3.2 Use reference books

English first additional language

Grade 7

Module12

Use reference books

Activity 1

1. Form a group of about four or five and collect as much information about the preparations for the launching and also the actual launching as you can. Make posters for your classroom.
2. Find information about Yuri Gagarin and make posters about his historic flight for the classroom. Concentrate on the era in which it took place, namely in the time of the “Cold War” and the space race between the USSR and the USA.
3. Vocabulary.

Do the same kind of exercise as you did in activity 4, number 3. This time you must find at least 10 words and/or expressions from the text above.

For a better life

Since childhood Mark Shuttleworth had a dream to visit space. He was only a little boy when he would make and launch his own “rockets” in the yard of his Welcome home. In the end, he reached his dream and the rest, as they say, is history …

His father, Rick, recollects Mark’s ambitions as a child: “I have always known that Mark dearly wanted to visit space. He used to tell us so, even when he was still in primary school.”

• Read the following abridged version of a letter that appeared in the Letters to the Editor column of the Cape Argus on 26 April 2002:

Bigger things than space to worry about

As a loyal citizen of the human race, I feel an obligation to share with you some of the horrors of our society.

Over the past few months we have been bombarded with stories of a fellow South African who has been preparing himself for his first trip into space. Yes, I am talking about Mark Shuttleworth.

We have idolized this man as a pioneer of our society. This is shocking when we consider the state of affairs that our country, and more importantly, our beautiful Mother Earth is in.

This citizen of the human race is spending R220 million plus on his personal endeavour.

Yes, he has given back to society to try to improve the quality of life for some of his brothers and sisters. But my point is not so much what Mark has spent his money on.

My point is that we feel that Mark’s trip to space is worthy of making the front page.

We have far more pressing issues that need to be taken care of. Overpopulation, disease and pollution seem to be more important.

We constantly try to improve our realities by living our dreams through others – this is why Mark’s trip has made the front page.

Are we such a sad bunch that we cannot believe in our dreams enough to make them our own realities?

A new world is brewing inside each one of us, but we will only experience this when we as individuals take interest in our own lives and who we are!

• Your Brother, IrvObservatory

Activity 2

• Read the letter carefully so that you understand exactly what the writer means. Now write down three main ideas from the letter.
• Write your own letter to the editor of any English newspaper in which you give your point of view concerning this matter. Your educator will help you with the format, but you can use the following framework: