Unit 15 - Reading

Spacecraft = spaceship = space shuttle

The earth

The moon

What’s his name?
Gagarin
Where is he from?
Russia
What is his job?
He is a cosmonaut

planets


Work with a partner. Ask and answer
the following questions.
1. Who is the first human to fly into
the space?
2. Can you name the first humans
to set foot on the moon?
3. Who is the first Vietnamese to fly
into space?
Before you read

1. The first human to fly into space is
1. The first human to fly into space is
Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin.
Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin.

Neil Armstrong Buzz Aldrin
Neil Armstrong Buzz Aldrin
2. The first humans to set foot on the moon are
2. The first humans to set foot on the moon are




Neil Armstrong
Neil Armstrong
and
and
Buzz Aldrin.
Buzz Aldrin.

Pham Tuan
Pham Tuan
3. The first Vietnamese to fly
3. The first Vietnamese to fly
into space is Pham Tuan.
into space is Pham Tuan.

VOCABULARY
conquest (n) ['k ηkwest]ɔ : sự chinh phục
lift off (n /v) [lift :f]ɔ
orbit (n) [' :bit]ɔ
astronaut (n) ['æstrən :t] ɔ ̣ = cosmonaut (n) ['k zmən :t] ɔ ɔ
weightlessness (n) ['weitlisnis]: zero gravity
uncertainty (n) [ n'sə:tnti]ʌ : sự không chắc chắn

precisely (adv) [pri'saisli]: exactly
react (v) [ri:'ækt]: phản ứng
extreme (adj) [iks'tri:m]: tột độ
psychological tension (n) [,saikə'l d ikl 'ten∫n]ɔ ʒ : áp lực tâm
lý
hero (n) ['hiərou]: anh hùng
venture (n) ['vent∫ə] việc mạo hiểm
feat (n) [fi:t]: chiến công

Lift off into space

Orbit (around the earth)

astronaut = cosmonaut

1. Paragraph 1A. The tragic accident
2. Paragraph 2B. The lift-off
3. Paragraph 3C. Congratulations
4. Paragraph 4D. A view on earth
5. Paragraph 5 E. Uncertainties
Match the headings to the paragraphs

Paragraph 1
At 9.07 a.m. Moscow time on 12
th
April, 1961,
Yuri Gagarin into space aboard the
Vostock 1. Approximately 12 minutes later, the
first human being was in orbit around the Earth
at a speed of more than 17,oo miles per hour.

His flight lasted for 108 minutes.
lifted off

Paragraph 2
The 27 – year – old Soviet cosmonaut became
the first person to eat and drink in
weightlessness. From his window in space,
Gagarin was able to in a way that
no human beings had done before. The first
words spoken from space were: “I see the Earth.
It’s so beautiful!”
view the Earth

Paragraph 3
Before Gagarin’s historic flight, there were still
enornous . No one knew precisely
what would happen to a human being in space.
How would the body react to the extreme
changes in temperature? How would the mind
deal with the psychological tension? If there
was a technical failure, Gagarin might never
turn back to the Earth.
uncertainties

Paragraph 4
The success of Gagarin’s flight attracted
worldwide attention and made him a hero. In
a telegram to Moscow, US President John F.
Kennedy wrote, “The people of the United
States share with the people of the Soviet

Union their satisfaction for the safe flight on
the astronaut in man’s venture into space.
We you and the Soviet
scientists and engineers who made this feat
possible.
congratulate

Paragraph 5
Gagarin could have made another space
flight if had not occurred.
He died in a plane crash on a routine training
flight in March 1968. After his death, his
hometown of Gzhatsk was renamed Gagarin,
and the Cosmonaut Training Centre at Star
City, Russia, was given the name of this
national hero.
a tragic accident

1. How old was Gagarin when he became the
first human being in space?
2. How long was he in space?

3. What question were raised before Gagarin’s
space flight?
Read the passage again and answer the questions.
He was 27 then
108 minutes
- What would happen to a human being in space?
- How would the body react to the extreme
changes in temperature?

- How would the mind deal with the
psychological tension?”

Read the passage again and answer the questions.
4. What was the speed of his spacecraft in orbit
around the Earth?
5. What couldn’t Gagarin make a new space flight?
6. What was done after Gagarin’s death to honor this
national hero?
It was more than 17,000 miles per hour
Because of a tragic accident
- His hometown of Gzhatsk was renamed Gagarin.
- The Cosmonaut Training Centre at Star City,
Russia, was given the name Gagarin to honour
this national hero.

On 12
th
April, 1961, Yuri Gagarin, a Russian
(1)_______ became the first human being
(2)_______. Although his flight (3) _____ only
108 minutes, its (4) ______ made him a national
hero. He also became the first person to eat and
drink in zero (5)______, and he was able to
(6)____the Earth in a way that no one had done
before. Unfortunately, a plane crash in March
1968 made Gagarin’s desire of revisiting space
(7) _________. After his death, his hometown
and the Cosmonaut Training Centre at Star City,
Russia were (8) ________him.

cosmonaut
cosmonaut
in space
in space
lasted
lasted
success
success
gravity
gravity
view
view
impossible
impossible
named after
named after
Complete the summary of the reading
passage by putting the words/phrases in
the box into the blanks.

HOME WORK.
Prepare for the next period (speaking)