A、The plane was about an hour late. B、The plane was about half an hour late. C、The old man would not be late for his lecture. D、

As we flew in from the sea towards the airport, we passed over the city and I could easily make out many of the landmarks such as the main square and the new hospital. Following instructions, we put out our cigarettes, fastened our seat-belts and waited expectantly for the plane to begin landing. It was a quarter to four and we had reached our destination only a few minutes behind time. Instead of landing, however, the plane suddenly began to climb again and then headed out to sea. After that we flew round and round in wide circles. "Always some delay," murmured the old man in the seat next to me. "I have to deliver a lecture at five and at this rate I shall be late." Nobody around answered, and I stopped the airhostess as she was passing. "Nothing to worry about," she assured me, "it’s just that there’s so much traffic at the airport that we can’t land yet." As the circling continued, the passengers grew restless. Somewhere at the back a child began to cry; the woman in front of me began to complain. After about twenty minutes or so, however, the plane flew back to its former path and began its slow descent towards the runway, touching down smoothly a few minutes later.