Neil Armstrong’s death prompts yearning for America’s past glories

Level 2 Intermediate
1 Key words
Fill the gaps in the sentences using these key words from the text. The paragraph numbers are given to
help you.

desolate timid reluctant mourning icon

barren destiny astronaut modesty wink

1. ___________________ is the process of expressing great sadness because someone has died. (para 1)
2. An ___________________ is someone who is very famous and who people think represents a particular idea
or achievement. (para 1)
3. A country’s ___________________ is the things it will do or what it will become in the future. (para 1)
4. An ___________________ is someone who travels and works in space. (para 1)
5. If you are ___________________, you are shy and nervous. (para 2)
6. If you are ___________________, you are not willing to do something. (para 3)
7. ___________________ is when a person does not like to talk about themselves, their achievements or their
abilities, even if they are successful. (para 3)
8. A ___________________ is the action of quickly closing and opening one eye as a sign to someone. (para 3)
9. A ___________________ place is completely empty with no people or pleasant features in it. (para 6)
10. A ___________________ place is dry and empty with no plants growing. (para 6)

2 Find the information

Look in the text and find the answers to these questions as quickly as possible.

1. How old was Neil Armstrong when he died?

2. When did he first set foot on the moon?
3. Who was the second man to walk on the moon?
4. Who was the last human to set foot on the moon?
5. What was the name of Armstrong’s spacecraft?
6. Which US president set the target of putting a man on the moon?
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Neil Armstrong’s death prompts yearning for America’s past glories
Level 2 Intermediate
Neil Armstrong’s death prompts
yearning for America’s past glories
Paul Harris in Tampa
27 August, 2012
1 The death of Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk
on the moon, has led to mourning for a twentieth
century icon, and also to questions about America’s
national destiny. Many people paid tribute to the
former astronaut. But others expressed regret that
no human has been back to the moon since 1972,
just three years after Armstrong set foot on it and
gave his famous “giant leap for mankind” speech.
2 Elliot Pulham, Chief Executive of the Space
Foundation, criticized the lack of support for
America’s space agency NASA, compared with
the vast resources given to the moon landings
programme in the 1960s. “In this age of timid
exploration goals and tiny NASA budgets,
Armstrong is a reminder of what our nation was
once capable of,” he said. Pulham said the real-life
drama of Armstrong’s moon landing – watched by
a fifth of the world’s population – was unlikely to
be repeated. He said: “In an age when Hollywood
and professional sports create so-called ‘heroes’,
Armstrong … was the real deal.”
3 Armstrong died aged 82 following heart problems
after surgery in early August. His recovery seemed
to be going well, and his death was a surprise to
many. A statement released by his family gave
few details, but spoke of a “reluctant American
hero” and said: “Honour his example of service,
accomplishment and modesty, and the next time
you walk outside on a clear night and see the moon
smiling down at you, think of Neil Armstrong and
give him a wink.”
4 Speaking from the White House, Barack Obama
said Armstrong was “among the greatest of
American heroes – not just of his time, but of all
time”. He added: “And when Neil set foot on the
surface of the moon for the first time, he delivered
a moment of human achievement that will never
be forgotten.”
5 Armstrong’s crew member on Apollo 11 and the
second man to walk on the moon, Buzz Aldrin, said
he was “deeply saddened” by the loss of his good
friend and companion.
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NEWS LESSONS / Neil Armstrong’s death prompts yearning for America’s past glories / Intermediate
6 “Whenever I look at the moon I am reminded of
that precious moment, over four decades ago,
when Neil and I stood on the desolate, barren,
but beautiful, Sea of Tranquillity,” he said in a
statement. “Looking back at our brilliant blue planet
Earth hanging in the darkness of space, I realized
that even though we were farther away from Earth
than two humans had ever been, we were not
alone. Almost the entire world took that memorable
journey with us. I know I am joined by many
millions of others from around the world when I
mourn the passing of a true American hero and the
best pilot I ever knew. My friend Neil took the small
step but giant leap that changed the world and will
forever be remembered as a historic moment in
human history.”
7 In the US, there was a sense that he represented
the achievement of a past age of American
greatness. Many remembered John F Kennedy’s
1961 speech when he set the target of putting a
man on the moon. Armstrong seemed to symbolize
that dream of a national goal, rather than the
current situation, which has seen NASA
cancel many missions because of
budget squeezes.
8 Former astronaut Eugene Cernan, the last man
on the moon, said Kennedy “challenged us to
do something people thought was impossible.
Neil was the focus of that … He did something
that people thought was impossible.” Others
complained about the state of the US. “Today it
takes longer to get a budget through both houses
of Congress than it took to send a man into orbit,”
wrote journalist Andrew Pasternak. “The time it
took to rebuild lower Manhattan after 9/11 … will be
longer than it took to build an entire space program
and send a man to the moon.”
9 Of course, NASA has its modern triumphs. Its
engineers have landed a nuclear-powered robot
on Mars. The robot is designed to spend years on
the Martian surface. Another Mars mission has
also just been announced – it involves a lander
designed to drill below the planet’s surface. But
these achievements do not even come close to
matching the excitement of Armstrong’s success.
NASA administrator Charles Bolden expressed that
in his statement of tribute. “As we enter this next
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Neil Armstrong’s death prompts yearning for America’s past glories
Level 2 Intermediate
era of space exploration, we are standing on the It expressed frustration at the current problems
shoulders of Neil Armstrong,” he said. at NASA and quoted Yogi Berra, an American
baseball legend: “If you don’t know where you are
10 It seems that Armstrong shared the sense of
going, you might not get there.”
disappointment at NASA’s reduced ambitions. Eric
Berger, who runs the SciGuy science blog, said he © Guardian News and Media 2012
had been forwarded an email that Armstrong and First published in The Guardian, 27/08/12
other former astronauts had sent to each other.

