衛斯理的粉紅色兒童單車之旅

江蘇 張 燕

一位名叫衛斯理的英國男子為了紀念去世的祖父母，同時也為四家慈善機構募捐，騎著女兒兒時騎過的兒童自行車從蘇格蘭格拉斯哥到英國曼徹斯特南部的維森沙維。

After losing his last remaining grandparent to cancer last year, Welsey Hamnett of Wythenshawe, England wanted to do something to honor them while helping others at the same time. He started planning a 1,250-mile cycling trip from his hometown to Russia, asking for donations in a GoFundMe campaign that would benefit four local charities. He'd already booked his tickets and was eager to hit the road in September when COVID-19 hit.

“I had done all my mapping and checked all the hotels but then the pandemic hit and I had to cancel my trip,” he explained. “I thought it was probably a good thing because I shouldn't have really been travelling during coronavirus, but I still wanted to do something.”

Welsey suddenly found himself with 19 days off of work and a lot of charitable donations yet to be made, so he came up with a second plan that could be orchestrated within the United Kingdom. He proposed a bike ride from Glasgow, Scotland to his hometown of Wythenshawe, just south of Manchester, England.

To keep things interesting, Welsey threw in a twist: if he got enough donations he'd do the entire 220-mile journey on the little pink bike both of his daughters had learned to ride on.

Just one day before he was due to start his journey Welsey's fund-raiser hit its goal.He put aside his regular road bike and grabbed the pink bike for the trip of a lifetime! “I was questioning myself and thinking—can I even do it on that bike? I woke up at 4：00 am for the train and just thought,I can do this.”

For the next 6 days, Welsey rode the tiny bike about 38 miles per day over oftensteep, mountainous roads. He had to stop to repair multiple flat tires along the way because he weighs a lot more than the bike could normally stand. Thankfully, any discomfort or embarrassment he felt was softened by the fact that he raised close to￡8,400 (around $10,900 USD) for Acmillan,The Christie Hospital, The British Heart Foundation, and Wythenshawe Hospital which was beyond his expectation.

“I am still planning to do my trip to Russia next year but I'm not sure I'll be ever able to top this,” said the cyclist after finishing his mission.

Reading Check

1. Why did Welsey cancel his trip to Russia?

A. His grandparent died. B. The trip was too long.

C. He didn't get prepared. D. COVID-19 broke out.

2. What does the underlined word “orchestrated” most probably mean?

A. Arranged carefully. B. Achieved easily.

C. Changed casually. D. Spread widely.

3. Why did Welsey ride the pink bike for the trip?

A. His daughters had ridden on it.

B. It could make things interesting.

C. He wanted to keep his promise.

D. He wanted to test it out.

4. What can we infer from paragraph 6?

A. Welsey raised more money than expected.

B. Welsey's cycling trip went on smoothly.

C. The four charities sponsored his trip.

D. The trip took more time than he had planned.