READING 2 Amazing Aviators

AMAZING

AVIATORS

Read the following article. Pay special attention to the words in bold. 7.3

At the beginning of the 20th century, flight was new. It was not for everyone. It was only for adventurous people. Two adventurous aviators were Charles Lindbergh and Amelia Earhart.

Charles Lindbergh was born in 1902, a year before the Wright brothers’ historic flight. In 1927, a man offered a $25,000 reward for the first person to fly from New York to Paris. Lindbergh was a pilot for the U.S. Mail Service at that time. He wanted to win the prize. He decided to try, and he won. He was the first person to fly across the Atlantic Ocean alone. His plane was in the air for 33 hours. The flight was 3,600 miles. There were thousands of people in New York to welcome him home. He was an American hero. He was only 25 years old.

Another famous American aviator was Amelia Earhart. In 1920, when she was 23 years old, she rode in a plane for the first time. As soon as the plane was in the air, she was sure that she wanted to be a pilot. She took flying lessons and soon bought her own plane. In 1932, she was the first woman to fly across the Atlantic Ocean alone. Americans were in love with Earhart. In 1937, she was ready for a bigger challenge. She wanted to fly around the world. She wasn’t alone; she was with a navigator1 . They disappeared somewhere in the Pacific Ocean. Maybe there wasn’t enough fuel2 . Maybe the weather conditions were bad. No one knows what happened to Earhart. It is still a mystery today.

1 navigator: someone who guides a plane in the right direction 2 fuel: gasoline Charles Lindbergh

Amelia Earhart

COMPREHENSION Based on the reading, write T for true or F for false.

1. Charles Lindbergh was successful in his attempt to cross the Atlantic Ocean. 2. Amelia Earhart was the first person to fly across the Atlantic Ocean. 3. A navigator was with Earhart when she disappeared.