The US space organization, NASA developed and built the first space shuttle. The shuttle was the first rocket to fly into space, come back to earth and fly again. The first shuttle to fly in space was Columbia. It took off on the 12th April 1981. In January 1986 the shuttle Challenger exploded at take-off. Everyone on the shuttle died. This accident slowed down the shuttle programme for the next six years. A new shuttle, Endeavor, replaced Challenger in May 1992.

On 25th April 1990, NASA used the shuttle Discovery to put the Hubble Space Telescope into space at a distance of 512 kilometres from the earth. Hubble travels around the earth and sends back photos of the stars and planets.

GLOSSARY
NASA – National Aeronautics and Space Administration

All verbs below are in the past, except:

Unbeetable: The humble root which fights cancer
and lowers blood pressure

With its sweet, earthy taste and ruby-red interior, beetroot is a favourite of foods, but there’s far more to it than that.

The majority of beetroot’s benefits stem from the unusually high level of nitrates it contains.

Nitrates have suffered a bad reputation because of their use as a food additive. However, recent studies have shown that nitrates in beetroot lower blood pressure.

A study carried out in 2010 also found that the _____the blood pressure, the _____ the drop observed. If beetroot juice is consumed widely, there will be reduction in death from cardiovascular disease.

Among other benefits, beetroots may also slow progression of dementia and growth of tumours.

Based on the article, beetroot

Charles Lindbergh’s achievement

On 20th May 1927 a small fixed-wing singleengined aeroplane loaded with its maximum capacity of fuel (450 gallons) struggled to get airborne as it bounced down the runway at Roosevelt Field, New York. To avoid extra weight, the parachute, the radio and even the brakes had been removed by themechanic. At last it lifted off, just avoiding some telephone wires, and disappeared into the distance.

Thirty hours later a hundred thousand Parisians lined up at the Le Bourget Airport to wait for the arrival of the plane. It was 10 o’clock at night. Burning lanterns marked out the runway. Then came the low-pitched sound of an engine and a wave of excitement swept through the crowd. The Spirit of St. Louis touched down and rolled to the end of the runway. Out of the plane stepped a tall handsome American – Charles Lindbergh. He’d just become the first person to fly solo across the Atlantic, and he was destined to become one of the most famous men in the world.

GLOSSARY
get airborne – decolar
bounced – “deu um solavanco”
lined up – enfileiraram-se

“At last”, is closest in meaning to

Charles Lindbergh’s achievement

On 20th May 1927 a small fixed-wing singleengined aeroplane loaded with its maximum capacity of fuel (450 gallons) struggled to get airborne as it bounced down the runway at Roosevelt Field, New York. To avoid extra weight, the parachute, the radio and even the brakes had been removed by themechanic. At last it lifted off, just avoiding some telephone wires, and disappeared into the distance.

Thirty hours later a hundred thousand Parisians lined up at the Le Bourget Airport to wait for the arrival of the plane. It was 10 o’clock at night. Burning lanterns marked out the runway. Then came the low-pitched sound of an engine and a wave of excitement swept through the crowd. The Spirit of St. Louis touched down and rolled to the end of the runway. Out of the plane stepped a tall handsome American – Charles Lindbergh. He’d just become the first person to fly solo across the Atlantic, and he was destined to become one of the most famous men in the world.

GLOSSARY
get airborne – decolar
bounced – “deu um solavanco”
lined up – enfileiraram-se

“a hundred thousand”, is expressed in number as:

Leonardo da Vinci has long been praised as one of the finest artists of __________ Renaissance, working far ahead of his time and producing some of the world’s most recognizable works.

But da Vinci has finally received __________ credit he deserves for his startling medical accuracy hundreds of years in advance of his peers, as scientists compare his anatomical drawings with modern day MRI scans.

In a series of 30 pictures, an organization in England intends to show just accurate da Vinci was.

(Adapted from www.telegraph.co.uk)

GLOSSARY
praised – considerado, visto
startling – surpreendente, impressionante
MRI scans – imagens de ressonância magnética

In “...the world’s most recognizable works...”,the underlined word is closest in meaning to