1-4 乘风飞翔

The Wind Beneath Her Wings

 

In 1959, when Jean Harper was in the third grade, her teacher gave the class an assignment to write a report on what they wanted to be when they grew up.

 

Jean's father was a crop duster¹ pilot in the little farming community in Northern California where she was raised, and Jean was totally captivated by airplanes and flying. She poured her heart into her report and included all of her dreams; she wanted to crop dust, make parachute² jumps, seed³ clouds and be an airline pilot. Her paper came back with an “F” on it. The teacher told her it was a “fairy tale” and that none of the occupations she listed were women's jobs. Jean was crushed and humiliated²⁴.

 

She showed her father the paper, and he told her that of course she could become a pilot. “Look at Amelia Earhart,” he said. “That teacher doesn't know what she's talking about.”

 

But as the years went by, Jean was beaten down by the discouragement and negativity she encountered whenever she talked about her career “Girls can't become airline pilots; never have, never will. You're not smart enough, you're crazy. That's impossible.” until finally Jean gave up.

 

In her senior year of high school, her English teacher was Mrs. Dorothy Slaton. Mrs. Slaton was an uncompromising⁵, demanding teacher with high standards and a low tolerance³ for excuses. She refused to treat her students like children, instead expecting them to behave like the responsible adults they would have to be to succeed in the real world after graduation. Jean was scared of her at first but grew to respect her firmness and fairness.

 

One day Mrs. Slaton gave the class an assignment. “What do you think you'll be doing 10 years from now?” Jean thought about the assignment. Pilot? No way. Flight attendant? I'm not pretty enough they'd never accept me. Wife? What guy would want me? Waitress? I could do that. That felt safe, so she wrote it down.

 

Mrs. Slaton collected the papers and nothing more was said. Two weeks later, the teacher handed back the assignments, face down on each desk, and asked this question: “If you had unlimited⁴ finances, unlimited access to the finest schools, unlimited talents and abilities, what would you do?”

 

Jean felt a rush of the old enthusiasm, and with excitement she wrote down all her old dreams. When the students stopped writing, the teacher asked, “How many students wrote the same thing on both sides of the paper?” Not one hand went up.

 

The next thing that Mrs. Slaton said changed the course of Jean's life. The teacher leaned forward over her desk and said, “I have a little secret for you all. You do have unlimited abilities and talents. You do have access to the finest schools, and you can arrange unlimited finances if you want something badly enough. This is it! When you leave school, if you don't go for your dreams, no one will do it for you. You can have what you want if you want it enough.”

 

The hurt and fear of years of discouragement crumbled⁵ in the face of the truth of what Mrs. Slaton had said. Jean felt exhilarated⁶ and a little scared. She stayed after class and went up to the teacher's desk. Jean thanked Mrs. Slaton and told her about her dream of becoming a pilot. Mrs. Slaton half rose and slapped the desk top. “Then do it!” she said.

 

So Jean did. It didn't happen overnight. It took l0 years of hard work, facing opposition⁶ that ranged from quiet skepticism⁷ to outright⁷ hostility⁸⁸. It wasn't in Jean's nature to stand up for herself when someone refused or humiliated her; instead, she would quietly try to find another way.

 

She became a private pilot and then got the necessary ratings to fly air freight and even commuter⁹⁹ planes, but always as a copilot. Her employers were openly hesitant about promoting her because she was a woman. Even her father advised her to try something else. “It's impossible,” he said. “Stop banging your head against the wall!”

 

But Jean answered, “Dad, I disagree. I believe that things are going to change, and I want to be at the head of the pack when they do.”

 

Jean went on to do everything her third grade teacher said was a fairy tale she did some crop dusting, made a few hundred parachute jumps and even seeded clouds for a summer season as a weather modification¹⁰ pilot. In 1978, she became one of the first three female pilot trainees¹¹ ever accepted by United Airlines and one of only 50 women airline pilots in the nation at the time. Today, Jean Harper is a Boeing 737 captain for United.

 

It was the power of one well placed positive word, one spark of encouragement from a woman Jean respected, that gave that uncertain young girl the strength and faith to pursue her dream.

