Task 1

Read the text about Katherine Johnson. Fill in the gaps using the words in brackets in the correct form. Do not change the text.

There is an example (0) at the beginning.

The Girl who loved to count

Katherine Johnson, born on August 26, 1918 in West Virginia (0) was (BE) a bright child with a talent for numbers. She sailed through her school classes and completed the (1) ____________________________ (EIGHT) grade by the age of 10. In an interview Johnson said that since her childhood she (2) ____________________________ (COUNT) everything, the steps to the road, the dishes she washed, just anything.

At the age of 18 she graduated from the traditionally black West Virginia State College with top grades in mathematics and (3) ____________________________ (FRANCE). She wanted to do research in mathematics but there were few opportunities at that time. She (4) ____________________________ (TEACH) in a school for a while and in 1952 she heard that the NACA, later to become NASA, was hiring mathematicians. She applied, got a job and worked in a group of women whose task was to make precise calculations about the flight paths of spacecraft.

Alan Shepherd’s 1961 trip into space (5) ____________________________ (BASE) on her calculations. John Glenn, the first astronaut to fly around the Earth, refused to depart on his mission until the calculations for his flight (6) ____________________________ (CHECK) by Katherine Johnson.

Later she was part of the computing team (7) ____________________________ (SUPPORT) the Apollo 11 moon landing and she helped to rescue the Apollo 13 crew and bring them back to Earth (8) ____________________________ (SAFE).

More recently Johnson worked on the Space Shuttle program and on plans for the mission to Mars as (9) ____________________________ (GOOD) as many other key projects. It was not until long after she had retired that she was rewarded with the NASA Group Achievement Award and the Presidential Medal of (10) ____________________________ (FREE). The New York Times explained, “They asked Katherine Johnson for the moon, and she gave it to them.”

Task 2

Read the text about ballpoint pens for astronauts. There are ten mistakes in the text. Find each mistake and write the correct word on the numbered line.

Do not change the text. There is an example (0) at the beginning.

Ballpoint pens for astronauts	Corrections
In the 1960s, so the story goes, when the space race was at
its high, NASA realized that ballpoint pens were no use to	0	height
astronauts in zero-gravity1 conditions. The Americans
then spent millions of dollars creating a pen that would
write upside down. The Russians, on the one hand, used a	1	___________________
pencil.
Altogether this story is a myth, it is true that NASA paid a	2	___________________
lot of money for some mechanical pencils. When this
became far known, it caused a scandal.	3	___________________
According from NASA’s historians, American astronauts	4	___________________
– just like the Russian cosmonauts – used pencils firstly.	5	___________________
These were not ideal; the pencil points could break, and
the broken pieces would fly above in the space capsule	6	___________________
and make damage to the crew and the sensitive equipment.	7	___________________
A private company heard about this problem and spent one
million dollars developing a success space pen. The	8	___________________
company patented its invention and sent some pens to
NASA for testing.
Later, 400 space pens were sold to America’s space
agency for $ 2.95 every. These pens were also supplied to	9	___________________
the Russian space agency at the same price.
In addition to write in zero-gravity1 conditions, the pen has	10	___________________
been useful in other ways; the Apollo 11 astronauts used
one to fix a broken switch, enabling their return to Earth.

¹ zero-gravity = Schwerelosigkeit

Task 1

The Girl who loved to count

Katherine Johnson, born on August 26, 1918 in West Virginia (0) was (BE) a bright child with a talent for numbers. She sailed through her school classes and completed the (1) eighth (EIGHT) grade by the age of 10. In an interview Johnson said that since her childhood she (2) had counted (COUNT) everything, the steps to the road, the dishes she washed, just anything.

At the age of 18 she graduated from the traditionally black West Virginia State College with top grades in mathematics and (3) French (FRANCE). She wanted to do research in mathematics but there were few opportunities at that time. She (4) taught (TEACH) in a school for a while and in 1952 she heard that the NACA, later to become NASA, was hiring mathematicians. She applied, got a job and worked in a group of women whose task was to make precise calculations about the flight paths of spacecraft.

Alan Shepherd’s 1961 trip into space (5) was based (BASE) on her calculations. John Glenn, the first astronaut to fly around the Earth, refused to depart on his mission until the calculations for his flight (6) had been checked (CHECK) by Katherine Johnson.

Later she was part of the computing team (7) supporting (SUPPORT) the Apollo 11 moon landing and she helped to rescue the Apollo 13 crew and bring them back to Earth (8) safely (SAFE). More recently Johnson worked on the Space Shuttle program and on plans for the mission to Mars as (9) well (GOOD) as many other key projects. It was not until long after she had retired that she was rewarded with the NASA Group Achievement Award and the Presidential Medal of (10) Freedom (FREE). The New York Times explained, “They asked Katherine Johnson for the moon, and she gave it to them.”

Task 2

Ballpoint pens for astronauts	Corrections
In the 1960s, so the story goes, when the space race was at
its high, NASA realized that ballpoint pens were no use to	0	height
astronauts in zero-gravity1 conditions. The Americans
then spent millions of dollars creating a pen that would
write upside down. The Russians, on the one hand, used a	1	other
pencil.
Altogether this story is a myth, it is true that NASA paid a	2	Although
lot of money for some mechanical pencils. When this
became far known, it caused a scandal.	3	widely/well-
According from NASA’s historians, American astronauts	4	to
– just like the Russian cosmonauts – used pencils firstly.	5	first
These were not ideal; the pencil points could break, and
the broken pieces would fly above in the space capsule	6	around
and make damage to the crew and the sensitive equipment.	7	cause/do
A private company heard about this problem and spent one
million dollars developing a success space pen. The	8	successful
company patented its invention and sent some pens to
NASA for testing.
Later, 400 space pens were sold to America’s space
agency for $ 2.95 every. These pens were also supplied to	9	each
the Russian space agency at the same price.
In addition to write in zero-gravity1 conditions, the pen has	10	writing
been useful in other ways; the Apollo 11 astronauts used
one to fix a broken switch, enabling their return to Earth.