题型:阅读理解 题类:常考题 难易度:普通
When she looked ahead,Florence Chadwick saw nothing but a solid wall of fog.Her body was numb (麻木的).She had been swimming for nearly sixteen hours.
Already she was the first woman to swim the English Channel in both directions.Now,at age 34,her goal was to become the first woman to swim from Catalina Island to the California coast.
On the morning of July 4th,1952,the sea was like an ice bath and the fog was so thick that she could hardly see her support boats.The wind was strong and it was raining heavily.Against the cold water of the sea,she struggled on—hour after hour.Millions of people at home were watching her in front of the television.
In one of the boats,her mother and her trainer tried their best to encourage her.They told her it wasn't much farther.But all she could see was fog.They urged her not to give up.She never had...until then.With only a half mile to go,she asked to be pulled out.
After thawing her cold body several hours later,she told a reporter,“Look,I'm not excusing myself,but if I could have seen land I might have made it.” It was not tiredness or even the cold water that defeated her.It was the fog.She was unable to see her goal.
Two months later,she tried again.This time,despite the same thick fog,she swam with all her strength and her goal clearly pictured in her mind.She knew that somewhere behind that fog was land and this time she made it! Florence Chadwick became the first woman to swim the Catalina Channel!
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