Who Was Amelia Earhart 阿梅莉亚·埃尔哈特 Chapter 6 Amelia the Businesswoman

In the fall of 1929, the stock¹ market crashed. Many people lost a lot of money. Many also lost their jobs. It was the start of the Great Depression. Amelia worried about her parents who had split² up again. Her mother was living with Amelia’s sister and husband. Amelia helped out by giving her mother some money every month. Her father was ill. So Amelia bought the log³ cabin⁴ in Los Angeles where he was living. Amelia felt a strong sense of duty to her parents.

THE GREAT DEPRESSION

It started on October 29, 1929. That was the day a lot of people lost a lot of money on the stock market. Since they had less money, people couldn’t buy things. Businesses had to close. Millions of people lost their jobs. Soup kitchens were set up to feed people. The hungry waited for hours in long lines hoping to get a little free food.

The Great Depression dragged on for years. Mother Nature made things even worse. There was very little rain in the Great Plains during the 1930s. Farmland turned to dust. More families became homeless.

Under President Franklin Roosevelt, the government formed a plan to make things better. It was called the New Deal. Jobs were created. People began to make money again. By the end of the decade, the worst was over. But people who lived through the Great Depression would never forget the hard times.

Amelia had to keep earning money but that was not easy during the Depression. She still gave speeches but she had another job, too. Amelia helped start an airline on the East Coast. It was called The New York, Philadelphia and Washington Airway⁵ because it flew between those cities. Amelia’s job was to convince⁶ people to fly on the airline.

It was difficult to run an airline in the early days. Only a few cities had airports. Once three planes arrived in Philadelphia at the same time. Some passengers had to change planes. Some people just got off to stretch their legs. But airline workers got confused. They put people on the wrong planes. Some were accidentally⁷ flown back to the city they had just left!

Another problem on the early flights was airsickness. It wasn’t just the bumps⁸. Fumes⁹ from the engine often came into the cabin. There also was no air conditioning. Sometimes more than half of the passengers on a plane threw up. Still, more than fifteen hundred passengers flew on the tiny airline during the first ten days. Amelia was happy to report that almost half the tickets had been sold to women.

AVIATION¹⁰ INDUSTRY

Today traveling by plane seems as normal as taking a bus. But it wasn’t always that way. In fact, your grandparents may not have stepped foot on an airplane until they were grown-ups!

At first airplanes primarily¹¹ delivered mail, not people. But the many small companies that carried mail sometimes allowed passengers to travel as well. By the late 1920s, these smaller companies combined to form four larger airlines—TWA, United, Eastern, and American. They were known as the “Big Four” and were the first to schedule passenger-only flights. In 1923, the first nonstop flight to travel across the country carried passengers from New York to San Diego. It would be another thirty years before a passenger jet¹² traveled nonstop between New York and London. By mid-century, the airline industry in the United States had truly taken off!

Besides working with the airline and taking care of her family, Amelia was still trying to set records. That was part of being Amelia Earhart, the celebrity¹³. In the summer of 1930, Amelia set three new speed records. The fastest speed she recorded was 180 miles per hour. Today the average passenger jet flies at around 500 to 700 miles per hour.

Amelia was doing exactly what she had dreamed of doing. It was an exciting time. But then, in September of 1930, Amelia received bad news. Her father had cancer. He would not live much longer. Amelia flew out to see him in California. She stayed with her father for four days. She took care of him and said her good-byes. During her return trip to New York, she got word that her father had died.

It was a very sad time for Amelia. She missed her father. She also was under a lot of pressure. She worked for an airline. She gave speeches all over the country. She raced her airplane and set records. She took care of her family. Amelia was tired. She needed help. Amelia turned to her long-time manager, George Putnam.

George Putnam was divorced¹⁴ now and wanted to marry Amelia. Amelia had said no many times. But maybe marriage to George Putnam could be different. George was ten years older than Amelia. He already had two grown children. George wouldn’t expect Amelia to stay at home. In fact, he wanted to help her become even more famous.

Amelia decided¹⁵ to take the risk.

On February 7, 1931, she and George Putnam were married.

Both bride and groom¹⁶ were in agreement on one important issue. Amelia would definitely¹⁷ keep her career.

