Unit4 Space Exploratio n Listening and Speaking Talk about how to become an astronaut Pre-listening 1. Can you name any famous astrounauts from China or abroad. Yang Liwei Zhai Zhigang Wang Yaping Neil Armstrong Pre-listening 2.Do you know anything about the selection procedure for astronauts? Ma ke a list of the possible requirements. Listen for the 1st time You are going to listen to an interview with an astronaut. Listen to the in terview and tick the correct statements. 1.The audience is curious about how Yang Liwei became the first Chinese astronaut. 2. Mr Yang always beliveved that he would become an astronaut one day. 3. Mr Yang was selected to attend pilot training with 13 other people. 4. To become an astronaut in China, you have to have 1,350 hours of flying experience. 5. Astronauts not only had to learn how to use space equipment, but also had to do a lot of mental and physical training. Check the answers 1 The audience is curious about how Yang Liwei became the first Chinese astronaut. never thought 2 Mr Yang always believed that he would become an astronaut one day. 3 Mr Yang was selected to attend pilot training with 13 other people. 4 To become an astronaut in China, you have to have 1,350 hours of flying experience. 5 Astronauts not only had to learn how to use space equipment, but also had to do a lot of mental and physical training. Listen for the 2nd time Fill in the blanks with the correct numbers. 1 Yang Liwei graduated from college at the age of ____. 2 Before he joined China’s space programme, Mr Yang trained as a fighter pilot for __ years. 3 Mr Yang was one of the ___ pilots who were chosen to train for space flights. 4 At the time when Mr Yang entered the space programme, astronauts had to be shorter than _____ cm in height and less than ____ kg in weight. 5 Mr Yang became Chinas first astronaut when he was ___ years old. Listen for numbers Number questions are typically related to: time, telephone numbers, addresses, prices, weights, distances. Interviewer: Today we are very pleased to chat with Mr Yang Liwei, the first Chinese astronaut. Welcome to the show, Mr Yang. Mr Yang: Thank you. Interviewer: Mr Yang, our audience is very curious about how you succeeded in becoming China’s first astronaut. It must have been a very difficult thing to achieve. Did you always want to be an astronaut? Mr Yang: Yes, I dreamt of it when I was young, but I never thought my wish would come true. It took a long time. First, I got my college fighter pilot for around 10 years. I finally became China’s first astronaut when I was 38 years old. Interviewer: Oh, so you must be a really experienced pilot. Do you think that was one of the reasons why you were chosen for the space programme? Mr Yang: Sure, I had 1, 350 hours of flight experience, which I think really helped me. Interviewer: So how difficult was it to join the space programme? Mr Yang: There was a lot of competition. Altogether, 14 of us were chosen from among 1,500 pilots to train for space flights. Interviewer: That sounds really difficult. Did you also have to be a certain size and weight? Mr Yang: Yes, at the time, you had to be shorter than 172 centimetres in height and weigh less than 70 kilograms. You also had to be in perfect health and perfect shape. Interviewer: So you were the perfect choice! As we all know, an astronaut needs to be healthy and calm in order to work in space. But you also had to study a lot, too, right? Mr Yang: Yes, I had to learn English, science, and astronomy. I also had to practise using space equipment, and do a lot of mental and physical training. It was very tiring, but I was so proud to have the opportunity. Listen for the 2nd time Fill in the blanks with the correct numbers. 22 1 Yang Liwei graduated from college at the age of ____. 2 Before he joined China’s space programme, Mr Yang trained as a fighter pilot for 10 __ years. 3 Mr Yang was one of the ___ 14 pilots who were chosen to train for space flights. 4 At the time when Mr Yang entered the space programme, astronauts had to be shorter than _____ 172 cm in height and less than ____ 70 kg in weight. 5 Mr Yang became Chinas first astronaut when he was ___ 38 years old. Listen for the 3rd time What are the requirements for becoming an astronaut? Education background: college degree, trained to be a fighter pilot Experience: more than 1,000 hours of flight experience Health condition: must be in perfect health and shape Courses: