B4. Fear of flying

be going to (intentions and predictions)

Mr. Harrison needed to fly from London to New York. He was afraid of flying but the journey was important for his job so he bought a plane ticket from a travel agent.
   At the airport, he tried not to be nervous about his first flight.
   ‘I’m not going to worry about it’, he told himself ‘Everything is going to be fine. I’m going to get on the plane, I’m going to go to sleep for a few hours and when I wake up I’m going to be in New York.’
   The plane took off and after an hour in the air, there was a loud noise. Mr. Harrison heard one of the flight attendants say to the other, ‘ Oh no! That sounds really bad.’
   Mr. Harrison called the flight attendant over and asked, ‘Excuse me, but is everything going to be OK?’
   ‘Oh, don’t worry about a thing, sir. Everything is going to be just fine. We’re going to arrive a little later in New York, but that’s all. Just fasten your seatbelt and go back to sleep.’
   Mr. Harrison tried to go back to sleep again but only ten minutes later, there was screaming and shouting from other passengers as they pointed out of the window.
   ‘The engines are on fire! We’re going to crash! We’re all going to die!’
   The pilot opened the door of the cockpit and told the passengers to keep calm. He was smiling and his voice was relaxed so Mr. Harrison felt a little better. The pilot walked to the emergency exit of the plane and took some packages from under a seat. He gave some to the flight attendants and took one for himself.
   Mr. Harrison was now very worried and so he asked an attendant, ‘Excuse me, but are those packages parachutes? You said we had nothing to worry about!’
   ‘No, sir. Don’t worry about a thing. We’re going to get some help.’

Grammar: be going to used for intentions and predictions

You can use be going to + verb to make predictions about the future, particularly when your prediction is based on the evidence of your senses or experience.

You can use be going to + verb to talk about things you have arranged to do in the future.

Match the evidence with the predictions.

1. He looks very tired. His eyes are closing.	A. He’s going to drop them.
2. He’s carrying a tray with a lot of glasses on it. He isn’t looking where he’s walking.	B. He’s going to miss it.
3. His plane leaves at nine but he hasn’t arrived at the airport yet. The time is 8.58.	C. He’s going to win.
4. He forgot to take his jacket with him and now it’s just started snowing.	D. He’s going to fall asleep.
5. He is the fastest runner in the race. Everyone else is metres behind him.	E. He’s going to be hungry.
6. He forgot to take his lunch with him and there’s nowhere to buy anything.	F. He’s going to get cold.

Choose a verb to complete these sentences. Use be going to + verb.

get

take

give

make

do

keep

7. Oh no! It’s raining. I forgot my umbrella so I ______________ wet.
8. I’m sure you ______________ your best in the exam.
9. Dave makes me so angry. I don’t know how I ______________ calm.
10. The builders are coming on Monday so I’m afraid they ______________ a noise while they’re working.
11. I’m excited about my trip to Rome next week. I ______________ my ticket on the internet tonight.
12. I ______________ lots of photographs while I’m there so I can show everyone where I’ve been.

Vocabulary exercises

Choose the correct verb to complete these sentences.

point

scream

fasten

take

worry

Choose the correct preposition to complete the sentences.

Choose a word to make a compound noun.

ticket

belt

agent

exit

attendant