EXPLORATIONS - Amelia Earhart

EXPLORATIONS - December 11, 2002: Amelia Earhart

By Marilyn Rice Christiano

((THEME)
)
VOICE ONE:
This is Mary Tillotson.
VOICE TWO:
And this is Steve Ember with the VOA Special English program EXPLORATIONS. Today, we tell about Amelia

Earhart. She was one of America’s first female¹ pilots.

VOICE ONE:

Amelia Earhart was born in eighteen-ninety-seven in the middle western state of
Kansas. She was not a child of her times. Most American girls at the beginning of
the twentieth century were taught to sit quietly and speak softly². They were not
permitted to play ball or climb trees. Those activities were considered fun for boys.
They were considered wrong for girls.

Amelia and her younger sister Muriel were lucky. Their parents believed all children
needed physical activity to grow healthy and strong. So Amelia and Muriel were
very active girls. They rode horses. They played baseball and basketball. They went
fishing with their father. Other parents would not let their daughters play with Amelia and Muriel.

VOICE TWO:

The Earharts lived in a number of places in America’s middle west when the girls were growing up. The family
was living in Chicago, Illinois when Amelia completed high school in nineteen-sixteen.

Amelia then prepared to enter a university. During a holiday, she visited her sister in
Toronto, Canada. World War One had begun by then. And Amelia was shocked by the
number of wounded soldiers sent home from the fighting in France. She decided³ she
would be more useful as a nurse than as a student. So she joined the Red Cross.

VOICE ONE:

Amelia Earhart first became interested in flying while living in Toronto. She talked with
many pilots who were treated at the soldiers’ hospital. She also spent time watching
planes at a nearby military airfield⁴. Flying seemed exciting. But the machinery⁵ – the
plane itself – was exciting, too.

After World War One ended, Amelia spent a year recovering from the disease⁶ pneumonia⁷. She read poetry and
went on long walks. She learned⁸ to play the banjo. And she went to school to learn about engines.

When she was healthy again, she entered Columbia University in New York City. She studied medicine. After a
year she went to California to visit her parents. During that trip, she took her first ride in an airplane. And when
the plane landed, Amelia Earhart had a new goal in life. She would learn to fly.

VOICE TWO:

One of the world’s first female pilots, Neta Snook, taught Amelia to fly. It did not take long for Amelia to make
her first flight by herself. She received her official pilot’s license⁹ in nineteen-twenty. Then she wanted a plane
of her own. She earned most of the money to buy it by working for a telephone company. Her first plane had two


sets of wings, a bi-plane.

On June seventeenth, nineteen-twenty-eight, the plane left the eastern province of Newfoundland, Canada. The
pilot and engine expert were men. The passenger was Amelia Earhart. The planed landed in Wales twenty hours
and forty minutes later. For the first time, a woman had crossed the Atlantic Ocean by air.

VOICE ONE:

Amelia did not feel very important, because she had not flown the plane. Yet the public did not care. People on
both sides of the Atlantic were excited by the tall brave girl with short hair and gray eyes. They organized parties
and parades in her honor¹⁰. Suddenly, she was famous.

Amelia Earhart had become the first lady of the air. She wrote a book about the flight. She made speeches about
flying. And she continued to fly by herself across the United States and back.

VOICE TWO:

Flying was a new and exciting activity in the early nineteen-twenties. Pilots tested and demonstrated¹¹ their skills
in air shows. Amelia soon began taking part in these shows. She crashed one time in a field of cabbage plants.
The accident did not stop her from flying. But she said it did decrease her desire to eat cabbages!

Flying was fun, but costly¹². Amelia could not continue. She sold her bi-plane, bought a car and left California. She
moved across the country to the city of Boston, Massachusetts. She taught English to immigrants¹³ and then
became a social worker.

VOICE ONE:

In the last years of the nineteen-twenties, hundreds of record flights were made. A few were made by women.
But no woman had flown across the Atlantic Ocean.

A wealthy American woman, Amy Guest, bought a plane to do this. However, her family opposed the idea. So
she looked for another woman to take her place. Friends proposed¹⁴ Amelia Earhart.

VOICE TWO:

American publisher George Putnam had helped organize the Atlantic Ocean flight that made Amelia famous.
Afterwards, he continued to support her flying activities. In nineteen-thirty-one, George and Amelia were
married. He helped provide financial support for her record flights.

