Who Was Amelia Earhart 阿梅莉亚·埃尔哈特 Chapter 4 Amelia Takes Off

With her pilot’s license¹ in hand, Amelia flew in some air shows. Most pilots were men, so a young woman attracted a lot of attention. Amelia didn’t like to be on display. But she worked in the shows to earn money. She had to keep on flying.

Then Amelia’s friend and teacher, Neta Snook, got married. Just as Amelia feared, her friend’s flying days were over. Neta would now be a wife and mother. So Amelia needed another instructor². She teamed up with an expert named Monte Montijo. Monte had flown in the army. He also did stunt³ work flying in the movies.

Monte taught Amelia a lot. She even learned to do tricks in the air like huge upside-down loops. Now she felt like trying for a flying record. Amelia wanted to see how high she could go.

Amelia didn’t tell anyone her plans. She had an instrument put in her plane. It measured how high above ground the plane was. In the early 1920s, planes didn’t fly as high as they do today. One reason was because the cockpits were open. At higher altitudes there is not much oxygen to breathe. Amelia knew she could pass out if she went too high. But she was willing to risk it.

It took two attempts. Amelia flew through fog and sleet⁴. She finally made it to fourteen thousand feet—more than two and a half miles high. Then her plane’s engine began to fail. Amelia brought her plane down fast. She was just barely⁵ able to make a safe landing. But she had her record.

Although Amelia loved to fly, she soon found out that she couldn’t support herself just by flying. There were no big airlines or airplanes yet. People did not travel by plane. In fact, most people never expected to take a ride in a plane. In 1924, Amelia temporarily gave up on her dream. She sold the Canary and used the money to buy a car.

You might guess that Amelia would pick a practical automobile⁶ like the Ford⁷ Model T. She didn’t. She bought a fancy yellow convertible⁸. If she couldn’t fly in the air, she would at least have the feeling of flying across the ground. Amelia named her car the Yellow Peril⁹. She and her mother drove across country and headed for the East Coast.

Amelia went back to Columbia University. But again, it wasn’t for long. She had to drop out again; as usual, the problem was money.

Sam Chapman followed Amelia out East. He proposed marriage again. It was tempting¹⁰. Amelia was now 28 years old. Most people thought women this age were already “old maids.” If Amelia married Sam, she wouldn’t have to worry so much about money. However, Sam would want her to stay at home and have children. Amelia had to decide.

To her, the choice was very clear. Amelia told her sister Muriel of her decision. “I don’t want to marry him,” Amelia said. “I don’t want to marry anyone.” Amelia couldn’t stand the thought of giving up her freedom.

The next job Amelia found was in Boston. She worked at Denison House where she took care of poor children. Amelia really liked the job. She knew she was doing something worthwhile.

Flying was now limited to weekends. But she watched other pilots with interest. In 1927, a man named Charles Lindbergh made news all over the world. He was the first pilot to fly alone across the Atlantic Ocean. It took him more than 33 hours to fly from Long Island, New York, to Paris.

A woman from London named Amy Guest wanted to be the first woman to fly across the Atlantic. Guest was not a pilot so she would set the record just by being a passenger in the plane. George Putnam, a book publisher in New York, was going to oversee¹¹ her attempt. However, Amy’s family wouldn’t let her go. So George Putnam had to find another woman—and this time, he wanted a pilot.

CHARLES LINDBERGH—AVIATION HERO

Charles Lindbergh started out as a barnstormer. That’s what pilots who did daring tricks at early air shows in the 1920s were called. But on May 21, 1927, Charles left his tricks behind and entered the record books. No one had ever made a solo¹² trip across the Atlantic before. It was very dangerous; his plane, called the Spirit of St. Louis, was only 28 feet long. Lindbergh’s biggest problem was staying awake, so he’d stick his head out of the plane’s window for blasts¹³ of cold air. He also kept reminding himself that if he slept, he would die.

