The Word That Cost 583 Lives
Grammar: BE-4
A Business English English lesson exploring work.
What's in this lesson
A Business English ESL lesson on work, practising be-4. The worksheet has a reading, target vocabulary, a grammar reference with practice and discussion questions.
From the reading: The Word That Cost 583 Lives
Why do pilots say "niner" instead of "nine"? Why does a controller never say "takeoff" casually? Because aviation learned something expensive: in a noisy world, a polite, vague word can be deadly. On 27 March 1977, two Boeing 747s sat on a fog-covered runway at Tenerife. A KLM captain, Jacob van Zanten, was impatient to leave. The Pan Am crew was still taxiing. The tower radioed a message about "takeoff", and the KLM crew heard it as permission. It was not. Seconds later, the planes collided, and 583 people died.
Vocabulary
- beat around the bush
- cut to the chase
- on the same page
- speak the same language
Grammar: BE-4
- Hedging with wondering
- I was wondering if you could repeat the deadline. — softens a direct request
- Softening with might
- It might be worth confirming the time. — gentle suggestion, not an order
Discussion questions
- Imagine a job where one unclear word could cost lives. What rules would you create?
- Imagine you could ban one phrase from every office. Which one?
- What would you do if a senior colleague made a mistake?
The Word That Cost 583 Lives
Grammar: BE-4
What's in this lesson:
Full lesson plan with reading, grammar, vocabulary, and discussion.
Sign up to access full lesson plans
Start with a free trial — 5 lesson generations included
Get Started Free