The majority of astronauts from America have been men. At the start of the space programme there was strong resistance from some people against having women in space. However, some women were very keen to become astronauts and in the end they were successful. In 1978, NASA began the first training programme for women astronauts.
Judy Resnick and Christa McAuliffe were both astronauts and they were both women, but in many other ways they were very different. Both of them were on Flight STS-5L-L. Judy Resnick was born in 1949 and studied engineering at university and went on to obtain a PhD in 1977. She was a member of the first group of women selected for astronaut training in 1978, and in 1984, she became the second woman in space. During that flight, she helped to launch three new satellites and she carried out a programme of research. She was, in many ways, a professional astronaut whose whole life was devoted to space travel.
Christa McAuliffe was born in 1948 and she was an astronaut almost by accident. In 1984, NASA decided to find a teacher who could accompany astronauts into space. They hoped that she would be able to communicate with students from space and encourage every one of them to be interested in space travel. Christa was a secondary teacher in history and social studies. She was a gifted teacher and she was selected from over 11,000 applicants to go on flight STS-51-L. She was also a very good communicator and she immediately established a very good relationship with the news media(radio, television and newspapers）. It was partly because of this that there was a great deal of interest and excitement about the flight. Thousands of students in schools and universities all around the country were looking forward to communicating with Christa in space. Millions of people were watching her flight with great interest. It is partly because of the excitement over McAuliffe's place in the flight that the disaster in 1986 had such an effect on people.

1. 1.

   We can learn from the first two paragraphs that ___________.

   1. A.
      Judy was against the idea of having women in space at first
   2. B.
      Judy was the first woman selected for astronaut training
   3. C.
      Judy helped to launch three new satellites at the age of 35
   4. D.
      Judy carried out a programme during her second space travel
2. 2.

   Christa McAuliffe was chosen for training because _______.

   1. A.
      she was popular with the news media
   2. B.
      she expected to give history lessons in space
   3. C.
      she was an excellent teacher and communicator
   4. D.
      she made the students in space very excited
3. 3.

   The reason why there was great interest in Flight STS-51-L is that ________.

   1. A.
      both Christa and Judy got PhD degrees in the same year
   2. B.
      a young secondary school teacher was on the flight
   3. C.
      students were going to learn more about space travel
   4. D.
      it was the first time for women to travel in space
4. 4.

   What would be the best title for the passage?

   1. A.
      Two Astronauts
   2. B.
      Flight STS-51-L
   3. C.
      Travelling in Space
   4. D.
      The Training Programme