Glossary

1. aboard: on a plane or a ship
2. advise: to tell someone what they should do
3. aisle a place between lines of seats (e.g. on a plane, in a theatre) where you can walk
4. ambassador a person sent to a foreign country to speak for his own country’s government
5. attack (v) to try to hurt someone or something
6. bend (past tense bent) to turn the top half of the body downwards
7. binoculars very strong glasses used to see things far away
8. cabin a room on a plane or a ship
9. chest the front part of the body between the neck and stomach
10. colonel an important officer in the army
11. commando section a group of soldiers specially trained for making quick attacks
12. control room the building in an airport where people control air traffic by radio
13. crew the pilot and all the people who work on a plane
14. deal with to do something that needs doing
15. decision what you have decided
16. departure lounge a room in an airport where passengers wait
17. embassy the building where an ambassador lives and works
18. fire (v) to shoot a gun
19. fist a closed hand with fingers turned inwards
20. flash (n) a sudden, very bright light for a very short time
21. flight a journey on a plane
22. forehead the part of the face above the eyes
23. freedom being free; able to do what you want to do
24. fuel tanker a large vehicle for carrying petrol
25. gentleman a polite word for a man
26. goddam (adj, slang) a word used to show you feel strongly about something (e.g. goddam plane)
27. government the group of people who control a country
28. groan (v) to make a deep, sad sound
29. handcuff (v) to lock someone’s hands together with handcuffs (metal rings around the wrists)
30. hell a word used with question-words (e.g. Where the hell …) to show anger or surprise
31. hijacker a person who takes control of a plane and makes the pilot fly to a different place
32. homework schoolwork which you do at home
33. honey a word for someone you love very much
34. hostess a woman who takes care of passengers on a plane
35. innocent an ‘innocent’ person has done nothing bad or wrong
36. inspector an important police officer
37. instruments in a plane, instruments tell the pilot how high the plane is, how much fuel there is, etc.
38. interrupt to stop somebody talking by speaking yourself
39. journalist a person who writes for newspapers, television, etc.
40. kneel (past tense knelt) to go down or stay with your knees on the ground
41. liberation freedom
42. list (n) a piece of paper with names written on it
43. local time the time in the place you are talking about
44. ma’am madam; a polite way of speaking to a woman
45. machine gun a gun that fires a lot of bullets very fast
46. marine a soldier who is trained to fight on land or sea
47. military base a place where soldiers live and work
48. military men men from an army; soldiers
49. nervous afraid
50. on time neither late nor early; at the agreed or correct time
51. open-necked with the top buttons of a shirt undone
52. pause (v) to stop for a moment;
53. pause (n) a short stop
54. pig a farm animal; in this story, a word for a very bad person
55. point (v) to show with your hand or finger where something is
56. pool some liquid (water, blood, etc.) on the ground
57. pour to put liquids (water, tea, coffee, etc.) into something
58. power people like prime ministers, presidents, etc. have power; they can tell other people what to do pray to talk to God
59. press (v) to push hard
60. prime minister the most important person in a government
61. refuel to bring more fuel to a plane, ship, etc.
62. SAS Special Air Service; specially trained British soldiers who are used for difficult kinds of fighting, e.g. against terrorists
63. set free to make someone free, e.g. from a prison, from a hijack
64. skyjack a hijack in the air
65. sweat water that comes out of the skin when you are hot or afraid
66. take apart to destroy; to win a battle in a very violent way
67. tarmac a hard material used for roads, airports, etc.
68. tear (n) water that comes from your eyes when you cry
69. tear (past tense tore) to pull something to pieces
70. terrorists very violent people who kill, or promise to kill, other people if they don’t get what they want
71. throw (past tense threw) to make something move through the air
72. tough (of a person) strong, hard, brave
73. transmitter a radio that sends messages
74. tray a piece of wood (or plastic, etc.) for carrying food and drink