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37.

I was turning twenty-five in a few days, and it felt like more than just another birthday. Mates toldme twenty-five was the Watershed¹ Age, the moment when many young men and women come toa fork in their personal road. At twenty-five you take a concrete step forward…or else begin toslide backwards². I was ready to move forward. I felt, in many ways, that I’d been bag-flying foryears.

I reminded myself that it ran in the family, that twenty-five had been a big year for many of us.

Granny, to name one. At twenty- five she’d become the sixty- first monarch³ in the history ofEngland.

So I decided⁴ to mark this milestone⁵ birthday with a trip.

Botswana again.

The whole gang was there, and in between cake and cocktails⁶ they said how different I seemed—again. I had seemed older, harder, after my first combat tour. But now, they said, I seemedmore…grounded.

Odd, I thought. Through flight training…I’ve become more grounded?

No one gave me more praise or love than Teej and Mike. Late one night, however, Mike satme down for a somber⁷ heart- to- heart. At their kitchen table he spoke⁸ at length about myrelationship with Africa. The time’s come, he said, for that relationship to change. Until then therelationship had been all take, take, take—a fairly typical dynamic for Brits in Africa. But now Ineeded to give back. For years I’d heard him and Teej and others lamenting⁹ the crises facing thisplace. Climate change. Poaching. Drought. Fires. I was the only person they knew who had anykind of influence, any kind of global megaphone—the only person who might actually be able todo something.

What can I do, Mike?

Shine a light.

 

1 watershed   

n.转折点，分水岭，分界线

参考例句：

• Our marriage was at a watershed.我们的婚姻到了一个转折关头。
• It forms the watershed between the two rivers.它成了两条河流的分水岭。

2 backwards   

adv.往回地，向原处，倒，相反，前后倒置地

参考例句：

• He turned on the light and began to pace backwards and forwards.他打开电灯并开始走来走去。
• All the girls fell over backwards to get the party ready.姑娘们迫不及待地为聚会做准备。

3 monarch   

n.帝王，君主，最高统治者

参考例句：

• The monarch's role is purely ceremonial.君主纯粹是个礼仪职位。
• I think myself happier now than the greatest monarch upon earth.我觉得这个时候比世界上什么帝王都快乐。

4 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

5 milestone   

n.里程碑；划时代的事件

参考例句：

• The film proved to be a milestone in the history of cinema.事实证明这部影片是电影史上的一个里程碑。
• I think this is a very important milestone in the relations between our two countries.我认为这是我们两国关系中一个十分重要的里程碑。

6 cocktails   

n.鸡尾酒( cocktail的名词复数 )；餐前开胃菜；混合物

参考例句：

• Come about 4 o'clock. We'll have cocktails and grill steaks. 请四点钟左右来，我们喝鸡尾酒，吃烤牛排。 来自辞典例句
• Cocktails were a nasty American habit. 喝鸡尾酒是讨厌的美国习惯。 来自辞典例句

7 somber   

adj.昏暗的，阴天的，阴森的，忧郁的

参考例句：

• He had a somber expression on his face.他面容忧郁。
• His coat was a somber brown.他的衣服是暗棕色的。

8 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

9 lamenting   

adj.悲伤的，悲哀的v.（为…）哀悼，痛哭，悲伤( lament的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Katydids were lamenting fall's approach. 蝈蝈儿正为秋天临近而哀鸣。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Lamenting because the papers hadn't been destroyed and the money kept. 她正在吃后悔药呢，后悔自己没有毁了那张字条，把钱昧下来！ 来自英汉文学 - 败坏赫德莱堡