Putnam ran a big publishing company so he knew a lot of people. He was good at making deals. Putnam asked a friend to find the right woman for the trip.

The friend found Amelia Earhart.

1 license   

n.执照，许可证，特许；v.许可，特许

参考例句：

• The foreign guest has a license on the person.这个外国客人随身携带执照。
• The driver was arrested for having false license plates on his car.司机由于使用假车牌而被捕。

2 instructor   

n.指导者，教员，教练

参考例句：

• The college jumped him from instructor to full professor.大学突然把他从讲师提升为正教授。
• The skiing instructor was a tall,sunburnt man.滑雪教练是一个高高个子晒得黑黑的男子。

3 stunt   

n.惊人表演，绝技，特技；vt.阻碍...发育，妨碍...生长

参考例句：

• Lack of the right food may stunt growth.缺乏适当的食物会阻碍发育。
• Right up there is where the big stunt is taking place.那边将会有惊人的表演。

4 sleet   

n.雨雪；v.下雨雪，下冰雹

参考例句：

• There was a great deal of sleet last night.昨夜雨夹雪下得真大。
• When winter comes,we get sleet and frost.冬天来到时我们这儿会有雨夹雪和霜冻。

5 barely   

adv.仅仅，几乎没有，几乎不

参考例句：

• The male bird is barely distinguishable from the female.雄鸟和雌鸟几乎无法辨别。
• He took barely enough money to keep the children in bread.他赚很少的钱仅够孩子们勉强糊口。

6 automobile   

n.汽车，机动车

参考例句：

• He is repairing the brake lever of an automobile.他正在修理汽车的刹车杆。
• The automobile slowed down to go around the curves in the road.汽车在路上转弯时放慢了速度。

7 Ford   

n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过

参考例句：

• They were guarding the bridge,so we forded the river.他们驻守在那座桥上，所以我们只能涉水过河。
• If you decide to ford a stream,be extremely careful.如果已决定要涉过小溪，必须极度小心。

8 convertible   

adj.可改变的，可交换，同意义的；n.有活动摺篷的汽车

参考例句：

• The convertible sofa means that the apartment can sleep four.有了这张折叠沙发，公寓里可以睡下4个人。
• That new white convertible is totally awesome.那辆新的白色折篷汽车简直棒极了。

9 peril   

n.(严重的)危险；危险的事物

参考例句：

• The refugees were in peril of death from hunger.难民有饿死的危险。
• The embankment is in great peril.河堤岌岌可危。

10 tempting   

a.诱人的, 吸引人的

参考例句：

• It is tempting to idealize the past. 人都爱把过去的日子说得那么美好。
• It was a tempting offer. 这是个诱人的提议。

11 oversee   

vt.监督，管理

参考例句：

• Soldiers oversee the food handouts.士兵们看管着救济食品。
• Use a surveyor or architect to oversee and inspect the different stages of the work.请一位房产检视员或建筑师来监督并检查不同阶段的工作。

12 solo   

n.独奏，独唱；adj.单独的；adv.单独地；v.放单飞，单独表演

参考例句：

• Tara is currently working on a solo album.塔拉眼下正忙着制作个人专辑。
• There's wonderfully lyrical flute solo in the middle of this symphony.在交响乐中间有一段奇妙的抒情长笛独奏。

13 blasts   

n.爆炸( blast的名词复数 )；一阵（疾风等）；（吹奏乐器、哨子、汽车喇叭等突然发出的）响声；突如其来的强劲气流v.（用炸药）炸毁( blast的第三人称单数 )；狠打；发出刺耳的高音；向…猛吹，（用水）向…喷射

参考例句：

• The blasts were caused by pockets of methane gas that ignited. 爆炸是由甲烷气囊被引燃造成的。
• The massive blasts shook windows throughout the city, jolting sleeping residents awake. 大量的冲击波震动了整个城市的窗户，惊醒了睡梦中的居民。