Choose the correct answers.

Mars is the …

… closest planet to the sun.

… second planet from the sun.

… fourth planet from the sun.

Mars is the …

… smallest planet in the solar system.

… second smallest planet in the solar system.

… largest planet in the solar system.

It is often called the …

… red planet.

… hot planet.

… fire planet.

It is approximately …

… 227,900,000km from the sun.

… 900,227,000km from the sun.

… 900,227km from the sun.

Mars is named after …

… the Nordic god of thunder.

… the Greek god of fire.

… the Roman god of war.

On Mars, you can find …

… the crew of Mars One.

… alien life forms.

… the tallest mountain in the solar system.

 

Match the key words to the definitions.

1 mission	A a discussion in which people or groups state different opinions about a subject
2 naivety	B a small vehicle used by astronauts for travelling on the surface of a planet
3 scepticism	C face to face, not via phone or other media
4 debate	D a flight into space
5 in person	E offer or choose to do something without being forced
6 rover	F doubts that someone has about something that other people think is true or right
7 volunteer	G the quality of lacking experience of life and of believing things too easily

 

1	D
2	G
3	F
4	A
5	С
6	B
7	E

 

Read and translate the following text.

Mars venture has taken one giant leap backwards

Shortlisted Mars One astronaut: venture has taken one giant leap backwards Peter Walker 18

He is not the first person to express scepticism about Mars One, a private mission that aims to send humans to live on Mars from 2025. But Joseph Roche is different from most critics: he’s on the shortlist of astronauts.

Roche, an astrophysicist at Trinity College Dublin who was announced in February as one of the 100 people shortlisted for the mission, has written for the Guardian expressing his doubts about the viability of Mars One.

The selection process, Roche writes, “was not rigorous enough to reach the standard of more traditional astronaut selection programmes”. He also says the Dutch Mars One team have shown “a certain naivety” because they believe they can succeed alone in the $6bn mission. He says they should now accept it is very unlikely to happen.

Roche also expressed worries about the way the mission organizers publicized a ‘top-ten’ list of candidates. The ranking, he said, didn’t mean these were the best astronauts. It was based on how many “supporter points” each had earned.

He says that these points only show how much each supporter has donated to Mars One, for example by buying official merchandise.

The official timeline for the mission says the group plans to send a stationary lander and satellite to Mars in 2018, followed by a rover in 2020 and cargo missions starting in 2022. Humans would start arriving in 2025 and crews of four would be sent every two years to add to the settlement. They would not return to Earth.

In February, a supporter of the project, Gerard ’t Hooft, a Dutch Nobel laureate in physics, said he did not believe this timetable was realistic. He said: “It will take quite a bit longer and be quite a bit more expensive. When they first asked me to be involved, I told them: ‘You have to put a zero after everything’.”

Roche also said that there were not 200,000 people who applied to be astronauts, as Mars One said; there were only 2,761.

He talked about the selection process in more detail: “I have not met anyone from Mars One in person. Initially, there were going to be regional interviews; we would travel there, we’d be interviewed and we’d be tested over several days. In my mind, that sounded like a proper astronaut selection process.

“But, all of a sudden, it changed from being a proper regional interview over several days to being a ten-minute Skype call.”

Roche told the Guardian that he did not want to give more interviews because he didn’t want to sound negative about the idea of space travel.

He writes: “I am passionate about scientific endeavour and that is why the ambitiousness of the Mars One plan appealed to me. Mars One were never likely to overcome the financial and technical barriers during their proposed timeline. But it was nice to hear a new idea that challenges us to think about our own role in the future of space exploration.

He said that being part of the public debate about future missions has been one of the most interesting and enjoyable aspects of his involvement with Mars One. He went on to say that, “If a one-way mission to Mars ever became possible, I would always volunteer. For an astrophysicist, that is not a difficult decision to make.” But he does not think there will be a one-way mission in his lifetime.

