Pre-reading questions:
I will read each question. Then, please answer them.
- Did you dream to become an astronaut before? Why or why not?
- What fascinates you about space?
Vocabulary:
I will read the words, meanings, and sample sentences. Then, repeat after me.
- investigate /in-VES-ti-geyt/
- remote /ri-MOHT/
- county /KOUN-tee/
- solar system /SOH-ler sis-tuhm/
- specific /spi-SIF-ik/
[verb] – to examine a crime, problem, statement, etc. carefully, especially to discover the truth
Of course, we’re investigating how such an error could have occurred.
[adjective] – far away in distance
Australia is huge and remote from the world’s major population centers.
[noun] – the largest political division of most states in the US
Texas is divided into 254 counties.
[noun] – the sun and the group of planets that move around it
There are nine planets in the solar system.
[adjective] – relating to one thing and not others; particular
The virus attacks specific cells in the body.
Article reading:
Please read the whole article. Then, I will check your pronunciation and intonation.
Math may be a foreign language to others, but a Belfast woman is hoping it will be her ticket to the stars. Dr. Caoimhe Rooney works at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California as a scientist. The 29-year-old aims to one day become an astronaut because of her knack for numbers. Dr. Rooney can become the first person from Belfast to boldly go where no one has gone before if she succeeds.
You don’t need a Ph.D. in mathematics to recognize it’s a long shot if you’re one of over 22,000 applicants for four slots on the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Astronaut Corps. Dr. Rooney, who holds a Ph.D. in applied mathematics from Oxford University, is investigating how remote planets were formed, what they are made of, and whether they may host life. A fomer Sullivan Upper School student from Hollywood, County Down, she now works for NASA as part of the planetary system branch, which studies planets outside our solar system.
Dr. Rooney stated that after losing interest in calculus, it was a specific teacher, Mrs. Anderson, who reignited her interest in the subject. “It wasn’t until GSCE when I got a really amazing teacher who reinstilled that love of maths, who showed me I could do it, and more importantly that it was a lot of fun,” she said.
You don’t need a Ph.D. in mathematics to recognize it’s a long shot if you’re one of over 22,000 applicants for four slots on the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Astronaut Corps. Dr. Rooney, who holds a Ph.D. in applied mathematics from Oxford University, is investigating how remote planets were formed, what they are made of, and whether they may host life. A fomer Sullivan Upper School student from Hollywood, County Down, she now works for NASA as part of the planetary system branch, which studies planets outside our solar system.
Dr. Rooney stated that after losing interest in calculus, it was a specific teacher, Mrs. Anderson, who reignited her interest in the subject. “It wasn’t until GSCE when I got a really amazing teacher who reinstilled that love of maths, who showed me I could do it, and more importantly that it was a lot of fun,” she said.
Comprehension questions
I will read each question. Then, please answer them based on the article.
- Who is hoping that math will be her ticket to the stars?
- What does she do?
- How old is she?
- What does the planetary system branch do?
- Who reignited Dr. Roonney’s interest in math?
Discussion questions
I will read each question. Then, please answer them.
- What subject do you like at school? Why?
- Who is your favorite scientist? Please tell me more about him/her.
- If you had the chance, would you like to explore the universe? Why or why not?
- Do you agree that math is fun?
- What do you think of Dr. Caoimhe Rooney’s dream? Please explain your answer.