Task 1. Read the text below and choose the best answer for items 1–10. Leo had dreamed of space ever 1) ___ he was a child. While other kids played games, he watched the night sky from the roof of 2) ___ house and counted the stars. Now, at thirty-five, he was finally an astronaut, sitting alone inside his ship. His ship, Orion, moved quietly through space. Leo was on a long mission to explore a new planet far beyond the Moon and Mars. It was the 3) ___ mission of its kind. No team. No return date. Just him, the ship, and the unknown future ahead. For the first months, everything went as 4) ___. Leo checked the ship systems every morning, sent long reports to Earth, and exercised to stay strong. As the ship travelled farther, the delay in communication grew longer. Messages that once took seconds now took hours. Leo learnt to be patient, but the silence 5) ___ hard. He missed simple things: voices, laughter, even arguments. Panic could kill you in space. Instead, he focused on his mission and moved forward. Weeks later, the ship systems detected a strange signal. It was weak 6) ___ clear. Not from Earth. Leo followed the signal through a thick cloud of space dust. On the other side, he found a small blue planet. Leo landed carefully and stepped outside. The planet was warm. Tall creatures moved 7) ___ toward him. They did not speak with words but with feelings inside his mind. The creatures 8) ___ Leo a choice: to stay on the planet, safe but alone, or to return to space and find a path back to Earth. He returned to his ship. Back on Orion, the creatures sent energy into the ship. The engines shook hard. Alarms rang. Leo held the controls and whispered a quiet hope. A signal blinked on the screen. “Orion, this is Earth. Leo, 9) ___ you hear me?” “Yes,” he said softly. “I’m here.” Leo turned the ship toward home, carrying the memory of the planet with him. He was 10) ___ astronaut and had found his way back.

1) since — используется Present Perfect: had dreamed ... since he was a child.

2) his — притяжательное местоимение относится к Leo.

3) first — устойчивое выражение the first mission.

4) planned — выражение everything went as planned.

5) was — подлежащее the silence в единственном числе.

6) but — противопоставление: сигнал был слабым, но ясным.

7) slowly — наречие, отвечающее на вопрос «как двигались?».

8) gave — Past Simple глагола give.

9) do — вопрос в Present Simple: Do you hear me?

10) an — перед словом astronaut употребляется неопределённый артикль an.

Ответ: 1 — since; 2 — his; 3 — first; 4 — planned; 5 — was; 6 — but; 7 — slowly; 8 — gave; 9 — do; 10 — an.