 

Кампания на Марс — один гигантский скачок назад

Один из астронавтов Mars One: один гигантский скачок назад  — Питер Уокер, 18

Он не первый человек, который выражает скептицизм в отношении Марса, одна миссия, целью которой является отправить людей на Марс с 2025 года. Но Джозеф Рош отличается от большинства критиков: он в списке астронавтов.

Рош, астрофизик в Тринити-колледже в Дублине, который был выбран в феврале в качестве одного из 100 человек, отобранных для миссии, написал для Guardian, в котором выразил свои сомнения относительно жизнеспособности на Марсе.

Процесс выбора, пишет Рош, «не был достаточно строгим, чтобы достичь стандарта более традиционных программ отбора космонавтов». Он также говорит, что голландская команда Mars One показала «определенную наивность», потому что, по их мнению, они могут преуспеть в миссии стоимостью 6 миллиардов долларов. Он говорит, что теперь они должны принять, что это вряд ли произойдет.

Рош также выразил обеспокоенность в связи с тем, как организаторы миссии обнародовали список «топ-десяти» кандидатов. Ранжирование, по его словам, не означает, что это были лучшие астронавты. Это было основано на том, сколько заработали «сторонники поддержки».

Он говорит, что эти моменты показывают, насколько каждый сторонник пожертвовал «Марсу», например, покупая официальный товар.

Официальная временная шкала миссии гласит, что группа планирует отправить на Марс стационарный посадочный аппарат и спутник в 2018 году, за которым последует ровер в 2020 году и грузовые миссии, начинающиеся в 2022 году. Люди начнут высаживаться в 2025 году, а экипажи из четырех человек будут отправляться каждые два года. Они не вернутся на Землю.

В феврале, сторонник проекта, лауреат Нобелевской премии по физике в Нидерландах Джерард Туф заявил, что он не считает, что это расписание было реальным. Он сказал: «Это займет немного больше времени и будет немного дороже. Когда они впервые попросили меня принять участие, я сказал им: «Вы должны поставить ноль».

Рош также сказал, что было не 200 000 человек, которые заявили, что они астронавты, как сказал Mars One; было только 2761.

Он более подробно рассказал о процессе отбора: «Я никого не встречался с Марсом Один наедине. Вначале проходили региональные интервью; мы отправимся туда, где мы будем опрошены, и нас будут тестировать в течение нескольких дней. На мой взгляд, это звучало как правильный процесс отбора космонавтов.

«Но внезапно правильное региональное интервью в течение нескольких дней стало десятиминутным звонком в Skype».

Рош заявил Guardian, что он не хочет давать больше интервью, потому что он не хотел отрицать идею космических путешествий.

Он пишет: «Я увлечен научными стараниями, и поэтому команда Марса Один обратилась ко мне. Mars One никогда не мог преодолеть финансовые и технические барьеры в пределах предлагаемого плана. Но было приятно услышать новую идею, которая заставляет нас задуматься о нашей собственной роли в будущем освоения космоса.

Он сказал, что участие в публичных дебатах о будущих миссиях является одним из самых интересных и приятных аспектов его участия в Mars One. Далее он сказал: «Если односторонняя миссия на Марс станет возможной, я всегда буду добровольно участвовать в ней. Для астрофизика это непростое решение. «Но он не думает, что в его жизни будет односторонняя миссия.

Answer the questions using information from the article.

What is Joseph Roche’s job and where does he work? He’s on the shortlist of astronauts. Roche, an astrophysicist at Trinity College Dublin.

What has he been shortlisted to do? He was announced in February as one of the 100 people shortlisted for the mission.

How many people applied to go on the mission? Roche said that there were not 200,000 people who applied to be astronauts, as Mars One said; there were only 2,761.

How long will the crew of Mars One stay on Mars? Crews of four would be sent every two years to add to the settlement.

When does the mission plan to send humans to Mars? Humans would start arriving in 2025.

Will all the humans be sent at the same time? No, they won’t.

How much does Mars One say the mission will cost? It will cost $6bn.

How much does Gerard ‘t Hooft think it will cost? It will be quite a bit more expensive.