 

注释：

1.duster [5dQstE] n. (喷撒杀虫粉剂等的)喷粉飞机

2.parachute [5pArEFu:t] n. 降落伞

3.seed [si:d] vt.〈美〉催(云)化雨

4.humiliate¹ [hju(:)5milieit] vt. 使蒙耻；羞辱

5.uncompromising [5Qn5kCmprEmaiziN] adj. 不妥协的，不让步的

6.exhilarate [i^5zilEreit] vt. 使兴奋，使振奋

7.skepticism [5skeptisizEm] n.〈美〉怀疑态度

8.hostility [hCs5tiliti] n. 反对；敌意

9.commuter [kE5mju:tE] n. 定期短途航线(或航空公司)

乘风飞翔

 

那是1959年，琼·哈珀在上三年级的时候。有一次，老师布置全班同学写一篇作文，谈一谈自己长大以后想干什么。

　　那时，琼的父亲是北加利福尼亚农场小区一名给作物喷洒农药的飞机驾驶员。琼在那里长大，非常痴迷于飞机和飞行。对老师布置的这篇作文，琼全心倾注地去写，把她的全部梦想都写了进去：她想驾驶着飞机给作物喷洒农药，想去跳伞，实施人工降雨，她还想成为一名客机飞行员。她的这篇作文得了一个“F”（failure，不及格）。老师告诉她那是一篇“神话”，因为她所列举的工作没有一项是女人能够做的。琼感到沮丧、羞耻。

　　她把作文拿给她的父亲看，父亲对她说，她当然能够成为一名飞行员。“看看阿米莉娅·埃尔哈特(1897～1937，美国女飞行员)，”他说。“那个老师不知道自己在说些什么。”

　　然而，随着时间一天天地过去，琼还是被消极劝阻和否定态度给击倒了——每当她谈起自己梦想的时候，人们就会说“女孩子是不可能成为飞行员的，从来不会，将来也不会。你不够聪明，简直就是疯了。那是不可能的。”——终于，琼放弃了。

　　在琼高中最后一年，她的英语老师是多萝西·斯莱顿夫人。斯莱顿夫人一丝不苟，对学生要求非常严格，高标准，不容许找任何借口。她不把自己的学生当小孩子来对待，而是期望他们的行为举止能够像有责任感的成年人那样，要想毕业后走上社会获得成功，就必须那样。刚开始的时候，琼非常怕她，但逐渐对她的严厉和公正敬佩起来。

　　有一天，斯莱顿夫人给全班同学布置了一项作业：“你想10年后从事什么工作？”琼思考着怎样写这项作业。飞行员？根本不行。当空中小姐？可我又不够漂亮——航空公司决不会录用我的。做个妻子？可有谁会娶我呢？做一个服务员呢？嗯，这我能做。这没有问题，于是，她就把这个想法写了下来。

　　斯莱顿夫人收齐了同学们的作文，也没有再说什么。两个星期以后，老师把作文发给了同学们，正面朝下放在课桌上。然后，她问道：“同学们，如果你们有充分的财力，充分的机会到最好的学校去上学，并且你们本身又具有足够的天分和才能，那么，你们将会干什么呢？”

　　琼的心中涌起了以往的热情；她怀着激动和兴奋，把多年的梦想全都写了下来。当同学们都写完之后，老师又问道：“同学们，你们中间有多少同学的作文两次写得都一样？”没有一个同学举手。

　　斯莱顿夫人接着说的一番话改变了琼的生活道路。她在讲台前稍稍俯身向前，对同学们说：“我有一个小秘密想告诉你们大家，这就是，你们的确有足够的才能和天分，都有机会去上最好的学校；而且，只要你们的愿望特别强烈，你们就能够筹划足够的金钱。事实就是这样！你们离开学校之后，如果自己不去追求梦想，那么，没有人会来帮你忙的。只要有强烈的愿望，你就能得到想要的。”

　　多年的沮丧和气馁带给她的伤害和畏惧，在斯莱顿夫人这番真情实话面前消失了；琼感到振奋，也有一点害怕。课后她留了下来，走到讲台前，感谢斯莱顿夫人，并且告诉斯莱顿夫人她的梦想是成为一名飞行员。斯莱顿夫人半站起身子，拍了一下桌子，说道：“那好啊，去做吧！”

