আজকের যায়যায়দিন

Part-1, Question-1

2. Read the following text and answer the questions A and B.

Valentina Tereshkova was born in the village Maslennikovo, Tutayevsky District, in Central Russia. TereshkovaÕs 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 Aero club, making her first jump at age 22 on 21 May 1959. At that time she was employed as a textile worker in 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, ÔproletariaÕ 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-15UTI 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 16 June 1963, Tereshkova and her back-up cosmonaut Solovyova ware 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.

A. Choose the correct answer from the alternatives.

(a) ‘Outer space’ refers to —

(i) interplanetary space

(ii) outside the space

(iii) space beyond the atmosphere

(iv) any location inside the earth

Answer : (iii) space beyond the atmosphere

(b) The word ‘undergo’ stands for —

(i) to experience (ii) to sustain

(iii) imperative (iv) to endure

Answer : (i) to experience

c) Tereshkova had knack in —

(i) swimming (ii) skydiving

(iii) flying in the sky (iv) gardening

Answer : (ii) skydiving

d) Tereshkova made her first jump at the age of —

(i) 12 (ii) 22

(iii) 25 (iv) 20

Answer : (ii) 22

e) Ô— her expertise in skydiving that led to her selection as a cosmonaut.’ What does it imply?

(i) Skydiving made impediment on her way to be an astronaut

(ii) Skydiving is the most essential quality to be an astronaut

(iii) Skydiving helped her to be chosen as an astronaut

(iv) Skydiving is not needed to be an astronaut

Answer : (iii) Skydiving helped her to be chosen as an astronaut.

B. Answer the following questions.

(a) How do you differentiate Tereshkova from other girls of her age?

(b) What qualities do you think helped Valentina build her career as an astronaut?

(c) Why did Tereshkova receive education through distance learning though she could have received education in school?

(d) How do you evaluate the story of Tereshkova’s becoming a part of history?

(e) ‘Only man has the audacity to go outer space.’ Do you agree or disagree with this statement?

Answer :

(a) Tereshkova was different from other girls of her age. Firstly, she had a knack of skydiving. Secondly, she had the audacity to do outer space.

(b) I think the aptitude in skydiving helped her to be an astronaut. Her determination also helped her to be so.

(c) Though Tereshkova could have received education in school, she received education through distance learning. The reason is that she was from insolvent family. She had to work as a textile worker.

(d) Tereshkova has became a part of history by dint of her audacity to fly in the outer space. She was the first woman to do so. Thus she made an epoch-making event. And she has made her name a part of history.

(e) I disagree with this statement. Not only man but also woman has the audacity to fly in the sky. Tereshkova is a glaring example of it.

3. Read the following text and answer the questions A and B. When you are in the driving seat of a car, you have the steering and the horn in your hands, the brake and accelerator under your feet, eyes open looking ahead, left and right. The same can be said about a motorcycle rider, with some modifications. These are all very visible. But, behind all, there is something that keeps working unseen. And that is the Central Processing Unit (CPU), your brain. CPUs are artificially intelligent machines that are programmed to do specific jobs under fixed conditions and judgments. But the human brain is intelligent by nature. It is the most sophisticated machine that is able to operate on ever-changing conditions and standards of judgment. As conditions in the traffic keep invariably changing, this virtue of sophistication of your brain must be at work when you are driving. The difference between traffic in the roads and highways and racing circuit must not be