365个英语简短小故事-161. Don’t Top Off the Tanks

Alabama Airlines has notified¹ its pilots to stop topping off their fuel tanks. Alarmed, pilot Buck² Rogers sent a copy of the memo³ to Time Magazine, which investigated the matter. It discovered that AA was reacting to a 50-percent increase in fuel prices in the last year alone. The memo warned pilots to put only the amount of fuel into the plane that was necessary to reach the destination.

The memo reminded pilots that their primary responsibility was to ensure that AA's profits increased every quarter. Topping off the tanks resulted in extra fueling time and extra weight. The extra time and weight were reducing company profits. The memo concluded with these instructions: turn off the engines when stuck in long lines on the runways; if there is a strong tailwind, turn off all the engines and glide⁴; and, wherever it is available, use "economy" jet fuel.

Pilots immediately complained, saying that such a policy put their lives and the public’s lives at great risk. Yielding to their complaints, AA allowed pilots to put in an extra ten gallons of fuel.

Even with the extra ten gallons, Rogers had two near disasters. The first time, his plane ran out of fuel just as the wheels touched the runway. His plane had to be towed⁵ to the terminal. Rogers received a congratulatory phone call from AA's president! The second time, Rogers had to land his plane on a freeway, still under construction, 10 miles short of the Atlanta runway. This time the president told him he was making AA look bad. He told Rogers to save fuel AND land at the airport.

“People have no idea how little AA cares about their safety,” Rogers said. “Saving fuel is more important to management than saving lives.”
 

1 notified   

通知，告知，报告( notify的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Competition winners will be notified by post. 将发信通知竞赛的优胜者。
• I notified the post office that my address had changed. 我把变更的地址通知了邮局。

2 buck   

n.雄鹿，雄兔；v.马离地跳跃

参考例句：

• The boy bent curiously to the skeleton of the buck.这个男孩好奇地弯下身去看鹿的骸骨。
• The female deer attracts the buck with high-pitched sounds.雌鹿以尖声吸引雄鹿。

3 memo   

n.照会，备忘录；便笺；通知书；规章

参考例句：

• Do you want me to send the memo out?您要我把这份备忘录分发出去吗？
• Can you type a memo for me?您能帮我打一份备忘录吗？

4 glide   

n./v.溜，滑行；(时间)消逝

参考例句：

• We stood in silence watching the snake glide effortlessly.我们噤若寒蝉地站着，眼看那条蛇逍遥自在地游来游去。
• So graceful was the ballerina that she just seemed to glide.那芭蕾舞女演员翩跹起舞，宛如滑翔。

5 towed   

v.拖，拉，拽( tow的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Our car was towed away by the police. 我们的汽车被警察拖走了。
• The tugboat towed the damaged ship into port. 拖船把坏了的船拖进港口。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》