And although she didn’t plan it, she even got to keep her name. Although she officially became Amelia Earhart Putnam after her marriage, the press didn’t like the change. They soon dropped the “Putnam” and called her Amelia Earhart—just as they always had.
 

1 stock   

n.存货，储备；树干；血统；股份；家畜；adj.存货的；平凡的，惯用的；股票的；畜牧的；vt.进货，采购；储存；供给；vi.出新芽；进货

参考例句：

• The shop takes stock every week on Friday mornings.这家商店每星期五早晨盘点存货。
• Experts have forecast an upturn in the stock market.专家已预测股票市场价格有上升趋势。

2 split   

n.劈开，裂片，裂口；adj.分散的；v.分离，分开，劈开

参考例句：

• Who told you that Mary and I had split up?谁告诉你玛丽和我已经离婚了？
• The teacher split the class up into six groups.老师把班级分成6个小组。

3 log   

n.记录，圆木，日志；v.伐木，切，航行

参考例句：

• They log for a living.他们以伐木为生。
• And then what do you do with that log?然后你要拿那些记录做什么呢？

4 cabin   

n.(结构简单的)小木屋；船舱，机舱

参考例句：

• They threw up a new cabin in a couple of hours.在几小时之内他们就建起了一座新的小屋。
• It's very hot in the cabin;let's go on deck.舱室内很热，我们到甲板上去吧。

5 airway   

n.空中航线，通风口

参考例句：

• Lay them on their side and ensure the airway is unobstructed.让他们侧躺着，并确保呼吸道畅通。
• There is a purple airway in London Airport.伦敦机场里有一条皇家专用飞机跑道。

6 convince   

vt.使确认，使信服；使认识错误

参考例句：

• It requires a lot of talking to convince him.要说服他很费口舌。
• I have given over trying to convince him.我已经不再试图说服他了。

7 accidentally   

adv.偶然地；意外地

参考例句：

• Mary accidentally let out that her mother had telephoned.玛丽无意中说出她的母亲来过电话。
• As I turned around,I accidentally hit him in the face.我转身时不经意撞了他的脸。

8 bumps   

碰撞( bump的名词复数 )； 肿块； 轻微撞车事故； 隆起物

参考例句：

• I had goose bumps when we watched the fireworks. 我们看烟火的时候，我起鸡皮疙瘩。
• E was kind of zig-zagging across the pavement, and I bumps into 'im accidental-like. 他有点歪歪斜斜地在人行道上走，我一不小心撞到了他的怀里。 来自英汉文学

9 fumes   

n.(强烈而刺激的)气味，气体

参考例句：

• The health of our children is being endangered by exhaust fumes. 我们孩子们的健康正受到排放出的废气的损害。
• Exhaust fumes are bad for your health. 废气对健康有害。

10 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。

11 primarily   

adv.首先，主要地，基本地

参考例句：

• The advertising campaign is aimed primarily at young people.这个广告宣传运动主要是针对年轻人的。
• I am primarily interested in history.我主要对历史感兴趣。

12 jet   

n.喷气发动机，喷气式飞机；v.喷出，喷射

参考例句：

• Put a match to the jet to light the gas.将火柴放在煤气喷嘴上点燃煤气。
• I don't see the jet of your plan.我不明白你的计划的要点。

13 celebrity   

n.名人，名流；著名，名声，名望

参考例句：

• Tom found himself something of a celebrity. 汤姆意识到自己已小有名气了。
• He haunted famous men, hoping to get celebrity for himself. 他常和名人在一起, 希望借此使自己获得名气。

14 divorced   

adj.离婚的；分开的；不相干的；脱离的v.与…离婚(divorce的过去式和过去分词)；分离；与某人离婚，判某人离婚

参考例句：

• Apparently they are getting divorced soon. 看样子，他们很快就要离婚。
• Many divorced men remarry and have second families. 许多离婚的男子再婚组成了新的家庭。

15 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。

16 groom   

vt.给（马、狗等）梳毛，照料，使...整洁

参考例句：

• His father was a groom.他父亲曾是个马夫。
• George was already being groomed for the top job.为承担这份高级工作，乔治已在接受专门的培训。

17 definitely   

adv.一定地，肯定地；明确地，确切地

参考例句：

• The team will definitely lose if he doesn't play.如果他不参加比赛，这个队肯定会输。
• I shall definitely be home before six o'clock.6点以前，我一定回家。