EXPLORATIONS - Jacqueline Cochran

EXPLORATIONS - Jacqueline Cochran
By Marilyn Christiano

Broadcast: Wednesday, August 18, 2004

VOICE ONE:

This is Steve Ember.

VOICE TWO:

 
Jacqueline Cochran.
And this is Faith Lapidus with EXPLORATIONS, in VOA Special English. Today, we tell about American pilot Jacqueline Cochran. During her time as a pilot, she set more speed, distance and altitude records than any other pilot in aviation¹ history.

VOICE ONE:

Jacqueline Cochran was known as Jackie. She said she was born in Nineteen-Ten. She did not really know. Her parents died when she was a baby. Another man and woman adopted her. They became her legal parents.

These people were very poor. They lived in several towns in Florida and Georgia. Jackie went to school for just two years. Then she began work in a cotton factory. She was eight years old. She earned six cents an hour.

VOICE TWO:

Later, Jackie studied to be a nurse. But, she decided² to be a beautician, a person who cuts and fixes other people's hair. She went to a special school and worked in several beauty shops in the South. Then, she decided to move to New York City. There she worked in a very fine beauty shop. On a business trip, she met a wealthy financial expert, Floyd Odlum (ODE-lum). He urged Jackie to learn to fly. He also helped her establish what was to become a very successful business.

Jackie had dreamed of selling her own beauty products. At that time, the United States was in severe economic trouble, the Great Depression. Floyd told Jackie it would be very difficult to sell enough beauty products to make her company successful. She would have to sell them all across America. To cover the territory, he said, she would need wings. She thought it was a great idea.

VOICE ONE:

Years later, Jackie Cochran remembered how she talked with her friends about learning³ to fly. They all warned her how difficult it would be. She did not think so. So she went to Roosevelt Field on New York's Long Island to learn how.

After two-and-a-half weeks of lessons, she received her official pilot's license⁴. She immediately flew to Montreal, Canada. The year was Nineteen-Thirty-Two. Three years later, she competed in the Bendix Trophy⁵ Race from Los Angeles, California to Cleveland, Ohio.

The race was an important competition for both male and female⁶ pilots. In her first try, Cochran had trouble with her plane. She failed to finish. Another young female pilot, Amelia Earhart, finished fifth.

VOICE TWO:

In Nineteen-Thirty-Six, Jackie and Floyd were married. She continued to operate her company, Jacqueline Cochran Cosmetics⁷. And he continued to support her flying activities.

In Nineteen-Thirty-Seven, Amelia Earhart attempted to fly around the world. She disappeared during that flight. A group of female pilots held a memorial ceremony to honor⁸ her. Jackie Cochran spoke⁹ at the ceremony. "We can mourn her loss," Cochran said, "but not regret her effort. We will carry on her goals."

VOICE ONE:

A month after Earhart was declared lost at sea, Cochran flew again in the Bendix Trophy Race. She was the only female pilot. She finished in third place, ahead of several of America's toughest male pilots.

The winner of that race flew a new kind of military plane. It was designed by Alexander de Seversky. He had come to the United States from Russia. Seversky wanted to sell his new long-distance plane to the United States Army Air Corps¹⁰. He thought the army would notice his plane if a female pilot flew it in a race and did well. So he asked Cochran to fly it in the next Bendix race. She accepted immediately.

VOICE TWO:

 
Jackie Cochran beside an airplane.
Seversky added extra fuel containers in the wings. He wanted to show that the plane could fly long distances without stopping. Cochran would be the first pilot to use the new system. Twenty-one pilots flew a test course before the race. Only ten completed it successfully -- nine men and Jackie Cochran.

The race began in Burbank, California, in the middle of the night. Forty-thousand people were there to watch. Seversky's plane, with Cochran at the controls, speeded down the runway. Its silver wings and body shone in the lights around the airfield¹¹. The plane lifted off the runway, climbed up and disappeared into the darkness.

VOICE ONE:

Another crowd was waiting in Cleveland, Ohio. They cheered as the first plane landed and crossed the finish line. It was the silver plane flown by Jackie Cochran. She had won the race. Cochran had flown three-thousand-two-hundred-seventy kilometers in eight hours and ten minutes. She had done it without stopping. But only she knew there was enough fuel left to fly just a few more minutes.

Jackie Cochran won something else that year -- recognition¹². She received the Harmon Trophy, the highest award given to a pilot in America. She would win the Harmon Trophy thirteen more times.

VOICE TWO:

The next year, Nineteen-Thirty-Nine, World War Two started in Europe. Cochran believed female pilots could help in the war effort. She thought they should be permitted to fly military transport planes. In that way, she said, more male pilots would be free to fly combat¹³ planes.

In Nineteen-Forty, she tried to get the United States Army Air Force to support her idea. Cochran wrote to President Franklin Roosevelt's wife, Eleanor. She said the real problem in wartime was likely to be a lack of trained pilots. Many women, she noted¹⁴, already were trained.

VOICE ONE:

Cochran received permission to go to England to observe female pilots in the newly¹⁵ formed British Air Transport Auxiliary¹⁶. She stayed there several years.