　　琼这样去做了，但这可不是一朝一夕能实现的。琼为之苦苦奋斗了10年。在这10年里，她面对着种种反对，有沉默的怀疑，也有断然的反对。有人拒绝或羞辱她时，琼都默默地承受着，并且悄悄地努力寻求另外的门路。

　　她成了一名私人飞机的驾驶员，还获得了驾驶货运飞机甚至短途客机所必需的资格证书，但是，始终只能做一名副驾驶。她的老板公开表示不愿晋升她的职务，因为她是一位女性。甚至她的父亲也建议她去尝试干别的工作，“做飞行员，你是不会有出路的，”他说。“别拿自己的脑袋往墙上撞了！”

　　但是，琼回答道：“爸爸，我不同意你的说法。我相信事情会改变的，到时候，我要比这帮人做得都出色。”

　　琼继续做着她三年级老师所说的神话——她驾驶着飞机给作物喷洒农药，进行了数百次的跳伞，甚至在夏季驾驶着飞机去实施人工降雨。1978年，她成为联合航空公司首批录取的三位女性实习飞行员之一和当时整个美国仅有的50名女性飞行员中的一个。今天，琼·哈珀是联合航空公司波音737客机的机长。

　　这是那位琼所敬重的斯莱顿夫人适时说出的那句积极肯定的话语所产生出的力量，催人向上的火花！正是这种力量，才使得这个拿不定主意的小女孩重新有了追求梦想的力量和信念。

 

1 humiliate   

v.使羞辱，使丢脸[同]disgrace

参考例句：

• What right had they to bully and humiliate people like this?凭什么把人欺侮到这个地步呢？
• They pay me empty compliments which only humiliate me.他们虚情假意地恭维我，这只能使我感到羞辱。

2 humiliated   

感到羞愧的

参考例句：

• Parents are humiliated if their children behave badly when guests are present. 子女在客人面前举止失当，父母也失体面。
• He was ashamed and bitterly humiliated. 他感到羞耻，丢尽了面子。

3 tolerance   

n.宽容；容忍，忍受；耐药力；公差

参考例句：

• Tolerance is one of his strengths.宽容是他的一个优点。
• Human beings have limited tolerance of noise.人类对噪音的忍耐力有限。

4 unlimited   

adj.无限的，不受控制的，无条件的

参考例句：

• They flew over the unlimited reaches of the Arctic.他们飞过了茫茫无边的北极上空。
• There is no safety in unlimited technological hubris.在技术方面自以为是会很危险。

5 crumbled   

（把…）弄碎， （使）碎成细屑( crumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 衰落； 坍塌； 损坏

参考例句：

• He crumbled the bread in his fingers. 他用手指把面包捻碎。
• Our hopes crumbled when the business went bankrupt. 商行破产了，我们的希望也破灭了。

6 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

7 outright   

adv.坦率地；彻底地；立即；adj.无疑的；彻底的

参考例句：

• If you have a complaint you should tell me outright.如果你有不满意的事，你应该直率地对我说。
• You should persuade her to marry you outright.你应该彻底劝服她嫁给你。

8 hostility   

n.敌对，敌意；抵制［pl.］交战，战争

参考例句：

• There is open hostility between the two leaders.两位领导人表现出公开的敌意。
• His hostility to your plan is well known.他对你的计划所持的敌意是众所周知的。

9 commuter   

n.(尤指市郊之间)乘公交车辆上下班者

参考例句：

• Police cordoned off the road and diverted commuter traffic. 警察封锁了道路并分流交通。
• She accidentally stepped on his foot on a crowded commuter train. 她在拥挤的通勤列车上不小心踩到了他的脚。

10 modification   

n.修改，改进，缓和，减轻

参考例句：

• The law,in its present form,is unjust;it needs modification.现行的法律是不公正的，它需要修改。
• The design requires considerable modification.这个设计需要作大的修改。

11 trainees   

新兵( trainee的名词复数 )； 练习生； 接受训练的人； 训练中的动物

参考例句：

• We've taken on our full complement of new trainees. 我们招收的新学员已经满额了。
• The trainees were put through an assault course. 受训人员接受了突击训练课程。