1. Read the following text and answer the questions A and B: Valentina Tereshkova was born in the village Maslennikovo,Tutayevsky district, in Central Russia.Tereshkova’s father was a tractor driver and her mother worked in a textile plant. Tereshkova began school in 1945 at the age of eight but left school in 1953 and continued 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. At that time she was employed as a textile worker at a local factory. 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 1961), the Soviet Union decided to send a woman in space. On 16 February 1962. ‘Proletarian’ 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 15 UTI 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 15 June 1963, Tereshkova and her backup 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. $\boxed{\mathbf{~A~}}$ Choose the correct answer from the alternatives: a. What does the word ‘expertise’ mean? (i) proficiency (ii) ability (iii) knowledge (iv) expert opinion $\\$ b. Who was Tereshkova’s backup cosmonaut? (i) Solovyova (ii) an ordinary pilot (iii) Nobody (iv) her cousin $\\$ c. 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 $\\$ d. How many applicants were there for the project? (i) 300 (ii) 400 (iii) 450 (iv) 500 $\\$ e. What does the word ‘proletarian’ in the passage refer to? (i) the working class people (ii) people with special needs (iii) common people (iv) people who are sick $\\$ $\boxed{\mathbf{~B~}}$ Answer the following questions: 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 training Tereshkova took? d) Who was the first human being to fly to outer space? e) Briefly discuss Tereshkova’s experience in Vostok-6.

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