives English
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Amelia Earhart: She Didn't Like Planes… Then She Flew Across the Ocean Alone

Level A1 (Beginner) · Watch the video and do the online quiz at https://brightlivesenglish.com/lessons/amelia-earhart-across-the-ocean/

A Match the words to their meanings

  1. plane (noun)
  2. fly (verb (flew))
  3. sky (noun)
  4. ocean (noun)
  5. alone (adjective / adverb)
  6. pilot (noun)
  7. fair (noun)
  8. flight (noun)
  1. with no other people
  2. a machine that flies in the sky
  3. a trip in a plane
  4. the space above us; it is blue in the day
  5. a big outdoor event with games, rides and animals
  6. a very big sea
  7. to move through the air
  8. a person who flies a plane

B Complete the sentences from the story

fly · flight · plane · ocean · pilot · fair · sky · alone

  1. Amelia was a .
  2. She saw her first plane at a .
  3. She flew across the .
  4. She saw her first at a fair.
  5. Her red plane was high in the .
  6. She flew , all night.
  7. Her across the ocean took about 15 hours.
  8. She wanted to a plane.

C Did you understand?

  1. Amelia liked her first plane very much.True / False
  2. How long was her first plane ride in 1920?
    1. Ten hours
    2. One day
    3. Ten minutes
    4. One minute
  3. In 1928, Amelia flew the plane across the ocean herself.True / False
  4. What happened on the night flight in 1932?
    1. She slept all night
    2. There was ice on the wings and fire at the engine
    3. Her friend flew the plane
    4. She landed on the ocean
  5. Where did she land?
    1. In Paris
    2. On a ship
    3. In New York
    4. In a field with cows in Ireland

D Put the words in order

  1. the / woman / first / alone / She / across / was / to / fly

E Grammar: the first + noun + to + verb

We use it for to say who did something before anyone else. the first woman to fly across alone · the first person to fly from Hawaii to California · the first man to walk on the Moon

Example from the story: She was the first woman to fly across alone.

  1. She was the first woman fly across the ocean alone. (to / for / and)
  2. Neil Armstrong was the person to walk on the Moon. (first / one / once)
  3. Who was the first person climb Everest? (to / at / of)

F Your turn

Retell Amelia Earhart's story in 5–6 sentences. Use at least three words from exercise A.

Transcript

A young woman flew over the dark ocean at night.

She was alone.

Would she get to the other side?

This is the story of Amelia Earhart.

Welcome to brightlivesenglish.com, where we teach real English using real-life stories.

Plane. A plane is a machine.

It flies in the sky.

She saw her first plane at a fair.

Fly. When you fly, you move through the air.

The past is flew.

She wanted to fly a plane.

Sky. The sky is above us.

It is blue in the day.

Her red plane was high in the sky.

Ocean. An ocean is a very big sea.

She flew across the ocean.

Alone. Alone means with no other people.

She flew alone, all night.

Now, one pattern: the first person to.

We use it for someone who did something before anyone else.

No woman did it before her.

She was the first woman to fly across alone.

Ready? Let's begin.

Amelia Earhart was born in America in 1897.

When she was about ten, she saw her first plane at a fair.

She did not like it!

It was only old wire and wood, she said.

In 1920, she flew in a plane for ten minutes.

High in the sky, she knew: "I have to fly!"

She worked many jobs and paid for lessons.

In 1928, she went across the ocean in a plane.

She was the first woman to do it.

But a man flew the plane.

She said she was like a bag of potatoes!

On 20 May 1932, she left Newfoundland in the evening.

Her plane was red.

Then there was ice on the wings.

Fire came from the engine.

The plane went down, near the waves.

But she did not stop.

She flew all night.

In the morning, she saw green fields.

It was Ireland!

She landed in a field with cows.

A man asked: "Have you come far?"

She said: "From America!"

She was the first woman to fly across the ocean alone.

In 1935, she flew alone from Hawaii to California.

She was the first person to do it.

In 1937, she flew over the Pacific Ocean.

Nobody knows what happened.

Let's review. She saw her first plane at a fair.

She wanted to fly a plane.

Her red plane was high in the sky.

She flew across the ocean.

She flew alone, all night.

And remember: she was the first woman to fly across alone.

Amelia Earhart's story teaches us: be brave and follow your dream.

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Answer key

A. 1b 2g 3d 4f 5a 6h 7e 8c

B. 1 pilot · 2 fair · 3 ocean · 4 plane · 5 sky · 6 alone · 7 flight · 8 fly

C. 1 False · 2 c · 3 False · 4 b · 5 d

D. 1 She was the first woman to fly across alone.

E. 1 to · 2 first · 3 to