Task 1. Read the text and match the sentences (A-G) with the gaps (1-6) in the text. There is one sentence that you do not need.
Confessions of an astronaut
By the time we head out to the launch pad on flight day we have spent years training in simulators, learning how to operate the shuttle and how to react in case of failures.
Thousands of technicians and engineers have spent months checking over our spacecraft. We have performed a complete dress rehearsal, strapping into the shuttle and going through a practice countdown. But launch day is different. The fuel tanks are now filled with liquid hydrogen and oxygen, whose temperature of hundreds degrees below zero have contracted the metal fuel tank, causing the entire structure to creak. The machine seems alive as we approach.
Unlike rehearsal day, nobody is on the launch pad except the crew and a few technicians. We are wearing pressure suits to protect us from a loss of cabin pressure in case of a leak, and to keep out poisonous chemicals in case of landing accident. In the antechamber to the shuttle, known as “the white room”, we put on parachute harnesses, then climb through the hatch into the shuttle. The technicians strap us into our seats and help us to put on our helmets.1Now we are truly alone.
Along with technical talk about countdown, there is often good-natured banter among the crew and the launch control personnel, but underneath the surface, each crew member is alone with their thoughts and emotions. For myself, I always figured that launch day was not the time to be thinking about whether I really wanted to do this. 2Riding a rocket into space is a risky business, but our training has given us confidence that we can cope with problems over which we have a measure of control. I don’t bother to worry about all the many things that might go wrong which are totally beyond our control. 3 We close the visors of our helmets to keep out the enormous noise that will soon fill the cockpit. At T-31 seconds, on the board computers take control of the final part of the countdown. Time seems to slow down as huge valves open and liquid hydrogen and oxygen propellant starts flowing towards the engines. At T-6 seconds, we hear roar of the three main engines starting up far below us. Because the engines are off-center, the entire vehicle rocks forward and then back to vertical over the next six seconds. During these critical moments, the shuttle computers check readings from the engines to ensure that they are working correctly before using the command to ignite the two solid-fuel booster rockets.4 you certainly want to be sure you are pointed to straight up!
Secondly we feel a huge kick in the pants, or more precisely, a sudden thump on our 40 backs as the boosters ignite. Looking out the window, we see the ground falling away. The noise and vibration are overpowering. 5 there is not much we can do to control our flight at this point. I find myself thinking. ‘ I hope it all holds together’ we can feel the shuttle rotate in a roll maneuver as soon as we clear the launch tower, to point towards our desired orbit.
About 45 seconds after lift-off, still climbing almost vertically, we break the sound barrier. It is hard to believe that we can shake harder than at lift-off, but we do, so much that during my first flight I wondered if the things were going to fall off. I reassured myself that fifteen shuttle flights had already survive lift-off with their wings intact.
We watch the velocity gauge creep up to the cut-off line and then, suddenly, the acceleration ceases. I feel myself falling forward into my seat straps. 6 the next few hours will be busy, reconfiguring the shuttle into an orbiting spacecraft, but for a few moments I enjoy the relief of a successful launch and take in the beautiful view and the extraordinary feeling of weightlessness. We are in space!
A. Instead, I enjoy the building tension and get ready to enjoy an incredible ride.
B. I quickly undo them, and slight push with one finger sends me floating over the
window, where I see the Earth below, far away and moving past very quickly.
C. One astronaut described the feeling ‘as driving down a railroad track in a car with no
shock absorbers’.
D. Those are the main reasons why space flight is, even today, a risky business for the
astronauts who decide to make it their career.
E. That decision was made when I joined the astronaut corps years before.
F. once these are lit, they cannot be turned off, so you want to be absolutely sure that
you don’t leave the ground with anything working less than 100 per cent.
G. Then they close the hatch and retreat to a distance of several kilometers.
Task 2. Match the underlined phrasal verbs in the text with the definitions below.
1. become slower
2. Slowly increase
3. Inspect
4. Begin working
5. Go outside
6. Spend time looking at
7. Rehearse or practice
8. Start wearing
9. Prevent from entering
1 задание ;
1) G
2) A
3) E
4) F
5) C
6) B