BBC 6 Minute English | THE FIRST SPACE WALK | English CC | Daily Listening

source: Daily Listening     2016年10月9日
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0:04 Hello, Neil!
0:05 I watched that space movie last night – the one where those astronauts are stranded in
0:10 space.
0:13 Stranded means stuck in a place with only a small chance of leaving.
0:18 Gravity, you mean?
0:21 That's the one.
0:22 And this year marks the 50th anniversary of the first ever space walk.
0:29 On 18th March 1965 Russian cosmonaut Alexei Leonov was the first man to drift free in
0:36 space – 500km from the surface of Earth.
0:41 And that’s the subject of today’s show!
0:43 What on earth must that have felt like?
0:46 Ah ha!
0:47 Exactly.
0:48 It would have felt like nothing on earth – and that’s to say, very strange indeed.
0:52 He was the first person to experience the colourful geography of our planet stretched
0:57 out before him.
0:59 Very poetic, Rob!
1:01 But moving on, how about answering today’s quiz question: How long did the first space
1:06 walk last?
1:07 Was it... a) 2 minutes?
1:10 b) 12 minutes? or c) 22 minutes?
1:14 Hmm.
1:15 All quite short – so I think I’ll go for the one in the middle – 12 minutes.
1:21 We'll find out if you're right or wrong later on.
1:23 Now, ‘cosmonaut’ literally means ‘sailor of the universe’.
1:28 But Leonov’s mission wasn’t plain sailing – in other words, it wasn’t easy or straightforward.
1:33 That’s right.
1:35 No one had ever gone out into space before – it was unknown territory –unknown territory
1:42 means a place or activity that people do not know anything about or have not experienced
1:47 before.
1:48 And as it happens, there were big problems.
1:51 When Leonov left the capsule his spacesuit inflated – or swelled up – like a balloon
1:57 because the pressure inside the suit was greater than outside.
2:01 This made it impossible for Leonov to get back through the door of the spacecraft, putting
2:06 him in a life-threatening situation.
2:09 Let’s listen to Helen Sharman, the first Briton in space, talking about it.
2:14 So he decreases the pressure of his suit, which means that it’s a bit more able to
2:18 move inside it, but it means the amount of oxygen he’s got around his face is now dangerously
2:24 low so he can’t cope with that for very long.
2:27 So if he’s not able to get in quickly, he’s going to die of oxygen starvation, um […] so
2:36 he had the presence of mind to get on with all of this, got back in, swivelled himself
2:40 round, managed to close the airlock, and then when the pressure was equilibrated was finally
2:44 able to, you know, hug his compatriot up there in space.
2:47 Now, if you can’t cope with something it means you are unable to deal successfully
2:52 with a difficult situation.
2:55 And here the situation was having very little oxygen.
2:58 But Leonov had the presence of mind to find a solution.
3:02 Presence of mind means being able to react quickly and stay calm in a difficult or dangerous
3:07 situation.
3:08 And if I was in Leonov’s shoes – meaning if I was in his situation – I would have
3:14 panicked big time!
3:17 And there was plenty more to panic about before the mission was over.
3:20 The spacecraft’s automatic re-entry system failed so the cosmonauts had to fire the rockets
3:26 manually – meaning controlled by hand – which they had never done before.
3:30 And that’s not all.
3:32 Their capsule failed to detach – or separate – from the spacecraft’s equipment module,
3:38 and this sent them tumbling through space towards Earth.
3:42 But the capsule did finally detach.
3:45 And then you would think they’d have been home and dry, wouldn’t you?
3:49 Home and dry means being close to achieving a goal.
3:51 Well, they certainly weren’t dry.
3:53 The capsule touched down – or landed – hundreds of kilometres off course in freezing Siberia
4:00 populated only by wolves and bears.
4:03 Leonov had sweated so much on the space walk that his boots were filled with water up to
4:08 his knees!
4:10 Both cosmonauts had to wring out – or twist and squeeze – their clothes to avoid frostbite.
4:17 And off course, by the way, means not following the right route.
4:21 Those men must have been overjoyed when they were finally airlifted to safety two days
4:26 later!
4:27 But what seems unfair to me is, we all know about the Apollo moon landing, but how many
4:31 of us know about the first space walk?
4:33 Well, at least we do now, and of course our listeners do too!
4:37 OK, let’s have the answer to the quiz question.
4:40 I asked: How long did the first space walk last?
4:44 Was it… a) 2 minutes b) 12 minutes or c) 22 minutes?
4:50 I said a) 12 minutes.
4:52 And you were right!
4:54 Excellent.
4:56 Good!
4:57 So 12 minutes eh?
4:59 What an amazing short stroll that must have been but a very historic one too.
5:04 Well done.
5:05 Now, can we hear today’s words again please?
5:07 OK.
5:08 We heard: stranded
5:11 like nothing on earth plain sailing
5:18 unknown territory inflated
5:22 can’t cope with something presence of mind
5:31 in Leonov’s shoes manually
5:37 detach home and dry
5:41 touched down wring out
5:46 off course Well, that’s the end of today's 6 Minute