The First Lady of the Air (II)

Amelia Earhart: the last flight · 最后的飞行

To the public, Amelia Earhart's goal seemed unattainable. "Fly an airplane around the globe? Impossible!" they thought. But Amelia was a determined woman on a mission. In her mind, nothing could get in her way.

She and her assistant, Noonan, set out on her last mission on May 21, 1937. If all went well, she would be back in California in a few weeks. She would celebrate her 40th birthday with her family and friends.

Her voyage captured the imaginations of people everywhere. They followed her every move on that historic flight. As Earhart's journey continued, news of her flight made the front page of newspapers around the world. People read about her success as she got from California to Florida, then along the east coast of South America and across the Atlantic to North Africa. People in Singapore cheered her on as she steadily worked on making her dream a reality. Many people began to believe that this female pilot would actually be successful.

On June 30, 1937, Earhart and Noonan arrived in Lae, New Guinea. They had already travelled 35,406 kilometres, and had only 11,265 kilometres left to go.

On July 1, they took off from Lae, New Guinea for the last and most dangerous part of the flight. Their next destination was Howland Island, a tiny island in the Pacific Ocean.

As she approached the island on the morning of July 2, after nineteen hours in the air, she sent several radio messages asking about the weather. A new weather report describing heavy clouds and rain northwest of Howland had been issued. Several more transmissions were received from her, asking for directions. Then, radio contact was lost. She never reached her destination.

The world waited for days as a massive search took place. No sign of her plane or its wreckage was ever found. It was as if she had disappeared into thin air. For years afterwards, there were reports of Earhart sightings. Today, people are still searching for answers to what happened.

One thing is certain though. Amelia Earhart will always be "the first lady" of pioneering pilots.

The First Lady of the Air (II) — Amelia Earhart: the last flight

To the public, Amelia Earhart's goal seemed u(1)__________. "Fly an airplane around the globe? Impossible!" they thought. But Amelia was a d(2)__________ woman on a mission. In her mind, nothing could get in her way.

She and her assistant, Noonan, set out on her last m(3)__________ on May 21, 1937. If all went well, she would be back in California in a few weeks. She would celebrate her 40th birthday with her family and friends.

Her voyage c(4)__________ the imaginations of people everywhere. They followed her every move on that historic flight. As Earhart's journey continued, news of her flight made the front page of newspapers around the world. People read about her success as she got from California to Florida, then along the east coast of South America and across the Atlantic to North Africa. People in Singapore c(5)__________ her on as she steadily worked on making her dream a reality. Many people began to believe that this female pilot would actually be successful.

On June 30, 1937, Earhart and Noonan arrived in Lae, New Guinea. They had already travelled 35,406 kilometres, and had only 11,265 kilometres left to go.

On July 1, they took off from Lae, New Guinea for the last and most dangerous part of the flight. Their next d(6)__________ was Howland Island, a tiny island in the Pacific Ocean.

As she a(7)__________ the island on the morning of July 2, after nineteen hours in the air, she sent several radio messages asking about the weather. A new weather report describing heavy clouds and rain northwest of Howland had been issued. Several more transmissions were received from her, asking for directions. Then, radio contact was lost. She never reached her destination.

The world waited for days as a massive search took place. No sign of her plane or its w(8)__________ was ever found. It was as if she had d(9)__________ into thin air. For years afterwards, there were reports of Earhart sightings. Today, people are still searching for answers to what happened.

One thing is certain though. Amelia Earhart will always be "the first lady" of p(10)__________ pilots.

📌 重点单词 · Key Vocabulary

🔗 重点词组 · Key Phrases

💡 语法小贴士 · Grammar Tips

✈️ 文化拓展 · The Vanishing over Howland Island

1937 年 7 月 2 日，埃尔哈特与领航员努南从新几内亚莱城起飞，目标是不起眼的豪兰岛——岛长仅约 3 公里，是横跨太平洋的理想补给点。当天他们收到气象报告：豪兰岛西北方有厚云和暴雨。此后飞机一度与海岸警卫队快艇取得无线电联系，随后信号消失。原文中「radio contact was lost」六个词背后，是人类航空史上最著名的一场失踪。

美国政府随即展开大规模搜救：舰船、飞机搜寻了两周多，覆盖数十万平方海里，却连一块残骸都没有找到。此后几十年，各种假说层出不穷——燃油耗尽坠入深海说、在无人岛迫降生存说，甚至被俘说。近年有探险队声称在太平洋一座无人岛附近发现疑似飞机残骸和残片，但学界仍有争议。她的失踪至今没有定论。

上下两篇连读，能看到传记写作的经典弧线：上篇用辉煌成就把主角推到顶点，结尾一句 fate has a way of changing things 急转直下；下篇用倒计时般的日期（May 21 → June 30 → July 1 → July 2）营造步步紧逼的紧张感，最后以 One thing is certain though 收束——命运可以带走一个人，但带不走她代表的探索精神。