A sky angel

江南大學 陳曉宇

精彩導讀

一位空乘人員在回顧她數百次的飛行旅程時，發現最令她記憶猶新的是被一個年輕媽媽稱為“空中天使”的經歷。一個是抱著孩子在飛機上手足無措，被折騰得精力憔悴，生活窘困的年輕母親；另一個是溫暖善良，且同樣身為人母的空乘。她們之間會發生怎樣感人至深的故事呢？讓我們一起來看一看吧。

體裁 人物傳記 文章詞數 4 5 4 難度指數 ★★★題材 真情故事 建議用時 8′

In 1978，I became a flight attendant for a major airline.Earning my wings was the childhood dream that I had set for myself after my first plane ride at the age of five.

Like so many others before me，Ifell in love withthe romance of airplanes，adventure and helping others.I have flown hundreds of flights since graduation，but onestands outamong the many.

We were flying from Los Angeles to Washington，D.C.，when I found a young mother struggling with her infant（嬰兒）.Everythingwas a messand the mother，who wasextremelyupset，told me she had no more diapers（尿布）or other clothing on board the aircraft.

Through her tears，she informed me that they had missed their flight the previous night in Los Angeles and because she had very little money，she and her son had spent the night on the airport floor.Since she hadn't expected to miss the flight，she was forced to use up most of her supplies and money.

With the saddest eyes I have ever seen she continued.She told me she was on her way to New Hampshire todeliverher son to the family that wasadoptinghim.She could no longer support the two of them.As she stood in front of me，crying，holding her beautiful son，I could see thedespairandhopelessnesson her face.And，as a mother of three beautiful daughters，I could feel her pain.

I immediatelyasked for assistancefrom the other flight attendants.They brought cloth towels（毛巾）from first class toassistin cleaning up both the mom and the infant.I ran and gave her a sweater and a pair of pants I had brought.Then I asked several families if they couldspareextra diapers and clothes for the child.After the young mother and her son had changed their clothes and the baby had gone to sleep，I sat with her，holding her hand，trying to provide some support and comfort for the remainder of the flight.

As she thanked me for all I had done，she said softly，“You're not the flight attendant，you're a sky angel.”Touching my flight attendant wings，she continued，“And those are your angel wings.”With those words she turned and walked down the jetway，her child in her arms，and boarded the plane for New Hampshire.

Though I am no longer a flight attendant，my“angel wings”are still on display in my office.And each time I see them，I amreminded ofthat young woman，her infant son and the gift that she gave me on that special day—that we truly are all spiritual beings traveling in human form.

Reading check

Read the text carefully and answer the following questions.

1.What does the title“A sky angel”refer to according to the text？

2.Translate the last paragraph into Chinese.

3.What does the author intend to mean by saying“we truly are all spiritual beings traveling in human form”？

Language study

Ⅰ.Words in the context

文中詞條m i s s（P a r a.4）基本含義想念；未擊中引申含義錯過；未趕上生義例句I g o t u p l a t e a n d m i s s e d t h e t r a i n.我睡過了頭并且誤了火車。d e l i v e r（P a r a.5）運送；投遞托付；交付s p a r e（P a r a.6）備用的；空閑的抽出；騰出M y s o n w a s d e l i v e r e d i n t o h i s u n c l e's c a r e w h e n I w a s o n a b u s i n e s s t r i p.我出差的時候，我兒子被送到他叔叔那里去照顧。I h o p e y o u c a n s p a r e o n e h o u r a n d t a l k t o m e.我希望你能抽出一個小時和我談一談。

Ⅱ.Vocabulary

1.extremelyadv.非常；極其

2.adoptv.收養；領養

3.despairn.絕望

4.hopelessnessn.沒有希望；絕望

5.assistv.幫助；協助

6.fall in love with愛上；傾心

7.stand out突出；引人注目

8.be a mess一團糟

9.use up用完；耗盡

10.ask for assistance請求幫助

11.remind...of提醒……想起……

Ⅲ.Difficult sentences

1.We were flying from Los Angeles to Washington，D.C.，when I found a young mother struggling with her infant.

【點石成金】本句中be doing...when...為常用句型，表示“當……時，正在……”。find sb doing表示“發現某人正在進行某個動作”。本句的意思是：當我發現一個因為嬰兒犯難的年輕媽媽時，我們正在從洛杉磯飛往華盛頓。

2.Since she hadn't expected to miss the flight，she was forced to use up most of her supplies and money.

【點石成金】since引導的是原因狀語從句，從句中的she hadn't expected是過去完成時，表示該動作發生在過去的動作she was forced to use up...之前。過去完成時表示過去的過去。本句的意思：因為她沒想到會誤了那個航班，所以她不得已用完了大部分的物品和錢。