Unit Seven Launched into Space

Unit Seven Launched into Space

The Second Two Periods

Designed by Sun Yanmin

Unit Seven Launch into Space

Teaching procedures:

Lead in

Text study

Consolidation

Assignments

Lead In

1. Human Spaceflight2. Helen Sharman3. Soyuz Spacecraft4. Mir Space Station


Text Study

1. Global Reading

2. Detailed Reading


Consolidation

1. Dictation

2. Words and Phrases

3. Listening Practice

4. Group Discussion

Unit Seven Launch into Spacec

Text Study_ Global reading

Global Reading

1.Questions and Answers

2.Text Analysis


Human Spaceflight


• Human spaceflight is space exploration with a human crew, and possibly passengers. The first human spaceflight was Vostok 1 on April 12, 1961: Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin made one orbit around the earth. Human spaceflight missions beyond Earth orbit have been carried out by the United States only: to the Moon in the late 1960s.

• As of 2004 human spaceflights have been carried out by Russia, the United States (both government, NASA, and civilian, Scaled Composites, a California-based company), and the People's Republic of China.


Helen Sharman


• Born May 30, 1963, Helen Sharman was the first Briton in space, and the first non-Soviet, non-American woman in space. In May 1991, she flew as research cosmonaut on Soyuz TM-12, and spent 8 days at the Mir Space Station conducting scientific experiments.

• Since her return Helen has continued to work as a scientist and has become one of the country's leading ambassadors for science, giving lectures around the world. She is also an accomplished broadcaster, presenting numerous science-based radio and television programmes.


Soyuz Spacecraft


Soyuz spacecraft is a series of spacecraft designed by Sergey Korolev for the Soviet Union's space program. They were originally built as part of the Luna program that was intended to put a Soviet cosmonaut on the Moon. Later they were used to carry cosmonauts to and from the Salyut space stations, Mir and the International Space Station. The first unmanned launch of the Soyuz was on 28 November 1966. The first manned launch of the Soyuz was on 23 April 1967.



Mir Space Station

• Mir was a highly successful Soviet (and later Russian) space station. It was humanity’s first permanently inhabited long-term research station in space. Through a number of collaborations, it was made internationally accessible to cosmonauts and astronauts of many different countries.

• Mir was assembled in orbit by successively connecting several modules, each launched separately from February 19, 1986 to 1996. The station existed until March 23, 2001, at which point it was deliberately de-orbited.



Questions and AnswersDirections: Skim the paragraphs for answers to the following questions.

Paragraphs 1-2:Question: What do you know about Helen Sharman from this section?

Answer: She’s won a place in history as Britain’s first woman astronaut.

Question: What did Helen think when she learned the news that an astronaut was wanted?Answer:

She thought it was something she really wanted to do because she had never thought about being an astronaut before that.


Paragraphs 3-4:

Question: What did Helen do before being an astronaut?

Answer: With chemistry as her major in university, she had been an engineer and then a technologist.

Paragraphs 5-8:Question:What qualifications were required of

the woman astronaut the Russians were looking for?Answer:She had to be a scientist who was

internally healthy and of a certain standard of fitness.


Paragraphs 9-10:Question:What did Helen think when she

knew 13,000 people applied for this job?

Answer: She thought she didn’t stand a chance to get the job.

Paragraphs 11-12: Question:How did Helen feel when she

knew she was selected?

Answer:She could hardly believe it.


Paragraphs 13-14: Question:How did Helen respond to the

moment of the launch?Answer: She felt it strange and a

relief.Paragraphs 15-16:

Question:What did Helen see when she was in the air?

Answer:She saw the blueness, the brilliant white clouds and the brick-red deserts; when they went over into the darkness, they could see the lights from cities and fires burning in Kuwait.


Paragraphs 17-18:

Question:What did they do when Helen and her crew were in the space station?Answer:

They did many experiments ranging from medical experiments to growing crystals, and geophysics things.

Question: Why did they take measurements of the surface of the Earth and measure even things like color?Answer:Because it would give them a lot of information


Paragraphs 19-20:

Question:Why didn’t Helen want to come back from the space?

Answer:Because she thought there were really so many things to do.

