The night-walkers of Uganda

Slight gravitational attraction
Everything in the universe that has mass attracts
anything else with mass because of gravity. If a
“gravity tractor” is placed near an asteroid, the
asteroid will move very slightly nearer to it. Over
a distance of millions of kilometers, even a slight
change of direction could move the asteroid out
of the Earth’s way.
Big blasts or tiny tugs
Level 1
Elementary
13
12
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Big blasts or tiny tugs
Level 1
Elementary
Scanning for information
3
Vocabulary development 1: Find the word
4
First find these words and numbers in the text. Then match each one with the information given below.
Washington NEOs 6km Apophis 2004 390 2036 10 800 600
1. Some asteroids are as big as _________ across.
2. The name of the new asteroid is _________.
3. The conference will be in _________.
4. People first noticed Apophis in _________.
5. Apophis is _________ metres wide.
6. A short name for near-Earth objects is _________.
7. It may hit the earth in _________.
8. The keyhole in space is only _________ metres across.
9. Scientists will know about a possible crash _________ years before it happens.
10. The tugboat could pull an asteroid as big as _________ metres wide.
Find words in the text that mean:
1. impossible to stop _____________ (para 1)
2. connected with planets _____________ (para 2)
3. all over the world _____________ (para 5)
4. another word for happen _____________ (para 6)
5. like a robot _____________ (para 8)
6. to stay still in space _____________ (para 10)
7. a strong feeling of fear or worry _____________ (para 12)
8. keeping something secret _____________ (para 13)