VOA标准英语2012--Explorers Hope They Are Close to Solving Amelia Earhart Mystery

 

Explorers Hope They Are Close to Solving Amelia Earhart Mystery

Earhart was a pioneering American aviator¹ in the early 20th century. The first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean, she became a national celebrity². In July of 1937, she and navigator Fred Noonan disappeared over the Pacific while attempting to fly around the world. To this day their fate is shrouded³ in mystery.

Seventy-five years later, The International Group For Historic Aircraft Recovery, TIGHAR, works to solve the mystery.

“The romantic attraction of the Earhart mystery, she was the celebrity that inspired people when she was alive. And then she disappeared in such a mysterious way,” said Rick Gillespie, executive director of TIGHAR.

Earhart disappeared while flying from Lae, Papua New Guinea, to Howland Island, 3,100 kilometers southwest of Hawaii.

TIGHAR researchers believe she ran low on fuel and veered⁴ off course to the small uninhabited island of Nikumaroro, which was never thoroughly⁵ searched during the initial 1937 investigation⁶. Again Rick Gillespie:

“We said wow! Nobody ever looked for Amelia Earhart in the most likely place? And they said well, that is the way it looks to us,” Gillespie said.

TIGHAR members have uncovered artifacts from what they call "site 7" - on the tiny South Pacific atoll.

“A number of them came from 2007. Some of them came from 2010,” said TIGHAR staff member Joe Cerniglia, who showed some of the artifacts. A jar that might have held a woman’s facial cream, a beer bottle, and a lanoline bottle. All believed to be from the late 1930’s.

“We have a chemical match from two labs that show that residue⁷ from this bottle, which was recovered from Nikumaroro, matches residue from a bottle such as this one that was recovered from eBay,” Cerniglia said.

They have also recovered pieces of an aircraft. As Gillespie points out, TIGHAR has found a lot of intriguing⁸ artifacts. But the undeniable evidence that Earhart ended up on Nikumaroro eludes⁹ them.

“This is very much like a jigsaw¹⁰ puzzle. And we have got the edges. We have got most of the picture in the interior. What we don’t have are those final pictures that make it absolutely beyond a doubt to anyone who looks at it that this is that answer to this riddle,” Gillespie said.

TIGHAR will return to Nikumaroro for its tenth expedition in July. With sophisticated underwater equipment, they plan to search the sea floor looking for the wreckage¹¹ of Earhart’s plane. And finally, perhaps, solve the mystery of her disappearance¹². 

1 aviator   

n.飞行家，飞行员

参考例句：

• The young aviator bragged of his exploits in the sky.那名年轻的飞行员吹嘘他在空中飞行的英勇事迹。
• Hundreds of admirers besieged the famous aviator.数百名爱慕者围困那个著名飞行员。

2 celebrity   

n.名人，名流；著名，名声，名望

参考例句：

• Tom found himself something of a celebrity. 汤姆意识到自己已小有名气了。
• He haunted famous men, hoping to get celebrity for himself. 他常和名人在一起, 希望借此使自己获得名气。

3 shrouded   

v.隐瞒( shroud的过去式和过去分词 )；保密

参考例句：

• The hills were shrouded in mist . 这些小山被笼罩在薄雾之中。
• The towers were shrouded in mist. 城楼被蒙上薄雾。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 veered   

v.（尤指交通工具）改变方向或路线( veer的过去式和过去分词 )；（指谈话内容、人的行为或观点）突然改变；（指风） （在北半球按顺时针方向、在南半球按逆时针方向）逐渐转向；风向顺时针转

参考例句：

• The bus veered onto the wrong side of the road. 公共汽车突然驶入了逆行道。
• The truck veered off the road and crashed into a tree. 卡车突然驶离公路撞上了一棵树。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 thoroughly   

adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地

参考例句：

• The soil must be thoroughly turned over before planting.一定要先把土地深翻一遍再下种。
• The soldiers have been thoroughly instructed in the care of their weapons.士兵们都系统地接受过保护武器的训练。

6 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

7 residue   

n.残余，剩余，残渣

参考例句：

• Mary scraped the residue of food from the plates before putting them under water.玛丽在把盘子放入水之前先刮去上面的食物残渣。
• Pesticide persistence beyond the critical period for control leads to residue problems.农药一旦超过控制的临界期，就会导致残留问题。

8 intriguing   

adj.有趣的；迷人的v.搞阴谋诡计(intrigue的现在分词)；激起…的好奇心

参考例句：

• These discoveries raise intriguing questions. 这些发现带来了非常有趣的问题。
• It all sounds very intriguing. 这些听起来都很有趣。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 eludes   

v.（尤指机敏地）避开( elude的第三人称单数 )；逃避；躲避；使达不到

参考例句：

• His name eludes me for the moment. 他的名字我一时想不起来了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• But philosophers seek a special sort of knowledge that eludes exact definition. 但是，哲学家所追求的是一种难以精确定义的特殊知识。 来自哲学部分

10 jigsaw   

n.缕花锯，竖锯，拼图游戏；vt.用竖锯锯，使互相交错搭接

参考例句：

• A jigsaw puzzle can keep me absorbed for hours.一副拼图就能让我沉醉几个小时。
• Tom likes to work on jigsaw puzzles,too.汤姆也喜欢玩拼图游戏。

11 wreckage   

n.（失事飞机等的）残骸，破坏，毁坏

参考例句：

• They hauled him clear of the wreckage.他们把他从形骸中拖出来。
• New states were born out of the wreckage of old colonial empires.新生国家从老殖民帝国的废墟中诞生。

12 disappearance   

n.消失，消散，失踪

参考例句：

• He was hard put to it to explain her disappearance.他难以说明她为什么不见了。
• Her disappearance gave rise to the wildest rumours.她失踪一事引起了各种流言蜚语。