温馨夜读II PART3 11.What Courage Looks Like?

 

[00:00.30]11.What Courage Looks Like?

[00:04.44]I know what courage looks like. I saw it on a flight I took six years ago.

[00:09.11]Minutes after we were airborne, our plane began dipping wildly and one wing lunged downward.

[00:15.97]The pilot soon made a grave announcement.

[00:19.46]“We are having some difficulties,” he said, “we are not sure our landing gear will lock, so the flight attendants will prepare you for a bumpy¹ landing.”

[00:29.37]In other words, we were about to crash.

[00:33.18]As I looked at the faces of my fellow travelers, I was stunned² by the changes I saw in their faces.

[00:39.71]Everyone lost composure in one way or another.

[00:43.31]I began searching the crowd for one person who felt the peace and calm that true courage or great faith gives people in these events.

[00:52.02]I saw no one. Then a couple of rows to my left, I heard a still calm voice, a woman’s voice, speaking in an absolutely normal conversational³ tone.

[01:07.04]There was no tremor⁴ or tension. I had to find the source of this voice.

[01:13.80]All around, people cried and finally I saw her.

[01:18.15]In the midst of all the chaos⁵, a mother was talking to her child.

[01:22.95]The woman was staring full into the face of her daughter, who looked to be four years old.

[01:28.18]The child listened closely.

[01:30.57]The mother’s gaze held the child so fixed⁶ and intent that she seemed untouched by the sounds of grief and fear around her.

[01:38.95]A picture flashed into my mind of another little girl who had recently survived a terrible plane crash.

[01:46.25]Speculation had it that she had lived because her mother had strapped⁷ her own body over the little girl’s in order to protect her.

[01:54.31]I strained to hear what this mother was telling her child.

[01:58.88]Over and over again, the mother said, “I love you so much. Do you know for sure that I love you more than anything?”

[02:08.14]“Yes, Mommy,” the little girl said.

[02:10.85]“And remember, no matter what happens, that I love you always.”

[02:16.08]Then the mother put her body over her daughter’s, strapped the seat belt over both of them and prepared to crash.

[02:23.39]For no earthly reason, our landing gear held and our touchdown was not the tragedy it seemed destined⁸ to be.

[02:31.90]The voice I heard that day maintained an evenness that seemed emotionally and physically⁹ impossible.

[02:37.15]Only the greatest courage, surrounded by even greater love, could have lifted her above the chaos around her.

[02:44.81]That mom showed me what a real hero looks like.

[02:48.63]And for those few minutes, I heard the voice of courage.

1 bumpy   

adj.颠簸不平的，崎岖的

参考例句：

• I think we've a bumpy road ahead of us.我觉得我们将要面临一段困难时期。
• The wide paved road degenerated into a narrow bumpy track.铺好的宽阔道路渐渐变窄，成了一条崎岖不平的小径。

2 stunned   

adj. 震惊的，惊讶的 动词stun的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• The fall stunned me for a moment. 那一下摔得我昏迷了片刻。
• The leaders of the Kopper Company were then stunned speechless. 科伯公司的领导们当时被惊得目瞪口呆。

3 conversational   

adj.对话的，会话的

参考例句：

• The article is written in a conversational style.该文是以对话的形式写成的。
• She values herself on her conversational powers.她常夸耀自己的能言善辩。

4 tremor   

n.震动，颤动，战栗，兴奋，地震

参考例句：

• There was a slight tremor in his voice.他的声音有点颤抖。
• A slight earth tremor was felt in California.加利福尼亚发生了轻微的地震。

5 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

6 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

7 strapped   

adj.用皮带捆住的，用皮带装饰的；身无分文的；缺钱；手头紧v.用皮带捆扎(strap的过去式和过去分词)；用皮带抽打；包扎；给…打绷带

参考例句：

• Make sure that the child is strapped tightly into the buggy. 一定要把孩子牢牢地拴在婴儿车上。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The soldiers' great coats were strapped on their packs. 战士们的厚大衣扎捆在背包上。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 destined   

adj.命中注定的；(for)以…为目的地的

参考例句：

• It was destined that they would marry.他们结婚是缘分。
• The shipment is destined for America.这批货物将运往美国。

9 physically   

adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律

参考例句：

• He was out of sorts physically,as well as disordered mentally.他浑身不舒服，心绪也很乱。
• Every time I think about it I feel physically sick.一想起那件事我就感到极恶心。