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CELPIP Practice Reading: Reading for Information ID: #63168 Easy Roberta Bondar: from neurology and space flight to the study of birds

Read the following passage.

A. Roberta Bondar was born in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, on December 4, 1945. Before she became an astronaut, she spent many years studying science and medicine. She earned a degree in zoology and agriculture at the University of Guelph in 1968, the same year she received her private pilot's licence. She went on to complete a PhD in neurobiology at the University of Toronto in 1974 and a medical degree at McMaster University in 1977. In 1981 she became a certified neurologist, a doctor who works with the brain and nervous system, and she then trained further in neuro-ophthalmology in Boston and Toronto.

B. In 1983, Bondar was chosen for the first group of Canadian astronauts. About 4,300 people applied, and she was the only woman among the final six. She did not fly for another nine years. About six years before her launch, the Challenger disaster killed seven astronauts, and the shuttle fleet was grounded for three years. Bondar was then selected and trained as a payload specialist for the first International Microgravity Laboratory, known as IML-1, which was planned as a science mission on the Space Shuttle.

C. Bondar finally flew in January 1992 aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery. She was the first Canadian woman in space and the first neurologist in space. The crew worked in a pressurized laboratory module called Spacelab. They studied how the human nervous system adapts to low gravity, and how weightlessness affects shrimp eggs, lentil seedlings, fruit fly eggs and bacteria. They also grew crystals from substances such as enzymes and a virus. On the sixth day, mission managers found that enough supplies remained, so they added one more day to allow the experiments to continue.

D. After the flight, Bondar led an international research team that worked with NASA for several years. The team studied how microgravity affects astronauts returning from space, and how those changes are similar to human diseases on Earth. She also turned to photography. She studied nature photography in California in 1996, then spent two years photographing all of Canada's national parks. Since 2016 her main project has been Space for Birds, which follows the flyways of bird species that are endangered or declining. Today she curates a travelling exhibition from this project, and she continues her research on migratory birds through the Roberta Bondar Foundation.

E. Not given in any of the above paragraphs.

Decide which paragraph, A to D, has the information given in each statement below. Select E if the information is not given in any of the paragraphs.

- 1.
Her years of medical study came before she joined the space program.

- 2.
While she waited to go into space, she also worked at a hospital as a doctor.

- 3.
She had permission to fly planes long before her trip into orbit.

- 4.
After a deadly accident, all shuttle flights were stopped for a few years.

- 5.
Her mission was made one day longer so that the research could go on.

- 6.
Of the six people picked for Canada's first team, she was the sole woman.

- 7.
She later spent time taking pictures of each of the country's national parks.

- 8.
Scientists on board tested how life in orbit changed young plants and insects.

- 9.
In recent years, her work has focused on the routes of threatened birds.

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