Paragraphs 21-26:

Question: How did Helen feel when coming back? Why did she have that feeling?Answ

er:She felt as though her ribs were crushing her lungs. Because when coming back in through the atmosphere


Paragraphs 27-28:

Question: What does Helen think of her colleagues in space?

Answer:She thinks all of them are her friends, and she will never forget them. She is still in touch with them.


Text Analysis

Para

Main Ideas

1 - 2 3 - 45 - 8

11 - 12

9 - 10

Helen Sharman's chance to be an astronaut: Helen Sharman's decision: she immediately decided to apply. Helen Sharman's qualifications to fly into space.Total number of applicants: 13,000 people applied and Helen Sharman was one of them.Helen Sharman was sure she was finally selected: she didn't believe she was selected as an astronaut until she had put on her spacesuit, climbed into the rocket and was sitting up there.

Text Analysis


Para Main Ideas

13 - 14

15 - 16

17 - 18

19 - 20

21 - 26 27 - 28

Helen Sharman's feelings at the launch.Helen Sharman's view of Earth from outer spaceHelen Sharman's work at the space station.Helen Sharman's feeling about returning to Earth: she didn't want to come back to it.Helen Sharman's return to Earth: it was exciting and dangerousHelen Sharman's relationship with Soviet astronauts


Language points:1.set about: begin (a task); start doing sth. 开始（某工作）；着手做某事

e.g.

I've no idea how to set about fixing a flat tyre on a bicycle.

cf. set out: begin a job, task, etc. with a particular aim or goal ( 带着某目的）开始做某事e.g.

Like so many young people before them, they set out to change the world.

2. flick through: turn over the pages (of a book, etc.) quickly, looking briefly at the contents

快速翻阅 ( 书等 ) ；浏览e.g.

She flicked idly through the pages of a magazine while she was waiting for the bus.

cf. look through: examine or read sth. quickly 快速检查某事物；快速阅读某物


e.g.

Would you quickly look through these figures for me and see if there are any obvious mistakes?


3.prime adj. (attrib.) most important; chief; fundamental

• （定语）最重要的；主要的；基本的

e.g.

Getting on the Olympic team became her prime objective.

Primary adj. (usu. attrib) most important; fundamental （通常作定语）首要的；基础性的；根本的

e.g.

We're primarily concerned with keeping expenditure down.


extra 1. adj. more than or beyond what is usual,

expected or necessary; additional 额外的；外加的；附加的

e.g.

Recently he's been working an extra two hours a day.

2. n. something additional, something charged in addition 额外的事物；额外收费的事物e.

g.It's a rule in the company that young employees will do the extras in case of an emergency.


5.go through: take part in sth.; perform sth.

参加某事；履行某事 e.g.

It's hoped that the kidnappers will not go through their threat to kill the hostages.

e.g.

All the students must go through the computer course in the first year.

Related expressions:

perform, carry on, carry out

6.


on board: on or in a ship or an aircraft

在船上；在飞行器上e.g.

Waving goodbye to everyone, she got on board the train.

e.g.

As soon as I was on board the ship, I began to have second thoughts about leaving.cf. aboard prep., adv. on or into a ship, a

n aircraft, a train or (esp. US) a bus 在船、飞机、火车或公共汽车上（在美式英语中尤指公共汽车）；上船、飞机、火车或公共汽车


7. initial adj. of or at the beginning; first

开始的；最初的；第一个的e.

g.Initial reports say that seven people have died, though this has not yet been confirmed.initially adv. at the beginning; at first

最初；开头；首先

e.g.

The damage was far more serious than initially believed.

Extended words:initiate, initiation, initiative


8.a touch (of): a slight quantity; a small amount

少许；微量e.

g.There was a touch of irony in his voice as he mentioned his stepfather.

e.g.

A touch of red would have made the picture more attractive.


9. crush v. press or squeeze (sth./sb.) hard so that there is breakage or injury

压（或挤）伤（某物／某人）e.g.

The package had been badly crushed in the post.

e.g.

Crush the pearls into fine powder and then add to the mixture.

Related words:squeeze, squash


Assignments 1.Read the new words and learn them

by heart, next time we’ll have a dictation.

2.Read the text n detail, try to find the difficulties of structures, sentences, or words, next time we may have a discussion about them.

3.Finish the rest exercises.

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Unit Seven Launched into Space