Page 9 - English (2)

English for Tourism & Hospitality (102) by Prof. Adel AlSheikh

Reading comprehension

Read the following paragraphs and then
answer the questions that follow:

Freddie Laker pioneered the idea of cheap air
travel with his Skytrain to America in 1977; his
entrepreneurial spirit brought him immense public
affection and the wrath of rivals who conspired
successfully to break his business. Born at
Canterbury, Kent, England on 6 August 1922,
Freddie Laker aspired to become a millionaire and
he did become one. At 16, Laker joined the
flying-boat builders Short Brothers of Rochester
as a tea-boy and apprentice engineer, and studied
maths and economics at night school. In World
War II he worked for the Air Transport Auxiliary
where he excelled at improvising repairs. He
became flight engineer before qualifying as a
ferry pilot himself.
By 1946 Laker knew every airfield in Europe,
together with every type of aircraft and its
payload. With a loan from a friend he set up
Aviation Traders, dealing in war-surplus and then
carrying passengers and freight in converted
Halifax bombers. Laker made his first fortune
from the Berlin airlift of 1948. The government

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