By Nineteen-Forty-Three, the United States realized that it did need more pilots. The commander of America's Army Air Forces, General Henry Arnold, visited England. He asked Cochran to come home and organize a program for female pilots. The group would be known as the Women Airforce Service Pilots, or WASPs¹⁷.

The group existed for two years. During that brief time, the women learned¹⁸ to fly seventy-seven kinds of military planes. One-thousand seventy-four women served as WASPs. They flew almost one-hundred-million kilometers. They were never officially part of the Army Air Forces. They were considered civilian¹⁹ employees.

VOICE TWO:

At the end of World War Two, the American government gave Jackie Cochran the Distinguished²⁰ Service Medal for organizing the WASPs. She was the first civilian to receive the honor.After the war, she worked with General Arnold. She helped write a bill that created America's Air Force Reserve. She became the first female member. She was finally a member of the military.

VOICE ONE:

 
Jackie Cochran flying an F-104 Starfighter.
In the late Nineteen-Forties, Cochran started racing²¹ again. She set many more flying records. In Nineteen-Fifty-Four, she entered the jet²² age. The Canadian government agreed to let her test its new fighter plane. In it, she became the first woman to fly faster than the speed of sound.

In the early Nineteen-Sixties, she became a test pilot for the Lockheed Company. She flew a fighter plane two-thousand-two-hundred-eighty-six kilometers an hour. That was more than two times the speed of sound. It was the fastest speed ever reached by a female pilot.

VOICE TWO:

Jackie Cochran sold her beauty products company in Nineteen-Sixty-Four. She died of a heart attack in Nineteen-Eighty. At the time of her death, she held more speed, distance and altitude records than any other pilot -- man or woman -- in aviation history. She had risen from a lowly beginning to the heights of business and flight.

Jackie Cochran is not as well known as some of the other great pilots. One history expert said people respected her, but did not really like her. She led the way for other female pilots. But she did not seek their company as friends.

Jackie Cochran felt very much at home in the sky. She once described her feelings about flying. This is what she said: "Earth-bound souls know only that underside of the atmosphere in which they live. But go up higher, and the sky turns dark. High up enough, and one can see the stars at noon. I have. I have traveled with the wind and the stars."

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

This program was written by Marilyn Rice Christiano. It was produced by Mario Ritter. This is Steve Ember.

VOICE TWO:

And this is Faith Lapidus. Listen again next week for another EXPLORATIONS program in VOA Special English.

1 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。

2 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。

3 learning   

n.学问，学识，学习；动词learn的现在分词

参考例句：

• When you are learning to ride a bicycle,you often fall off.初学骑自行车时，常会从车上掉下来。
• Learning languages isn't just a matter of remembering words.学习语言不仅仅是记些单词的事。

4 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。

5 trophy   

n.优胜旗，奖品，奖杯，战胜品，纪念品

参考例句：

• The cup is a cherished trophy of the company.那只奖杯是该公司很珍惜的奖品。
• He hung the lion's head as a trophy.他把那狮子头挂起来作为狩猎纪念品。

6 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。

7 cosmetics   

n.化妆品

参考例句：

• We sell a wide range of cosmetics at a very reasonable price. 我们以公道的价格出售各种化妆品。
• Cosmetics do not always cover up the deficiencies of nature. 化妆品未能掩饰天生的缺陷。

8 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。

9 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

10 corps   

n.(通信等兵种的)部队；(同类作的)一组

参考例句：

• The medical corps were cited for bravery in combat.医疗队由于在战场上的英勇表现而受嘉奖。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

11 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。

12 recognition   

n.承认，认可，认出，认识

参考例句：

• The place has changed beyond recognition.这地方变得认不出来了。
• A sudden smile of recognition flashed across his face.他脸上掠过一丝笑意，表示认识对方。

13 combat   

n.战斗，斗争，格斗；vt.与...斗争，与...战斗

参考例句：

• The police are now using computers to help combat crime.警方现在使用电脑打击犯罪活动。
• A reporter interviewed the combat hero.记者访问了这位战斗英雄。

14 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

15 newly   

adv.新近，最近；重新，再度；以新的方式

参考例句：

• Have you reviewed for this newly published novel?你给这本新出版的小说写书评了吗？
• It is a newly planted tree and it has not established yet.这是一颗新栽的树，还没有扎下根来。

16 auxiliary   

adj.辅助的，备用的

参考例句：

• I work in an auxiliary unit.我在一家附属单位工作。
• The hospital has an auxiliary power system in case of blackout.这家医院装有备用发电系统以防灯火管制。

17 wasps   

黄蜂( wasp的名词复数 )； 胡蜂； 易动怒的人； 刻毒的人

参考例句：

• There's a wasps' nest in that old tree. 那棵老树上有一个黄蜂巢。
• We live in dread not only of unpleasant insects like spiders or wasps, but of quite harmless ones like moths. 我们不仅生活在对象蜘蛛或黄蜂这样的小虫的惧怕中，而且生活在对诸如飞蛾这样无害昆虫的惧怕中

18 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。

19 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

20 distinguished   

adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的

参考例句：

• Elephants are distinguished from other animals by their long noses.大象以其长长的鼻子显示出与其他动物的不同。
• A banquet was given in honor of the distinguished guests.宴会是为了向贵宾们致敬而举行的。

21 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。

22 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。