READING Task 1.Kazakhstan in space
job working Toktar Aubakirov was born in 1946 in the Karaganda region of Kazakhstan. He left school early to take a with metal at a mechanical plant but continued his education by attending evening classes. Eventually, he joined the Armavir Higher Military Aviation School and became a fighter pilot. Despite this, Aubakirov said that he had always dreamt of being a test pilot. It was a dangerous career choice, testing experimental aircraft and putting them through risky exercises to advance science and engineering. Test pilot applications were not open to everyone, but Aubakirov didn’t let this stop him; he wrote a long letter to a politician and flew to Almaty to give it to him in person. This eventually resulted in him enrolling in training to become a test pilot. During his career, Aubakirov flew over fifty different types of aircraft.
In 1991, Aubakirov started training for space flight. Rumour has it that he had previously been selected in 1985 but had turned the offer down because he did not want to give up his job as a test pilot. He set off on his first and only space flight on 2 October later that year, travelling as the research cosmonaut on the spacecraft Soyuz TM-13. The flight left Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan and docked at the Russian Space Station Mir. Aubakirov spent exactly 7 days, 22 hours, 12 minutes and 40 seconds in space, and he returned to earth with the Soyuz TM-12 craft on 10 October.
Read the text and complete the sentences.
1. Aubakirov started his flying career as a
2. A test pilot’s job is dangerous because the aircraft they work with are
3. To get a place in test pilot , Aubakirov had to take unusual steps.
4. The spacecraft Soyuz TM-13 launched from earth on .
5. Aubakirov held the position of on board his space flight
