美国国家公共电台 NPR--A daughter keeps her dad's memory alive by restoring his old Ford Mustang

A daughter keeps her dad's memory alive by restoring his old Ford¹ Mustang

Transcript²

Since he was in high school, Al Plumley could be found under the hood³ of a car fixing it himself. His daughter Ashley Cosme talks to her husband Nicolas about her dad who died last year.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

Time now for StoryCorps. Today we hear from Ashley Cosme, who grew up with two sisters in northern Indiana. Her dad, Al Plumley, taught his daughters about one of his greatest passions - fixing up old cars. Al died in October of last year, and Ashley came to StoryCorps with her husband, Nicolas, to talk about how they are keeping his memory alive.

ASHLEY COSME: He knew absolutely everything about cars. He knew what they were worth. If we were buying a used car, he knew every little thing to look for. You know, his first car was a blue Mustang. He was able to, even back then as a 16-year-old, figure out what was wrong with the car and actually carried the entire engine up to his bedroom, and he fixed⁴ it himself. When we were growing up, he would find cars on the internet. My mom would just jump right in the truck, and they would go look at them and haul them back if it was something he wanted to fix up. And he, you know, had been working on this Mustang for a while.

NICOLAS COSME: He didn't say a lot, but he lit up to talk about the car.

A COSME: Right before he passed, I remember he was sitting in his chair with his oxygen, and he had this folder⁵ that said old Mustang. And there's just a list, all in his handwriting, with all the parts that we need to get. And he said once it's done, he wants it to be painted the 1966 Oldsmobile blue metallic⁶.

N COSME: After he passed, we were entrusted⁷ with the task of completing the Mustang, essentially⁸ this baby that he was working on and putting all this time and effort. I was honored and then terrified.

A COSME: I know. But I was also really excited that he chose us.

N COSME: I remember staring at the front end and just looking at where the engine should be. And I'm like, I have zero idea, but we're going to make it happen. So what are you looking forward most to when it is finished?

A COSME: My mom driving it. Can you imagine the feeling? This is something we're going to do together in his memory. My dad did everything for us. I mean, he was my go-to guy for absolutely everything. So just being able to see this was one of dad's dreams, I think that will be really special.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

FADEL: That was Ashley and Nicolas Cosme remembering Al Plumley for StoryCorps in Chicago. They've recently finished gathering⁹ all the parts on Al's checklist and are looking forward to getting under the hood. Their conversation will be archived at the Library of Congress.

1 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。

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 hood   

n.头巾，兜帽，覆盖；v.罩上，以头巾覆盖

参考例句：

• She is wearing a red cloak with a hood.她穿着一件红色带兜帽的披风。
• The car hood was dented in.汽车的发动机罩已凹了进去。

4 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。

5 folder   

n.纸夹，文件夹

参考例句：

• Peter returned the plan and charts to their folder.彼得把这份计划和表格放回文件夹中。
• He draws the document from its folder.他把文件从硬纸夹里抽出来。

6 metallic   

adj.金属的；金属制的；含金属的；产金属的；像金属的

参考例句：

• A sharp metallic note coming from the outside frightened me.外面传来尖锐铿锵的声音吓了我一跳。
• He picked up a metallic ring last night.昨夜他捡了一个金属戒指。

7 entrusted   

v.委托，托付( entrust的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He entrusted the task to his nephew. 他把这任务托付给了他的侄儿。
• She was entrusted with the direction of the project. 她受委托负责这项计划。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

9 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。