4 . . . 3 . . . 2 . . . 1 . . . 0 . . . Lift-off!
The rocket engines roar as Challenger leaves the launchpad. Over a half million people are at Cape Canaveral, Florida, to watch. In less than three minutes the spacecraft is thirty miles up. Soon it disappears from sight.
This is the second flight of Challenger. It carries a crew of five. Aboard is mission specialist Sally Ride, age thirty-two. She is a pioneer, the first American woman in space. Sally Ride is also the youngest American astronaut to circle the earth in a spacecraft. Sally knew she could do anything she wanted to do when she was a little girl growing up in Encino. Sally believed in herself. She had the will of a winner in school and in sports.
The neighborhood boys knew they'd have stiff competition in their baseball and football games when Sally was on the field. She was as good as any of them. Sally worked and played to make her team the best.
Sally was nine when Dr. Ride took a leave from his work in the schools. For a year the family traveled in Europe. Sally and her sister "Bear," aged seven, saw just how big the world is. What a great adventure, learning about other people in other countries! Sally Ride was one of 8,900 people who wanted to be in the NASA astronaut training program. NASA is short for National Aeronautics and Space Administration. NASA looked for winners, people who were the best in their fields. Just 35 of the 8,900 applicants were chosen for the NASA astronaut class of 1978. Sally Ride was one of the six women chosen.
When Challenger lifted off the pad at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, the world watched. Everyone listened as the astronaut team reported activities to Mission Control in Houston. "The thing that I'll remember most about the flight is that it was fun," said Sally Ride. "In fact, I'm sure it was the most fun that I will ever have in my life."
"Sally Ride Astronaut" by June Behrens. Copyright 1984 by Grolier Publishing Co. Reprinted by permission of the publisher.
| 4 ... 3 ... 2 ... 1 ... 0 ... Lift-Off! |
The story begins this way in order to
A. tell you the number of paragraphs in the selection.
B. show that Sally Ride was good at arithmetic.
C. tell how many astronauts were on the flight.
D. make you think of a rocket blasting off.
| Soon it disappears from sight. |
The word disappears means
A. goes away.
B. falls down.
C. drops.
D. climbs.
| Sally Ride is also the youngest American astronaut to circle the earth in a spacecraft. |
In this sentence the word astronaut means
A. a special type of rocket ship.
B. a person who travels in space.
C. where NASA is located.
D. people who work at an airport.
| ... boys knew they'd have stiff competition ... |
In this phrase, they'd stands for
A. they had.
B. they will.
C. they would.
D. they can.
A. She played baseball and football with boys.
B. She believed in herself and had the will of a winner.
C. She traveled with her sister and parents in Europe.
D. She learned about people in other countries.
A. fable.
B. poem.
C. mystery.
D. biography.