Who Was Amelia Earhart 阿梅莉亚·埃尔哈特 Chapter 5 Amelia Becomes a Hero

Amelia met with both George Putnam and Amy Guest in New York. They both thought she was perfect. Attractive. Polite. Well-educated. She got the job.

The job was actually not nearly as good as it sounded. Amelia wouldn’t get paid. A man named Wilmer Stultz would fly the plane. He’d get twenty thousand dollars. And although Amelia was called “the captain,” she was really just a passenger.

Why did Amelia agree? First, no woman had ever crossed the Atlantic by plane. The experience alone was enough to make Amelia go. Amelia summed up her feelings in a letter to a friend. “When a great adventure’s offered you—you don’t refuse it, that’s all.” Amelia also hoped that, if the trip were successful, all the attention could bring her other flying jobs.

The flight was very dangerous. Charles Lindbergh had made the trip safely. But fourteen other people had died trying to cross the ocean. Three had been women. Still, two other women pilots were already planning to try it. Amelia had to move quickly if she wanted to be the first.

The plane, called the Friendship, took off from Boston on June 3, 1928. However, the crew had to land in Canada because of bad weather. Many days went by. The Friendship was still not able to take off.

Amelia discovered another problem. Her pilot, Wilmer Stultz, drank too much. If Wilmer got drunk¹, she knew he couldn’t fly the plane. But if they did not take off soon, Amelia would lose the record. It was now or never.

On June 16, Amelia made a decision. She told Wilmer to get ready to fly—they were leaving the next day no matter what. On the morning of June 17 Amelia sent a cable² to George Putnam back in Boston. The cable read “Violet³. Cheerio! A.E.” Violet was a code⁴ word. It meant that the Friendship was taking off.

Through the long flight Wilmer Stultz and his co-pilot “Slim” Gordon took turns flying the plane. Amelia wrote notes in her journal⁵. After twenty hours of flying, they knew they were low on fuel. Could they find land in time?

The answer was yes. The Friendship touched down in Burry Port, South Wales, twenty hours and forty minutes after taking off from the Canadian coast. They had done it. On June 18, 1928, Amelia Earhart became the first woman to fly across the Atlantic Ocean.

What came next was a surprise for Amelia. The trip made her an instant hero. Amelia hadn’t flown the plane. But people still thought she was very brave.

In London, Amelia was entertained by the rich and famous. She had tea with royalty⁶.

On her return to America, Amelia was met with even greater excitement. There were parades and speeches. Crowds of people wanted to see and hear the brave female⁷. Many people compared Amelia Earhart to the famous pilot, Charles Lindbergh. They thought that Amelia, who was tall and slim, even looked like Lindbergh. Amelia’s nickname⁸ became “Lady Lindy.” George Putnam liked this a lot. He knew he could make Amelia even more famous.

All the attention was hard on Amelia. Sometimes she was frightened by the push of people trying to get near her. However, Amelia was a smart woman. She knew she would have to be in the spotlight⁹ if she wanted to fly planes and break records. Amelia also knew that if people got excited about flying, then the tiny airline business would grow. Amelia hoped to be a part of that business.

If Amelia made speeches, she would also be paid. That meant that she could buy another airplane. With her own plane she could set more records. That would lead to more speeches—and more money. For the first time in her life, Amelia started to believe that she could actually make a living by flying.

George Putnam became Amelia’s manager. He set up lots of public appearances for her. In six months Amelia made over one hundred speeches and gave more than two hundred interviews.

Amelia did not complain about her busy schedule. She was given a new car for an appearance at an auto¹⁰ show. She also made money by letting companies use her name to advertise their products. The fur-lined, leather “Amelia Earhart Flying Suit” became very popular in a New York department store. Amelia also became an editor for Cosmopolitan¹¹ magazine and wrote a column¹² about aviation¹³. Amelia didn’t really like to write, but the articles brought more publicity¹⁴. Many of the magazine’s readers thought that Amelia was a good role model for young girls.

By 1929, Amelia was the best-known female pilot in America. But what Amelia really wanted was more time flying. So a week before she turned thirty-two, Amelia purchased a secondhand Lockheed Vega. It was a big plane that was hard to handle. But it was built for speed and distance. As soon as possible, Amelia wanted to set more records.

The first women’s cross-country air race was going to be held later that summer. It was called the Women’s Air Derby. Whoever flew from Santa Monica, California, to Cleveland, Ohio, in the shortest time would win. Amelia was eager to enter.

The course, which went over the Rocky Mountains, was dangerous. The rules committee considered changing the flight path or making a male navigator go along in every plane.

Needless¹⁵ to say, Amelia was very angry. She and other women pilots had flown many hours alone. Amelia said she would not enter the race if she couldn’t fly on her own. Because of Amelia and several other female pilots, the committee backed down. The women would fly the whole course by themselves.

On August 18, 1929, twenty thousand people turned up in Santa Monica, California, for the start of the race. There were 19 pilots, including Amelia. Many people did not take the women seriously. Will Rogers, a famous writer at the time, called the race the “Powder Puff¹⁶ Derby.” Still, by that Sunday afternoon all 19 planes were in the air and racing¹⁷ against the clock.

The race was to take eight days. But there were problems from the start. Planes broke down. Landing¹⁸ fields were not in good shape.

On the second day, Amelia’s plane flipped¹⁹ over on landing. She wasn’t hurt and she was able to fix her plane and keep racing.

But others weren’t so lucky. Some planes went off course and crashed. One pilot died in the mountains of Arizona.

On August 25, the race was over. Only 11 of the 19 women finished. Amelia Earhart came in third. Even though she didn’t win, Amelia learned²⁰ a lot. She also got to know many of the best women pilots in the country.

