B1 Dialog #35 Talking about the first human in Space

April 12 was a huge day in space history. On that day in 1961, Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first human in space, making a 108-minute orbital flight in his spacecraft. Let’s talk a little bit about the man, we will always remember about. 

How to work with the dialog?

1. Listen to the dialogue and read the PDF transcript. Turn on subtitles if necessary.
2. Listen to the dialogue again, repeating the questions and answers aloud (!!!).
3. Come up with your own answers to the questions. Use PDF vocabulary if needed.
4. Listen to the questions and answer them aloud (!!!), with a correct intonation, pronunciation and rhythm.
5. Go back to the video from time to time and repeat the exercise.

Talking about Yuri Gagarin

(1) How old was Gagarin when he made his flight?

He was born on March 9 in 1934. So in 1961 he turned 27.

(2) What do you know about him?

He was born in Klushino, Gagarin region, near Smolensk city in western Russia. His parents were soviet workers Alexey Ivanovich Gagarin and Anna Timofeevena Matveeva. They had four children: three boys and one girl. Yuri was the third one. On 27th of October in 1955 he was called into the Soviet Army and sent to Chkalov (Orenburg) in the First Military Aviation School of Pilots (named after Voroshilov). He did very well and graduated in October 1957. After that he was a pilot of a battle-plane. In 1960 he joined a special group of six cosmonauts and started preparing for the first space flight in human history.

(3) Who were those cosmonauts? Let’s call them by names.

It was Yuri Alexeyevich Gagarin, German Stepanovich Titov, Andriyan Grigorevich Nikolaev, Pavel Romanovich Popovich, Anatoliy Yakovlevich Kartashov and Valentin Stepanovich Varlamov. The last two ones were later dismissed and changed by Grigory Grigirevich Nelubov and Valery Fedorovich Bikovsky. 

(4) Which one of them were chosen for the flight?

After they passed all exams and completed all studying programs, Yuri Gagrin was chosen for the flight. His backup one was German Titov. The third pilot Grigory Nelubov was chosen as a spare one.

(5) When and where did the flight take place?

It took place on April 12 in 1961 at the Baikonur cosmodrome.

(6) What was the name of the spacecraft?

It was “Vostok-I”, constructed by Sergey Pavlovich Korolev.

(7) How long was the flight?

It was a 108-minute orbital flight. After that he landed successfully near the Engels city. 

(8)      At that time the USSR was competing roughly with the USA. Who was the first American in Space and when it happened?

The astronaut of Mercury-Rocket Alan Shepard became the first American in space less than a month later Yuri Gagarin.

(9) What happened after the flight? What did Gagarin do?

Right after the flight he was rewarded and raised up to the major. During the first months after his flight he visited a lot of countries and met with many leaders including the Queen of Great Britain Elisaveta II. In total he visited about 30 countries. He was one of the most popular men in the World.

(10) How long has he lived?

Yuri Gagrin has lived a bright but short life and died tragically at the age of 34. It happened on March 27 in 1968 during his training flight in the Vladimir region. His body was cremated and buried in the Kremlin Wall in Moscow.

It was a small talk about Yuri Gagarin. Let’s not forget about people like him. Let’s remember the great things they did for their country. We couldn’t save the country, but we still can save the memory and do something at least a little bit as great as they did.