3 Comprehension check
Are these statements true (T) or false (F) according to the text?
1. Neil Armstrong was the first man to walk on the moon.
2. Armstrong wanted to be an American hero.
3. NASA’s budget is now smaller than it was.
4. NASA has just sent a nuclear-powered robot to the moon.
5. Former astronauts think that NASA is not ambitious enough any more.
6. No-one has been to the moon since Armstrong and Aldrin landed there on Apollo 11.

4 Find the word

Find the following words and phrases in the text.
1. a three-word expression meaning to praise (say good things about) someone publicly (para 1)
2. a three-word expression meaning to go to a place, especially when there is something special or unusual
about you doing this (para 1)
3. an adjective meaning extremely large (para 2)
4. a verbal noun meaning someone’s death (para 6)
5. a two-word expression meaning a situation in which there is strict control over a country’s money (para 7)
6. a noun meaning an exciting victory or success (para 9)
7. a noun meaning a period of time that has a particular quality or character (para 9)
8. a verb meaning to say or write words someone else has said (para 10)

5 Verb + noun collocations

Match the verbs in the left-hand column with the nouns or noun phrases in the right-hand column to make
collocations from the text.
1. express a. the passing of someone
2. pay b. a sense of disappointment
3. release c. an email
4. mourn d. a statement
5. forward e. regret
6. share f. tribute to (someone)
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NEWS LESSONS / Neil Armstrong’s death prompts yearning for America’s past glories / Intermediate
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Neil Armstrong’s death prompts yearning for America’s past glories
Level 2 Intermediate
6 Word-building
Complete the table using words from the text.

verb noun

1. achieve

2. recover

3. accomplish

4. disappoint

5. speak

6. explore

7 Discussion
Was the moon landing the greatest achievement in human history? Why? Why not?

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NEWS LESSONS / Neil Armstrong’s death prompts yearning for America’s past glories / Intermediate
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Neil Armstrong’s death prompts yearning for America’s past glories
Level 2 Intermediate

KEY

1 Key words 5 Verb + noun collocations

1. mourning 1. e
2. icon 2. f
3. destiny 3. d
4. astronaut 4. a
5. timid 5. c
6. reluctant 6. b
7. modesty
8. wink
9. desolate 6 Word-building
10. barren
1. achievement
2. recovery
2 Find the information 3. accomplishment
4. disappointment
1. 82 5. speech
2. in 1969 6. exploration
3. Buzz Aldrin
4. Eugene Cernan
5. Apollo 11
6. John F Kennedy

3 Comprehension check

1. T
2. F
3. T
4. F
5. T
6. F

4 Find the word

1. pay tribute to
2. set foot on
3. vast
4. passing
5. budget squeeze
6. triumph
7. era
8. quote
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