Fill in the following blanks with a gerund or infinitive. 48 UNIT 18
After taking off on the last Mercury mission, Gordon Cooper settled in for a good night’s sleep halfway through his journey. Compared with most of the duties of spaceflight, it seemed (1) (be) an easy enough undertaking. But Cooper ended up (2) (have to wedge) his hands beneath his safety harness to keep his arms from (3) (float around) and (4) (strike) switches on the instrument panel. Since Cooper’s flight, (5) (sleep) in space has become a routine matter—maybe too routine. When carrying out an especially boring or tiring task, some astronauts have nodded off—only they didn’t really nod: they simply closed their eyes and stopped (6) (move). There are none of the waking mechanisms that we would expect (7) (have) on earth—one’s head (8) (fall) to one side or a pencil (9) (drop) to the floor.
Space crews have also found that they don’t need handholds and ladders to get around; they quickly learn (10) (push off) with one hand and float directly to their destinations. (11) (eat), use a computer, or do some other stationary task, astronauts now slip their stockinged feet into loops or wedges attached to the floor. Similarly, a single
Velcro head strap suffices (12) (keep) sleeping astronauts from (13) (drift out) toward the ventilation ducts.
A favorite recreation in space is (14) (play) with one’s food.
Instead of carrying food all the way to their mouths with a utensil, some experienced astronauts like (15) (catapult) food from spoons. Although (16) (drink) coffee seems like the most natural thing on Earth, in space it won’t work. If you tried (17) (tip) the cup back to take a drink, the weightless coffee would not roll out. One astronaut offers the following advisory: “Don’t let your curiosity tempt you into (18) (explore) a larger clump of liquid than you’re prepared (19) (drink) later.” If you don’t start (20) (drink) your blob with a straw, it eventually attaches itself to the nearest wall or window.
Although spaceflight has its irritations, these are necessary if astronauts are to soar. The whole idea of airborne testing is to make (21) (live) and (22) (work) in weightlessness easy and unremarkable for ordinary folk.
