Bomb Threat Hoaxes Disrupt Flights Across Italy, Poland and Spain

Study the questions and tasks

Work through the material below, or start the interactive practice above to complete an attempt. Try the exercises before opening any answer or transcript sections, then use them to review your work.

Practice level

C2. Try this level if you can follow the instructions and understand most of the language; choose an earlier level if you need more support.

Question formats

Single choice

How to approach this practice

Read the passage for its main idea, then return to the relevant sentence or paragraph for each question. Base answers on the passage.

1. Question 1 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   Which statement best captures the article’s central point?

   Return to the passage, recording or visual
   1. The article argues that the incidents were coordinated across three countries.
   2. False threats caused practical disruption despite the absence of an actual attack.
   3. Authorities confirmed that every affected plane landed at a military base.
   4. The article focuses chiefly on how long passengers waited for security checks.
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   False threats caused practical disruption despite the absence of an actual attack.

   It links false threats to real disruption while preserving factual limits.

   For air travelers, the episode illustrates how an unsubstantiated threat can impose tangible costs without resulting in an actual attack.

2. Question 2 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   Why might a military-base arrival be especially disorienting for passengers?

   Return to the passage, recording or visual
   1. They may expect a commercial airport but arrive somewhere unfamiliar.
   2. They are told that all security checks have been cancelled.
   3. They know that the threats have already been linked across countries.
   4. They are guaranteed to continue their journey immediately.
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   They may expect a commercial airport but arrive somewhere unfamiliar.

   The destination departs sharply from what commercial travelers expect.

   Such an arrival can be especially disorienting: travelers may expect a commercial airport, yet instead find themselves in an unfamiliar setting while authorities assess a possible danger.

3. Question 3 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   What does “These procedures” refer to in the third paragraph?

   Return to the passage, recording or visual
   1. Commercial airport arrivals
   2. Authorities’ assessments of the base
   3. Security checks
   4. Passengers’ planned journeys
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   Security checks

   The phrase points back to the checks passengers underwent.

   Passengers also described undergoing security checks.

4. Question 4 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   Why does the article mention that the facts do not establish delay lengths or flight numbers?

   Return to the passage, recording or visual
   1. To show that the disruptions were insignificant
   2. To clarify the limits of the available account
   3. To imply that passengers misremembered their journeys
   4. To establish that only one flight was involved
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   To clarify the limits of the available account

   Those gaps constrain what can responsibly be claimed about the disruption.

   The available facts do not establish how long those delays lasted, how many flights were involved, or whether every affected plane was diverted.

5. Question 5 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   How does the article organize its account of the incidents?

   Return to the passage, recording or visual
   1. It begins with verified causes, then disputes passenger accounts.
   2. It recounts a single flight chronologically from takeoff to landing.
   3. It starts with disruption, explains threat response, then considers consequences and unknowns.
   4. It compares national security policies before describing any passenger experience.
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   It starts with disruption, explains threat response, then considers consequences and unknowns.

   It moves from reported experiences to explanation, limits, and broader implications.

   The incidents spanned three countries, but the reported facts do not specify whether the threats were connected, who made them, or what prompted them.

6. Question 6 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   What can be inferred about the relationship between a threat and operational disruption?

   Return to the passage, recording or visual
   1. Disruption occurs only when an explosive device is found.
   2. A false claim can still trigger measures that interrupt normal operations.
   3. Authorities investigate only after passengers reach their destination.
   4. A threat’s credibility guarantees that the claim is true.
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   A false claim can still trigger measures that interrupt normal operations.

   Investigating a credible threat can interrupt operations even if it proves false.

   When a threat is treated as credible enough to investigate, precautionary measures can interrupt normal operations even if the claim ultimately proves false.

7. Question 7 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   What common experience united passengers despite the absence of a shared flight sequence?

   Return to the passage, recording or visual
   1. They all landed at the same military base.
   2. They all learned who made the threats.
   3. They faced uncertainty as normal travel gave way to checks and disruption.
   4. They experienced identical delays on connected flights.
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   They faced uncertainty as normal travel gave way to checks and disruption.

   The article identifies uncertainty as the common immediate experience.

   What passengers had in common was the immediate experience of uncertainty: a planned journey gave way to checks and disruption before the threats were established as false.

8. Question 8 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   Which matter does the article explicitly leave unresolved?

   Return to the passage, recording or visual
   1. Whether the reported threats were connected
   2. Whether passengers underwent security checks
   3. Whether the threats were eventually found to be hoaxes
   4. Whether some passengers landed at a military base
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   Whether the reported threats were connected

   It states that the threats’ connection, authorship, and motivation remain unspecified.

   The incidents spanned three countries, but the reported facts do not specify whether the threats were connected, who made them, or what prompted them.

What to review next

Find the words that support each answer. For a mistake, compare the question with the evidence and identify the detail or inference you missed.

A focused practice result shows how you did on these tasks. Use several activities across skills to decide what to study next; one practice score does not certify an overall CEFR level.

Before you practise: a worked example

Look for evidence in the text. Separate what the writer says from what you already know about the topic.

The library normally closes at six, but on Fridays it stays open until eight. When does it close on Friday?

The answer is eight. But introduces an exception to the normal closing time, so the first time mentioned is not the answer.

This teaching example is separate from the scored questions. After your test, compare any mistakes with the explanation and revisit the topic before trying again.