After the race, many women pilots decided²¹ it was time to start their own group. On November 2, 1929, twenty-six women met in an airplane hangar in Long Island, New York. They wondered what to call themselves. Amelia suggested they name the club after the number of women who first joined. The other pilots liked the idea. Over the next several months the name changed from the Eighty-Sixes to the Ninety-Sevens. Finally, the Ninety-Nines was the name that stuck.

Amelia worked to get more women pilots to join. By the following summer, the Ninety-Nines had almost two hundred members. The group helped women pilots get jobs. The Ninety-Nines also had an office where careful records of women’s aviation achievements could be kept. Amelia Earhart was elected the first president of the group.

Sometimes Amelia felt she didn’t deserve²² all the praise that the public gave her. But she had truly earned the respect of the other women fliers. And it meant a lot to her.

1 drunk   

adj.醉酒的；(喻)陶醉的；n.酗酒者，醉汉

参考例句：

• People who drives when they are drunk should be heavily penalised.醉酒驾车的人应受重罚。
• She found him drunk when she came home at night.她晚上回家时，经常发现他醉醺醺的。

2 cable   

n.缆绳，索；电缆；电报；vt.电汇，打电报

参考例句：

• Don't forget to cable us as soon as you arrive.别忘了一到就给我发个电报。
• The worker attached a cable.工人连接电缆。

3 violet   

adj.紫色的；n.紫罗兰

参考例句：

• She likes to wear violet dresses.他喜欢穿紫色的衣服。
• Violet is the color of wisdom,peace and strength.紫色是智慧的，和平的和力量的颜色。

4 code   

n.代码，代号，密码；法典，法规，规划

参考例句：

• What's the code for Tianjin?天津的代号是多少？
• Remember to use postal code.勿忘使用邮政编码。

5 journal   

n.日志，日记；议事录；日记帐；杂志，定期刊物

参考例句：

• He kept a journal during his visit to Japan.他在访问日本期间坚持记日记。
• He got a job as editor of a trade journal.他找到了一份当商业杂志编辑的工作。

6 royalty   

n.皇家，皇族

参考例句：

• She claims to be descended from royalty.她声称她是皇室后裔。
• I waited on tables，and even catered to royalty at the Royal Albert Hall.我做过服务生， 甚至在皇家阿伯特大厅侍奉过皇室的人。

7 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。

8 nickname   

n.绰号，昵称；v.给...取绰号，叫错名字

参考例句：

• She called me by my nickname.她叫我的外号。
• Why do you fasten such a nickname on her?你为什么给她取这样一个绰号？

9 spotlight   

n.公众注意的中心，聚光灯，探照灯，视听，注意，醒目

参考例句：

• This week the spotlight is on the world of fashion.本周引人瞩目的是时装界。
• The spotlight followed her round the stage.聚光灯的光圈随着她在舞台上转。

10 auto   

n.(=automobile)(口语)汽车

参考例句：

• Don't park your auto here.别把你的汽车停在这儿。
• The auto industry has brought many people to Detroit.汽车工业把许多人吸引到了底特律。

11 cosmopolitan   

adj.世界性的，全世界的，四海为家的，全球的

参考例句：

• New York is a highly cosmopolitan city.纽约是一个高度世界性的城市。
• She has a very cosmopolitan outlook on life.她有四海一家的人生观。

12 column   

n.列，柱形图；专栏；圆柱；纵队

参考例句：

• I often read his column in the local paper.我经常在当地的报纸上看到他的专栏文章。
• A column of soldiers marched down the highway.一个士兵纵队沿着公路行进。

13 aviation   

n.航空，航空学，飞机制造业

参考例句：

• Ten years ago,they began to develop the aviation. 十年前，他们开始发展航空工业。
• Pilots of large aircraft are masters of aviation.大型飞行器的驾驶员是航空学方面的专家。

14 publicity   

n.众所周知，闻名；宣传，广告

参考例句：

• The singer star's marriage got a lot of publicity.这位歌星的婚事引起了公众的关注。
• He dismissed the event as just a publicity gimmick.他不理会这件事，只当它是一种宣传手法。

15 needless   

adj.不必，无须，不必要的，无用的

参考例句：

• Needless to say,I agree.无须说，我是同意的。
• It is needless to add that you are in want of a second.你需要一个助手，那是不必说的。

16 puff   

n.一口(气)；一阵(风)；v.喷气，喘气

参考例句：

• He took a puff at his cigarette.他吸了一口香烟。
• They tried their best to puff the book they published.他们尽力吹捧他们出版的书。

17 racing   

n.竞赛，赛马；adj.竞赛用的，赛马用的

参考例句：

• I was watching the racing on television last night.昨晚我在电视上看赛马。
• The two racing drivers fenced for a chance to gain the lead.两个赛车手伺机竞相领先。

18 landing   

n.登陆；着陆；楼梯平台

参考例句：

• Owing to engine trouble,the plane had to make a forced landing.由于发动机出了毛病，飞机不得不进行迫降。
• When are we landing?我们什么时候着陆？

19 flipped   

轻弹( flip的过去式和过去分词 )； 按（开关）； 快速翻转； 急挥

参考例句：

• The plane flipped and crashed. 飞机猛地翻转，撞毁了。
• The carter flipped at the horse with his whip. 赶大车的人扬鞭朝着马轻轻地抽打。

20 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。

21 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。

22 deserve   

vt.应受，值得；vi. 应受报答，值得受赏

参考例句：

• You really deserve a good beating,you naughty boy.你这个调皮孩子真该打。
• I do not deserve all the praises bestowed upon me.我不配得到这些赞扬。