On May twentieth, nineteen-thirty-two, Amelia took off from Newfoundland. She headed east in a small red and
gold plane. Amelia had problems with ice on the wings, fog from the ocean and instruments that failed. At one
point, her plane dropped suddenly nine-hundred meters. She regained¹⁵ control. And after fifteen hours she landed
in Ireland.

She had become the first woman to fly across the Atlantic Ocean alone.

VOICE ONE:

In the next few years, Amelia Earhart set more records and received more honors¹⁶.
She was the first to fly from Hawaii to California alone. She was the first to fly from
Mexico City to New York City without stopping.

Amelia hoped her flights would prove that flying was safe for everyone. She hoped
women would have jobs at every level of the industry when flying became a common
form of transportation.

VOICE TWO:

In nineteen-thirty-five, the president of Purdue University in Indiana asked Amelia to

This Lockheed Vega 5B in
which Amelia Earhart
crossed the Atlantic in
1932 is in the Air & Space
Museum in Washington.
(Photo - Smithsonian

do some work there. He wanted her to be an adviser¹⁷ on aircraft design and Institution)
navigation¹⁸. He also wanted her to be a special adviser to female students.

Purdue University provided¹⁹ Amelia with a new all-metal, two-engine plane. It had so many instruments she
called it the “Flying Laboratory²⁰.” It was the best airplane in the world at that time.

Amelia decided to use this plane to fly around the world. She wanted to go around the equator²¹. It was a distance
of forty-three-thousand kilometers. No one had attempted to fly that way before.

VOICE ONE:

Amelia’s trip was planned carefully. The goal was not to set a speed record. The goal was to gather
information. Crew members would study the effects of height and temperature on themselves and the plane. They
would gather small amounts of air from the upper atmosphere. And they would examine the condition of airfields²²
throughout the world.

Amelia knew the trip would be dangerous. A few days before she left, she gave a small American flag to her
friend Jacqueline Cochran, another female pilot. Amelia had carried the flag on all her major flights. Jacqueline
did not want to take it until Amelia returned from her flight around the world. “No,
”
Amelia told her, “you
had better take it now.
”

VOICE TWO:

Amelia and three male crew members were to make the flight. However, a minor²³ accident and weather conditions
forced a change in plans. So on June first, nineteen-thirty-seven, a silver Lockheed Electra plane left Miami,
Florida. It carried pilot Amelia Earhart and just one male crew member, navigator Fred Noonan.

Amelia and Fred headed south toward²⁴ the equator. They stopped in Puerto Rico, Surinam and Brazil. They
crossed the Atlantic Ocean to Africa, where they stopped in Senegal, Chad, Sudan and Ethiopia. Then they
continued on to India, Burma, Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia and Australia.

VOICE ONE:

When they reached New Guinea, they were about to begin the most difficult part of the trip. They would fly four-
thousand kilometers to tiny Howland Island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

Three hours after leaving New Guinea, Amelia sent back a radio message. She said she was on a direct path to
Howland Island. Later, Amelia’s radio signals were received by a United States Coast Guard ship near the
island. The messages began to warn of trouble. Fuel was getting low. They could not find Howland Island. They
could not see any land at all.

VOICE TWO:

The radio signals got weaker and weaker. A message on the morning of July second was incomplete²⁵. Then there
was silence.

American Navy²⁶ ships and planes searched the area for fifteen days. They found nothing. Amelia Earhart and Fred
Noonan were officially declared “lost at sea.
”

((THEME))

VOICE ONE:

This Special English Program was written by Marilyn Rice Christiano. It was produced by Paul Thompson. This
is Mary Tillotson.

VOICE TWO:

And this is Steve Ember. Join us again next week for another EXPLORATIONS program on the VOICE OF


AMERICA.
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1 female   

adj.雌的，女(性)的；n.雌性的动物，女子

参考例句：

• We only employ female workers.我们只雇用女工。
• The animal in the picture was a female elephant.照片上的动物是头母象。

2 softly   

adv.柔和地，静静地，温柔地

参考例句：

• He speaks too softly for her to hear.他讲话声音太轻，她听不见。
• She breathed her advice softly.她低声劝告。

3 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。

4 airfield   

n.飞机场

参考例句：

• The foreign guests were motored from the airfield to the hotel.用车把外宾从机场送到旅馆。
• The airfield was seized by enemy troops.机场被敌军占领。

5 machinery   

n.(总称)机械，机器；机构

参考例句：

• Has the machinery been put up ready for the broadcast?广播器材安装完毕了吗？
• Machinery ought to be well maintained all the time.机器应该随时注意维护。

