Opción A - 4 · Inglés PAU Castilla y León Ordinaria 2023

TRAVEL PROBLEMS IN RECENT HISTORY

Flight delays and cancellations over the holiday weekend have left thousands of passengers stranded.

It has been the fate of many Southwest passengers this week, as the airline struggled to recover from a

winter storm that affected much of the United States. Thousands of Southwest flights have been delayed or

canceled in recent days, and complaints on social media have portrayed the customer service response as

5 severely deficient. Here’s a look at a few other notable airline disasters that left passengers stranded and

frustrated.

In April 2017, Delta canceled more than 3,500 flights over five days when storms hit Atlanta,

creating a cascading effect as the airline struggled to provide staff and rebook passengers. Thunderstorms

lasted just a few hours in Atlanta, but they created chaos across the country. The airline’s offer of free pizza

10 lifted thousands of stranded customers’ moods only slightly. In June 2021, a problem with weather data

prevented Southwest from flying safely. The next day, more technological problems, described as failures

in “network connectivity,” plagued the airline, forcing it to cancel or delay half of its flights. The disrupted

flights continued for days while the airline recovered, coming at a time when demand for travel began

increasing as coronavirus restrictions were eased.

15 In July 2022, shortage of staff at Heathrow Airport in London, along with a baggage system

malfunction, caused thousands of bags to go missing. At one point, Delta filled a plane bound for Detroit

with 1,000 pieces of abandoned luggage to help reunite the bags with their owners across the United States.

And in October 2022, established plans — including those of some Boston Marathon runners — were

postponed when Southwest canceled more than 1,800 flights over one weekend. It began with “weather

20 challenges in our Florida airports,” and was aggravated by “unexpected air traffic control issues in the same

region,” the airline said.

These are among the worst-case scenarios for travelers when flying. And in some notable instances,

routine events like severe weather or technological issues can go out of control, leaving thousands of people

stranded and feeling helpless. (Fragment adapted from The New York Times.)

4) VOCABULARY (2 POINTS).

4.1

Choose one of the options below and find one word in the text for its definition (0.6 POINTS):

4.2

Find a synonym in the text for one of the two words below (0.6 POINTS):

4.3

For one of the following words from the text, give a synonym that fits the meaning of the text (0.8 POINTS):