One timein our history, space travel (1)...................the dream of writers andfilmmakers. Thanks to Robert Goddard’s liquid-fuel rocket, space travelis a (2)................... We now frequently launch rockets, space probes, space shuttles, and satellites into space. Before we talk about different space vehicles, let us look at (3)................... it takes to launch into space. Space begins about one hundred miles (160 kilometers) above the upper edge of earth’s atmosphere. Rockets need engines thatare more powerful than jet engines to launch into space. These powerful engines (4) ................... the rocket to overcome two strong forces: earth’s gravitational (5)................... and air resistance. Goddard proved that rockets with more than one stage could escape earth’s atmosphere and journey into space. A stage is a section of the rocket that (6)...................the engine or set ofengines and liquid-fuel. The first stage or bottom of the rocket is much larger than the other stages. The first stage needsto contain enough fuel to (7)................... the entire rocket and its payload. The payload or cargo of a rocket may be a satellite (8)................... scientific equipment or a space shuttle.

1.A. is           B. has been     C. used to      D. was

2.A. life         B. truth             C. reality        D. fact

3.A. which    B. what             C. that            D. who

4.A. make    B. let                 C. do              D. help

5.A. force     B. pull               C. push          D. both A & B

6.A. holds    B. have              C. contains    D. both A & B

7.A. lift         B. get                C. take           D. bring

8.A. in          B. of                  C. with           D. on