The man who fell to Earth

Buzz Aldrin was part of the Apollo 11 mission in1969 when man first walked on the moon. Neil Armstrong went first, followed by Buzz. Nothing in all his training had prepared him for that moment, and he has been traveling the world ever since, reliving the experience.

He was born in New Jersey in 1930, and he graduated from West Point Military Academy. He served as a pilot in Korea and West Germany, and in 1966 he was chosen as an astronaut.

Apollo 11 was launched to the moon on July 16. Four days later they landed near the Sea of Tranquility. The mission ended on July 24, with a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean.

On coming back to Earth, he became very depressed, and suffered from alcoholism. He had married for the first time when he was young, and had three children. His second marriage lasted a very short time.

Fortunately, he seems to have found happiness and stability with his third wife, Lois Driggs Cannon, who saved him from self-destruction. They now live with their three dogs in California, and have six cars “for fun”.

He has written his autobiography and a science fiction book, called Encounter with Tiber, which was published in 1996.

He now travels the world, giving lecture tours and raising funds for space exploration.

Exercise 41. Practice reading the following tongue-twister. Explain the reading of the vowels in bold.

A tutor who tutored the flute

Tried to teach two young tooters to too

Said the two to the tutor,

‘Is it harder to toot, or

To tutor two brothers to toot?’

To toot – дудеть, играть на дудочке; tooter – дударь.

Revise reading of vowels and vowel combinations

Exercise 42. Read and transcribe the words. Do not forget to put the stress mark if a word has two or more syllables.

Breed, bread, broke, autumn, adore, understood, paint, Fred, blood, dude, easy, low, airport, boil, short, straw, European, bloom, deeds, rainy, great, down, form, mud, gloomy, puppy, between, pair, dream, destruct, Mary, autobus, trainers, doll, loose, remain, audio, borrow, core, Australia, burst, greet, Pete, flame, cooker, stream, storm, law, Euro, pay.

Exercise 43. Find and copy out the words with 1) [ ei ]; 2 ) [ ɔ: ]; 3 ) [ i: ].

Afraid, spoon, coffee, need, autopilot, grow, leader, bead, spray, football, noon, brain, clean, August, airlines, toilet, Europe, chair, read, slave, noodles, meat, steady, allow, coin, season, flood, beach, brown, tomorrow, break, green, blame, noise, cake, sprain, May, mood, teacher, flower, Austria, armchair.

Exercise 44. Read the text and explain the reading of the words in bold.

Weather wisdom

A long time ago when people lived mostly out-of doors, they were close to nature. They noticed that when plants, insects, and birds sensed the coming storm they looked for shelter. When ancient people saw animals seeking shelter, they did it too. Of course, plants and animals do not actually forecast weather, but they are good weather indicators.

Some people watch ants for weather clues. Anytime you see ants building huge mounds around their holes, they prepare for rain. About two hours before rain, all kinds of ants begin building dams which protect their hills from rainwater.

Plants are also handy humidity indicators. They are affected in different ways. Just before rain many flowers – like daisy, dandelion and tulip – close their blossoms.

Normally, spiders know that insects will be easier to catch when the humidity is high. The moisture in the air soaks the insects’ wings, making it difficult for them to fly.

Some people are very sensitive to humidity. People who have arthritis are, in a sense, ‘living hydrometers’. That is why many older people say, ‘It’s going to rain. I can feel it by my bones.’ They actually can.