Why is Roche sceptical about the way the astronauts were selected for the shortlist? The selection process, Roche writes, “was not rigorous enough to reach the standard of more traditional astronaut selection programmes”. He also says the Dutch Mars One team have shown “a certain naivety” because they believe they can succeed alone in the $6bn mission. He says they should now accept it is very unlikely to happen.

Why doesn’t Roche want to give any more interviews? Roche told the Guardian that he did not want to give more interviews because he didn’t want to sound negative about the idea of space travel.

 

Fill the gaps with the words below to talk about the Mars One project.

followed       starting       after       every       first       start       next       finally

FIRST (1), Mars One plans to send a stationary lander and satellite to Mars in 2018. NEXT (2), they plan to send a rover in 2020, FOLLOWED (3) by cargo missions STARTING (4) in 2022. AFTER (5) that, the first humans will START (6) arriving in 2025 and, FINALLY (7), they plan to send more crews of four people EVERY (8) two years.

 

a. Complete the list below with the names of the other seven planets in the solar system

Mercury

Venus

Earth

Mars

Jupiter

Saturn

Uranus

Neptune

 

Which former planet is no longer a planet? Why?

The observatory announced the assignment of the name to the planet Pluto in 1930. Some time after the discovery of Eris, Pluton wasn’t considered to be an ordinary planet of the Solar System and was transferred to the category of dwarf planets.

⃰⃰ c. Write a quiz about one of the planets other than Mars. You can use the questions in task 1 as a model.

Jupiter is the …

… closest planet to the sun.

… second planet from the sun.

… fifth planet from the sun.

Jupiter is the …

… largest planet in the solar system.

… second smallest planet in the solar system.

… largest planet in the solar system.

Who discovered Jupiter?

… Galileo Galilei

… many people.

… Arсhimedes

It is approximately …

… 778,500,000km from the sun.

… 363,227,000km from the sun.

… 585,247km from the sun.

Mars is named after …

… the Nordic god of thunder.

… the god Zeus.

… the Supreme God Jupiter.

 

Rewrite each pair of sentences as one sentence using who, whose, which.

Homer is an ancient Greek writer, whom we study in translation.

Picasso had a daughter, Paloma, whose fashion designs have become famous worldwide.

S. Bach had two sons, whose music was better known than his for many years.

One of the most complex structures is the human body, which contains over 100,000 cells.

Einstein is a scientist, whom I admire.

The word cell comes from the Latin “cella”, which means a “small room”.

Curie was a physicist, who was the first woman to receive a Nobel Prize.

 

Choose the correct answer.

I can’t see you tomorrow. I _______ a check-up at the dentist’s.

a) will have b) am having                         c) have

The train is very late. We _______ our meeting.

a) are going to miss b) are missing                        c) miss

I am hungry. I think I _______ myself a sandwich.

a) am making                        b) will make                          c) make

According to the website there are three flights tomorrow. The earliest _____ at 7.30 a.m.

a) is going to leave b) will leave                           c) leaves

Jack sent me an email. I am afraid he _______ on Sunday.

a) isn’t coming b) won’t come                                   c) doesn’t come

Look! Andy _______ off his bike!

a) is going to fall b) will fall                              c) falls

— I haven’t got any money. — No? Ok, I _______.

a) am going to pay b) am paying                          c) will pay

 

Translate into English.

«Марс-1» — это частная космическая программа, которая планирует отправить людей жить на Марсе.

Это, по сути, перелет без возвращения, так что астронавты не вернутся на Землю.

Многие, однако, настроены скептически и по поводу миссии в целом, и отбора претендентов, в частности.

По разным оценкам, эта программа будет стоить от 6 до 60 миллиардов долларов.

 

Mars-1 is a private space program that plans to send people to live on Mars.

It is, in fact, a flight without the return, so the astronauts will not return to the Earth.

Many, however, express skepticism both about the mission in general and the selection of applicants in particular.

According to various estimates, this program will cost from 6 to 60 billion dollars.