Here is the story of American aviation pioneer Amelia Earhart.

Once upon a time, on July 24th 1897, a little girl was born in Ashes Kansas. As a child, Amelia was adventurous, climbing trees, collecting bugs, hunting rats with their rifle and exploring the neighborhood. Many historians have described Earhart as a “tomboy” growing up because of this.

Throughout her teen years, she moved around the middle west with her family. There after seeing the wounded (受伤的) soldiers returning from World War I, she decided to work as a nurse’s aid and got to know many of the wounded pilots and grew to admire them.

On December 20th, 1920, an important moment happened in Earhart’s life. She attended an air show with her dad in Long Beach. And she took a ten-minute plane ride that forever changed her life. She recalled, “By the time I had got two or three hundred feet off the ground, I knew I had to fly.” Amelia’s new mission (使命) was to learn how to fly and she worked hard to achieve her new dream. She worked several jobs to save up for the very expensive flying lessons. Amelia had flown her plane to 14,000 feet, the world record for female pilots. On May 15th, 1923, Earhart became only the 16th woman to be presented with such a pilot’s licence.

In the mid-1920s, Earhart was not able to make a living as only a pilot, so she became a teacher and later a social worker. One afternoon in April 1928, a phone call came for Earhart at work. “How would you like to become the first woman to fly the Atlantic?” Captain Hulton Archive asked her on the other line. “Yes,” Amelia immediately replied. She became the first female to fly across the Atlantic Ocean, but only as a passenger, as Wilmer Stultz and Lewis Gordon acted as pilots. When the three returned to the United States, they were greeted with a parade in New York and a reception held by President Calvin Coolidge at the White House.

In August 1928, Amelia became the first woman to fly alone across the North American continent and back. In 1929, she entered Will Rogers Power Puff Derby and placed third. Earhart also became involved with the Ninety-Nines, an organization of female pilots, and then became their first president in 1930.

Pinocchio hated the dark street, but he was so hungry that he ran out of the house. The night was very black. It thundered, and bright flashes of lightning now and again shot across the sky, turning it into a sea of fire. An angry wind blew cold and raised thick clouds of dust, while the trees shook and whispered in a strange way.

Pinocchio was greatly afraid of thunder and lightning, but the hunger he felt was far greater than his fear. In a number of leaps and bounds (飞跃), he came to the village, tired out.

The whole village was dark and deserted (无人居住的). The stores were closed, the doors, the windows. In the streets, not even a dog could be seen. It seemed the Village of the Dead.

Pinocchio ran up to a doorway, threw himself upon the bell, and pulled it wildly, saying to himself, “Someone will surely answer that!” He was right. An old man in a nightcap opened the window and looked out. He called down angrily:

“What do you want at this hour of night?”

“Give me a bit of bread! I am hungry.”

“Wait a minute and I’ll come right back,” answered the old man, thinking he had to deal with one of those boys who love to roam (闲逛) around at night ringing people’s bells while they are peacefully asleep.

After a minute or two, the same voice cried:

“Get under the window and hold out your hat!” Pinocchio had no hat, but he managed to get under the window just in time to feel a shower of ice-cold water pour down on his poor wooden head, his shoulders, and over his whole body.

He returned home as wet as a small piece of cloth, and tired out from lifelessness and hunger.

As he no longer had any strength left with which to stand, he sat down on a little chair and put his two feet on the stove (火炉) to dry them.

There he fell asleep, and while he slept, his wooden feet began to burn. Slowly, very slowly, they blackened and turned to ashes (灰).

Pinocchio snored away happily as if his feet were not his own. In the very early morning he opened his eyes just as a loud knocking sounded at the door.

“Who is it?” he called, yawning and rubbing his eyes.

“It is I,” answered a voice.

It was the voice of Geppetto.