Mr. Johnson had never been up in a plane before and he had read a lot about air accidents, so one day when a friend offered1 to take him for a ride in his own small plane, Mr. Johnson was very worried about accepting. Finally, however, his friend persuaded2 him that it was very safe, and Mr. Johnson boarded the plane.
His friend started the engine and began to slide onto the runway of the airport. Mr. Johnson had heard that the most dangerous part of a flight were the take-off and the landing, so he was extremely frightened and closed his eyes.
After a minute or two he opened them again, looked out of the window of the plane, and said to his friend, "Look at those people down there. They look as small as ants, don't they?"
Those are ants, answered his friend. "We're still on the ground."
Notes:
1. offer 主動(dòng)提供,主動(dòng)要求
2. persuade 勸說(shuō)
約翰遜先生以前從未乘過(guò)飛機(jī),他讀過(guò)許多關(guān)于飛行事故的報(bào)道。所以,有一天一位朋友邀請(qǐng)他乘自己的小飛機(jī)飛行時(shí),約翰遜先生非常擔(dān)心,不敢接受。不過(guò),由于朋友不斷保證說(shuō)飛行是很安全的,約翰遜先生終于被說(shuō)服了,登上了飛機(jī)。
他的朋友啟動(dòng)引擎開始在機(jī)場(chǎng)跑道上滑行。約翰遜先生聽說(shuō)飛行中最危險(xiǎn)的是起飛與降落,所以他嚇得緊閉雙眼。
過(guò)了一兩分鐘,他睜開雙眼朝窗外望去,對(duì)朋友說(shuō)道:“看下面那些人,他們看起來(lái)就像螞蟻一樣小,是不是?”
“那些就是螞蟻”,他的朋友答道,“我們還在地面上?!?
Useful link:
1903年12月17日,美國(guó)的威爾伯·萊特和奧維爾·萊特兄弟倆設(shè)計(jì)制造的“飛行者”號(hào)飛機(jī)在美國(guó)北卡羅來(lái)納州的基蒂霍克試飛成功,這是世界上公認(rèn)的第一架飛上天空的可操縱載人動(dòng)力飛機(jī)。