Valentina Tereshkova seen Passage HSC

Valentina Tereshkova was born in a village in Central Russia on 6 March 1937. Her father was a

tractor driver and her mother worked in a textile plant. At the age of eight she began her schooling but did not enjoy it much. She left the school within a few years.

Afterwards she completed her education through distance learning. She became interested in parachuting from a young age, and trained in skydiving at the local Aeroclub, making her first jump at age 22 on 21 May 1959.

It was her expertise in skydiving that led to her selection as a cosmonaut. After the flight of Yuri Gagarin, the first human being to travel to outer space in April 1961, the Soviet Union decided to send a woman in space.

On 16 February 1962, "Proletaria" Valentina Tereshkova was selected for this project from among more than four hundred applicants. Tereshkova had to undergo a series of training that included weightless flights, isolation tests, centrifuge tests, rocket theory, spacecraft engineering, 120 parachute jumps and pilot training in MiG-15UTI jet fighters.

Since the successful launch of the spacecraft Vostok-5 on 14 June 1963, Tereshkova began preparing for her own flight. On the morning of 16 June 1963, Tereshkova and her back-up cosmonaut Solovyova were dressed in space-suits and taken to the space shuttle launch pad by a bus.

After completing her communication and life support checks, she was sealed inside Vostok 6. Finishing a two-hour countdown, Vostok-6 launched faultlessly. Although Tereshkova experienced nausea and physical discomfort for much of the flight, she orbited the earth 48 times and spent almost three days in space.

With a single flight, she logged more flight time than the combined times of all American astronauts who had flown before that date. Tereshkova also maintained a flight log and took photographs of the horizon, which were later used to identify aerosol layers within the atmosphere.

Vostok-6 was the final Vostok flight and was launched two days after Vostok-5, which carried Valary Bykovsky into a similar orbit for five days, landing three hours after Tereshkova.

The two vessels approached each other within 5 kilometers at one point, and from space Tereshkova communicated with Bykovsky and the Soviet leader Khrushchev by radio.

(a) What is the best antonym of the word 'Faultlessly'?

i. perfectly

ii. faultily

iii. accurately

iv. flawlessly

(b) What is the meaning of 'undergo'?

i. go through

ii. exclude

iii. cause

iv. comfort

(c) It was her expertise in skydiving that led her selection as cosmonaut. The word 'skydiving'

stands for ___.

i. Present participle

ii. Gerund

iii. Infinitive

iv. Both i. and ii.

(d) Tereshkova logged more fight time than the combined times of all American astronauts who had flown before that date. Identify the clause ___.

i. Noun clause

ii. Adjective clause

iii. Adverbial clause

iv. All of them

(e) What does the word 'communicate' in the passage refer to?

i. interact

ii. contact

iii. continue

iv. Both i. and ii.

(f) The word 'isolation' can be best explained as ___.

i. to be exclusive

ii. to be concerned

iii. to stand aside

iv. segregation

(g) Mig-15 UTI is a/an ___.

i. space project

ii. aircraft

iii. flying saucer

iv. projector

(h) What is the closest meaning of 'plant'?

i. workshop

ii. mill

iii. factory

iv. all of them

(i) The word 'parachuting' in the passage refers to ___.

i. Noun

ii. Adjective

iii. Verb

iv. Adverb

(j) What is the meaning of the word 'launch'?

i. taking off

ii. comfort

iii. rule

iv. space craft

(k) What does the word ‘expertise’ mean?

i. proficiency

ii. ability

iii. knowledge

iv. expert opinion

(l) Who was Tereshkova’s backup cosmonaut?

i. Solovyova

ii. an ordinary pilot

iii. Nobody

iv. her cousin

(m) When Tereshkova made her first jump, she was an employee ___.

i. in a local textile factory

ii. in a sewing factory

iii. in a kindergarten school

iv. in an aerospace company

(n) How many applicants were there for the project?

i. 300

ii. 400

iii. 450

iv. 500

(o) What does the word ‘proletaria’ in the passage refer to?

i. the working class people

ii. people with special needs

iii. common people

iv. people who are sick

(a) Which was the first journey by a woman in space? How?

(b) What do you mean by 'Vostok-6'? Write in 2/3 sentences.

(c) Briefly discuss Tereshkova's life in not more than 3 sentences.

(d) How did Tereshkova communicate with Bykovsky and the Soviet leader Khrushchev?

(e) Who were dressed in space-suits and taken to the space shuttle launch pad by bus? When?

(a) What do you know about Tereshkova’s early life?

(b) What led to the selection of Tereshkova as a cosmonaut ?

(c) What can you say about the trainings Tereshkova took?

(d) Who was the first human being to fly to outer space?

(e) Briefly discuss Tereshkova’s experience in Vostok-6.

(a) ii. faultily

(b) i. go through

(c) ii. Gerund

(d) ii. Adjective clause

(e) iv. Both i. and ii.

(f) iv. segregation

(g) ii. aircraft

(h) iv. all of them

(i) i. Noun

(j) i. taking off

(k) i. proficiency

(l) i. Solovyova

(m) i. in a local textile factory

(n) iii. 450

(o) i. the working class people

(a) Vostok-6 was the first journey by a woman in space. Yuri Gagrin was the first human being to travel to space in 1961. Then the Soviet Union decided to send a woman in space who happened to be Valentina Tereshkova.

(b) Vostok-6 was the last Vostok flight of the then Soviet Union. It was launched two days after Vostok-5 carrying Valentina Tereshkova.

(c) Tereshkova was the daughter of a tractor-driver father and textile worker mother. She completed her education through distance learning and trained in skydiving. Later she was selected as a cosmonaut for her expertise in skydiving.

(d) Tereshkova's Vostok-6 came within 5 kilometres of Valary Bykovsky's Vostok-5. Then she communicated with him and the Soviet leader Khrushev through radio.

(e) Tereshkova and her back-up cosmonaut Solovyova were dressed in space-suits and taken

to the space shuttle launch pad by bus on 16 June 1963 in the morning.

(f) Tereshkova's early life was difficult. She was the daughter of a tractor-driver father and textile worker mother. She began school at the age of 8 but left after eight years.

(g) Tereshkova's expertise in skydiving led to her selection as a cosmonaut.

(h) Tereshkova underwent a series of training that included weightless flights, isolation tests, centrifuge tests, rocket theory, spacecraft engineering, 120 parachute jumps and pilot training in MiG-15 UTI jet fighters.

(i) Yuri Gagarin was the first human being to fly to outer space in 1961.

(j) Tereshkova experienced nausea and physical discomfort for much of the flight in Vostok-6.