Table of Contents
BEST IELTS Academic Reading Test 518
IELTS ACADEMIC READING TEST 518 – PASSAGE – 1
IELTS ACADEMIC READING TEST – 518
READING PASSAGE – 1
The Apollo Programme
A Milestone in Human History
The Apollo programme was the third spaceflight programme of the United States and carried out by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The Apollo programme is significant not just in the United States history, but in human history as it managed to land the first twelve humans on the moon in different missions within four years, from 1969 to 1972. It was first considered while President Dwight D. Eisenhower was in office.
Originally conceived as a three man spacecraft, it was to follow the one-man Project Mercury. Project Mercury was responsible for putting the first Americans into space. Later as Apollo was developed, the project was dedicated to the national goal of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely by the end of the 1960’s, as proposed by President John F. Kennedy in an address to the Congress in 1961. Project Mercury was followed by Project Gemini, which ran during 1962-1966 as a two-man spaceflight mission programme. The first manned Apollo flight was in 1968.
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A. The goal set forth by President Kennedy was achieved by Apollo 11 when it landed on the Moon on July 20, 1969. This was accomplished by astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin who landed the mission’s lunar module successfully. Armstrong, made history as the first man on the moon and spoke the famous words “That’s one small step for a man; one giant leap for mankind” as he stepped down on the lunar surface.
Fellow astronaut Michael Collins remained in the Command Module orbiting the moon. On July 24, all three astronauts returned and landed safely on the Earth. There were five subsequent Apollo missions which also landed astronauts on the moon. The last was in December 1972. In these spaceflights, a total of 12 men walked on the moon.
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B. Apollo programme was active from 1961 to 1972 and was supported by Project Gemini, which ran concurrently with it from 1962 to 1966. Gemini missions helped to develop some of the techniques used for space travel that were necessary for successful Apollo missions. Apollo used Saturn rockets as their launch vehicles.
C. Despite setbacks, Apollo succeeded in achieving the goal of a manned lunar landing. One major setback occurred with Apollo 1. During the pre-launch test, the cabin caught fire and resulted in killing the entire onboard crew. After the first landing, there was still sufficient flight hardware which allowed for nine more landings. One ambitious plan was for an extended mission to conduct geological exploration of the lunar surface as well as astrophysical explorations.
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Due to budget cuts, three missions of this type were scrubbed. Five of the remaining missions since Apollo 11 landed successfully on the moon. The only exception was Apollo 13. Apollo 13 was unable to achieve its mission and was aborted due to explosion in an oxygen tank while the craft was in transit to the moon. This explosion disabled the spacecraft’s propulsion and life support and the crew was forced to use the Lunar Module as a lifeboat.
Due to the serious nature of the explosion, the crew scrambled to return to Earth. The crew was able to return and land safely on the Earth by making an orbit around the moon in a way in which the orbit would slingshot the craft back into Earth’s orbit. From there, it could re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere and land successfully.
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D. During the time Apollo was active, it set several major milestones in human spaceflight. First, it sent manned missions beyond low Earth’s orbit. Not even the Space Shuttle programme was able to achieve this. Second, Apollo 8 was the first manned spacecraft to orbit another celestial body, the moon. Finally, Apollo 17 marked the sixth moon landing and the ninth manned mission beyond low Earth orbit.
E. Another milestone of the programme was that it returned with rock and soil samples from the moon back to Earth. A total of 382 kg of samples were brought back. This feat greatly contributed to geological knowledge of the moon as well as a better understanding of its composition. Furthermore, Apollo laid the foundation for NASA’s current human spaceflight programme as well as for the Shuttle programme. It has also funded the construction of both the Johnson Space Centre in Houston, Texas and the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida. Finally, Apollo spurred many technological advances which are currently being used. Among these advances are those in computers, telecommunications, avionics and even food processing.
IELTS Academic Reading Test
Questions 1 – 5
Choose the correct heading (i-x) for each section 1-5.
NB: The heading for one section has already been selected.
1. Paragraph A
2. Paragraph B
3. Paragraph C
4. Paragraph D
5. Paragraph E
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i. The Ups and Downs
ii. The First Terrestrial Landing
iii. All the Funding
iv. A Fillip to Future Research
v. The Support Programmes
vi. The Climb-down from Dizzy Heights
vii. Realisation of the National Goal
viii. Forging Ahead in the Space Race
ix. Path-breaking in Many Ways
x. A Milestone in Human History
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Questions 6 – 10
Write ONE WORD AND/OR A NUMBER from the text in each gap.
The Apollo Programme: Success and Failure
● It had sent the first twelve people to moon in just (6)…………. Years
● The programme was initially (7)…………. to send multiple people to the moon
● The first spaceflight took off in 1968
● The first mission failed prior to its (8)…………. due to fire
● Lack of adequate (9)…………. impacted some of the subsequent missions
● Apollo 11 was successful in landing to the moon
● All other missions were successful with an exception of Apollo 13 which was (10)………….
● It achieved many milestones in human spaceflight and collecting samples from moon
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Questions 11 – 14
Choose TRUE if the statement agrees with the information given in the text,
FALSE if the statement contradicts the information, or
NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this.
11. The Apollo programme was launched during the Presidentship of Dwight D. Eisenhower.
12. Michael Collins could never step on the lunar surface.
13. At least two Apollo missions witnessed major problems.
14. Apollo mission provided useful inputs about the geological composition of the moon.
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ANSWERS
1. VII
2. V
3. I
4. IX
5. IV
6. 4/FOUR
7. CONCEIVED
8. LAUNCH
9. BUDGET
10. ABORTED
11. FALSE
12. NOT GIVEN
13. TRUE
14. TRUE
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