6 disease   

n.疾病，弊端

参考例句：

• The doctors are trying to stamp out the disease.医生正在尽力消灭这种疾病。
• He fought against the disease for a long time.他同疾病做了长时间的斗争。

7 pneumonia   

n.肺炎

参考例句：

• Cage was struck with pneumonia in her youth.凯奇年轻时得过肺炎。
• Pneumonia carried him off last week.肺炎上星期夺去了他的生命。

8 learned   

adj.有学问的，博学的；learn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He went into a rage when he learned about it.他听到这事后勃然大怒。
• In this little village,he passed for a learned man.在这个小村子里，他被视为有学问的人。

9 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。

10 honor   

n.光荣；敬意；荣幸；vt.给…以荣誉；尊敬

参考例句：

• I take your visit as a great honor.您的来访是我莫大的光荣。
• It is a great honor to receive that prize.能拿到那个奖是无上的光荣。

11 demonstrated   

举行示威游行（或集会）( demonstrate的过去式和过去分词 )； 示范。展示； 显示； 论证

参考例句：

• All of those demonstrated the correctness of his analysis. 这一切都证明了他分析的正确性。
• The fireman demonstrated great courage in saving the child. 那位消防队员在抢救孩子的过程中，表现了极大的勇气。

12 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

13 immigrants   

n.移民( immigrant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Illegal immigrants were given the opportunity to regularize their position. 非法移民得到了使其身份合法化的机会。
• Immigrants from all over the world populate this city. 这个城市里生活着来自世界各地的移民。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 proposed   

被提议的

参考例句：

• There is widespread discontent among the staff at the proposed changes to pay and conditions. 员工对改变工资和工作环境的建议普遍不满。
• an outcry over the proposed change 对拟议的改革所发出的强烈抗议

15 regained   

复得( regain的过去式和过去分词 )； 赢回； 重回； 复至某地

参考例句：

• The majority of the people in the world have regained their liberty. 世界上大多数人已重获自由。
• She hesitated briefly but quickly regained her poise. 她犹豫片刻，但很快恢复了镇静。

16 honors   

n.礼仪；荣典；礼节； 大学荣誉学位；大学优等成绩；尊敬( honor的名词复数 )；敬意；荣誉；光荣

参考例句：

• He aims at honors. 他力求名誉。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• We did the last honors to his remains. 我们向他的遗体告别。 来自《简明英汉词典》

17 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

18 navigation   

n.航行；航海；航空

参考例句：

• The compass is an instrument of navigation.罗盘是导航仪器。
• Navigation is difficult on this river because of hidden rocks.由于多暗礁，在这条河上航行很困难。

19 provided   

conj.假如，若是；adj.预备好的，由...供给的

参考例句：

• Provided it's fine we will have a pleasant holiday.如果天气良好，我们的假日将过得非常愉快。
• I will come provided that it's not raining tomorrow.如果明天不下雨，我就来。

20 laboratory   

n.实验室，化验室

参考例句：

• She has donated money to establish a laboratory.她捐款成立了一个实验室。
• Our laboratory equipment isn't perfect,but we must make do.实验室设备是不够理想，但我们只好因陋就简。

21 equator   

n.赤道，（平分球形物体的面的）圆

参考例句：

• Singapore is near the equator.新加坡位于赤道附近。
• The United States is north of the equator.美国位于赤道以北。

22 airfields   

n.（较小的无建筑的）飞机场( airfield的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• For several days traffic fromthe Naples airfields was partially interrupted. 那不勒斯机场的对外交通部分地停顿了数天。 来自辞典例句
• We have achieved a great amount of destruction at airfields and air bases. 我们已把机场和空军基地大加破坏。 来自辞典例句

23 minor   

adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修

参考例句：

• The young actor was given a minor part in the new play.年轻的男演员在这出新戏里被分派担任一个小角色。
• I gave him a minor share of my wealth.我把小部分财产给了他。

24 toward   

prep.对于，关于，接近，将近，向，朝

参考例句：

• Suddenly I saw a tall figure approaching toward the policeman.突然间我看到一个高大的身影朝警察靠近。
• Upon seeing her,I smiled and ran toward her. 看到她我笑了，并跑了过去。

25 incomplete   

adj.不完全的，不完善的

参考例句：

• The building was left incomplete.那座楼没有完工就停下来了。
• His novel was incomplete when he died.他死的时候他的小说没有写完。

26 navy   

n.海军，海军人员，海军军力，藏青色

参考例句：

• My brother is in the navy.我兄弟在海军服役。
• He has transferred from the army to the navy.他从陆军转到海军。