Amelis Earthart

張玉鳳

There is perhaps no greater mystery in the annals1 of American history as that of the Amelia Earhart story. Earharts story is one of controversy， and intriguing2. She was an accomplished aviator3， the first woman to fly across the Atlantic Ocean solo. She accomplished this during a time when women were not highly regarded in the United States. American women during the 1930s did not have the same advantages men had. There were few employment chances. Educated women were a scarcity4. Women who did find employment during this times were working as grade-school teachers， nannies， and maids for the most part. Amelia Earhart did a lot to change that idea.

在美國的編年史上，也許沒有比阿梅莉亞·埃爾哈特的故事更神秘的了。埃爾哈特的故事充滿爭議，也很耐人尋味。她是一位很有造詣的飛行員，也是第一位獨自飛越大西洋的女性。她是在美國婦女不受重視的時期實現(xiàn)這一目標的。20世紀30年代的美國女性沒有和男性一樣的優(yōu)勢，就業(yè)機會很少，受過教育的婦女稀缺。在這一時期找到工作的女性大多是當小學教師、保姆和女傭。阿梅莉亞·埃爾哈特為改變這種看法起了很大作用。

Although Earhart was born into a rich family， but that was fleeting5. There were times in her life when her family struggled to make ends meet because of poor money management. Earhart was home educated for most of her life， and she gained her pilots license at an early age. In December of 1920， Earharts father took Amelia to an airshow in Long Beach， California. This is where she first became interested in flying. After earning her aviators license， she accomplished a feat that only a few men had ever done： flying alone across the Atlantic. She earned national fame for this and was soon a household name.

然埃爾哈特出生在一個富裕的家庭里，但這只是曇花一現(xiàn)。在她的生活中，有幾次她的家庭因為資金管理不善而入不敷出。埃爾哈特一生中的大部分時間都在家里接受教育，她很小就獲得了飛行員執(zhí)照。1920年12月，埃爾哈特的父親帶著她去加州長灘參加航空展。這是她第一次對飛行產(chǎn)生興趣的地方。在拿到飛行執(zhí)照后，她完成了一項只有少數(shù)人完成過的壯舉：獨自飛越大西洋。她因此聞名全國，并很快成為家喻戶曉的人物。

Unfortunately， Earhart was lost in an attempt to fly around the world in 1937. She was never found. The theories about how she met her end are countless. Many think she fell victim6 to the Japanese before the start of World War II. This thinking was rooted in the idea that Earhart was a spy. Other strange theories include alien kidnapping， but most likely she had mechanical difficulties flying over the Pacific Ocean. Earhart was either killed instantly7， or survived， according to one popular theory， and lived out her days on a deserted island.

不幸的是，埃爾哈特在1937年嘗試環(huán)球飛行時迷路了。人們一直沒有找到她。關于她的生命是如何終結(jié)的，眾說紛紜。許多人認為她在二戰(zhàn)開始前就成了日本人的受害者。這種想法的根源是埃爾哈特是個間諜。其他稀奇古怪的說法包括外星人綁架，但最有可能的是她在飛越太平洋時遇到了機械故障。根據(jù)一種流行的說法，埃爾哈特要么當場死亡，要么幸存下來，然后在一個荒島上度過了她的余生。

Notes

1. annal [] n. 記錄;編年史

2. intrigue [] v. 激起……的興趣;

引發(fā)……的好奇心

3. aviator [] n. 飛行員;飛機駕駛員

4. scarcity [] n. 缺乏;不足;稀少

5. fleeting [] adj. 短暫的，瞬間的

6. victim [] n. 受害者;罹難者

7. instantly [] adv. 立即地;馬上地;即刻地