Page 123 - Think 4. Teacher's Book B2

Unit 11
Shoot for the stars Culture
Warmer
Ask students to imagine that they are
going to space for six months. They
can only take one small backpack.
Ask them what six items they would
take with them. Allow students time
for pairs to discuss and put the items
in order of importance. Hold a class
vote to decide which they feel are
the most and the least important.
30
Being an astronaut
1 Tell students that they need
to scan the text for specific
information, so they do not need
to read every word of the text in
order to successfully complete
the exercise. Set a two-minute
time limit to encourage them to
read quickly. Listen to some of
their ideas in open class, but do
not comment at this stage.
2 11.06 Tell students not to
worry about difficult vocabulary
at this stage as this will come up
later.
1 the US, Russia, Canada, Europe
and Japan 2 It’s uncertain (beyond
2024/2028).
3 Ask students to underline the
parts of the text that support
their answers.
1 the size of an American football
pitch 2 piece by piece, using the
NASA space shuttle to transport the
pieces, which were assembled
by robots and astronauts 108
3 a combination of English and
Russian. It’s used when the
astronauts socialise with each Culture notes
other. 4 They travel on a Russian
Soyuz spaceship. 5 They range from
growing plants to observing the effect
of life in space on the human body and
testing products to see how they an average of one every 45 minutes. On 3 September 2017, the astronaut Peggy
perform in zero gravity. 6 to make
repairs to the station in space at 665 days.
T108 Shoot for the stars | Unit 11
Being an astronaut
30
1 Scan the text to find the answers to these questions.
1 What countries are engaged in space exploration these days?
2 What is the future of the ISS?
2 11.06 Read and listen to the text to check your answers.
nal
nal
nal These days, the ISS generally has a crew of three to six people living
multinati
multinati
on it. Their journey begins on board a Russian Soyuz spaceship,
A
A
enterprise
enterprise
multinati which transports them from Earth to the station where they
spend on average six months before returning home. In case of
emergency, they can always evacuate the station using one of the
two Soyuz spaceships that are docked to the ISS.
During their time there, crew members have a number of different
responsibilities. One of the main reasons they are there is to
Somewhere up there in the skies, 400 km above your head, conduct scientific experiments in space. These range from growing
plants, to observing the effect of life in space on the human body,
a huge metallic structure the size of an American football in order to understand the challenges humans will face if they want
to explore further into the solar system. They also test products such
pitch is orbiting the Earth every hour and a half, as it travels as 3D printers and coffee makers to see how they perform in zero
at speeds of up to 28,000 km/h. Inside, you will find several
sleeping areas, two bathrooms, a gym and a 360° window gravity. But the astronauts are also responsible for making sure the
ISS is in full working order and they will often need to make repairs
offering some of the most spectacular views you can imagine. which might involve spacewalks to access the exterior of the station.
You will also find people!
It’s the International Space Station (or ISS for short) and as its name They also put aside two hours each day for exercise and to make
sure they are taking care of themselves.
suggests, it truly is the result of a huge collaboration between But the ISS might well not be there forever. At the moment,
many different countries. The main financial contributors are the
US, Russia, Canada, Europe and Japan. Although it is constantly there are plans to keep it in operation until at least 2024 and
being added to and adapted, the main construction of it was possibly until 2028, but after that, its future is not so certain.
It might be taken out of orbit permanently or broken up into parts
completed between 1998 and 2011. It was taken up into space
piece by piece, using NASA’s space shuttle to transport most of to be used on future space stations. But whatever happens to it,
the larger pieces. Once up there, these pieces were assembled by let’s hope the spirit of international co-operation will continue as
mankind explores further and further into space.
robots and astronauts.
Since November 2nd 2000, it has been called home by 230
astronauts from 18 different countries. The majority (145) have
been from the US, with Russia sending the second most (46).
Other countries that have sent astronauts include Italy, Japan,
Brazil, Malaysia and South Africa.
Although English is the official language of the Space Station,
astronauts are also expected to learn Russian, as technical
commands are given in that language. This has led to the creation
of ‘Runglish’ – a mixture of the two – that many of the astronauts
use to socialise in their everyday life on board the station.
3 Read the article again and answer the questions.
1 How big is the ISS?
2 How was it built?
3 What is Runglish? When is it used?
4 How do astronauts get to the ISS?
5 What kinds of experiments do astronauts do on the ISS?
6 Why might an astronaut need to make a spacewalk?
The International Space Station (ISS) is the second brightest object in our night
sky, after the moon. You don’t even need a telescope to see it zoom overhead
and the NASA app lets you find out when and where to spot the ISS. Astronauts
on the International Space Station can see 15 sunrises and 15 sunsets a day with
Whitson set the record for spending the most amount of time living and working