為實現(xiàn)自己二十多年的夢想，美國人Larry Walters勇敢嘗試了一把，盡管他“愚蠢”的行動令他得到了達(dá)爾文獎的“青睞”，這個獎人人避之唯恐不及，但他并不后悔，因為——

Larry Walters is among the relatively few who have actually turned their dreams into reality. His story is true， even though you may find it hard to believe.

Larry was a truck driver， but his lifelong dream was to fly. When he graduated from high school， he joined the Air Force in hopes of becoming a pilot. Unfortunately， poor eyesight disqualified him. So， when he finally left the service， he had to satisfy himself with watching others fly the fighter jets that crisscrossed1) the skies over his backyard. As he sat there in his lawn chair， he dreamed about the magic of flying.

Then one day， Larry Walters got an idea. He went down to the local Army-Navy surplus2) store and bought a tank of helium3) and 45 weather balloons. These were not your brightly colored party balloons; these were heavy-duty spheres measuring more than 4 feet across when fully inflated4). Back in his yard， Larry used straps to attach the balloons to his lawn chair， the kind you might have in your own back yard.

He anchored5) the chair to the bumper6) of his jeep and inflated the balloons with helium. Then he packed some sandwiches and drinks and loaded a gun， figuring he could pop7) a few of those balloons when it was time to return to earth.

His preparations complete， Larry Walters sat in his chair and cut the anchoring cord. His plan was to lazily float up to a height of about 30 feet above his backyard， where he would enjoy a few hours of flight before coming back down. But things didn't quite work out that way.

When Larry cut the cord， he didn't float lazily up—he shot up as if fired from a cannon! He didn't level off8) at 100 feet， nor did he level off at 1，000 feet. After climbing and climbing， he leveled off at 16，000 feet! At that height， he felt he couldn't risk shooting any of the balloons， lest he unbalance the load and really find himself in trouble. So he stayed there， drifting cold and frightened with his beer and sandwiches， for more than 14 hours. He crossed the primary approach corridor of Los Angeles International Airport， where an United Airlines pilot radioed in reports of the strange sight.

Eventually， Larry gathered the nerve9) to shoot a few balloons and slowly descended. The hanging straps tangled10) and caught in a power line， blacking out a Long Beach neighborhood for 20 minutes. Larry climbed to safety， and as soon as he hit the ground， he was arrested.

But as he was being led away in handcuffs， a television reporter called out to ask， \"Mr. Walters， why did you do it?\"

Larry stopped， eyed the man for a moment and replied nonchalantly11)，

\"A MAN CAN'T JUST SIT AROUND12)!\"

Seriously， though...

What are you doing today to make your dreams and goals come true?

拉里·沃爾特斯是少數(shù)能夠真正將自己的夢想變?yōu)楝F(xiàn)實的人之一。你或許會覺得拉里的故事令人難以置信，但它確實是真的。

拉里是一名卡車司機，但飛行才是他畢生的夢想。高中畢業(yè)后，他抱著成為飛行員的夢想?yún)⒓恿丝哲?。然而遺憾的是，由于視力不佳，他不具備當(dāng)飛行員的資格。因此他最終退役后，能聊以慰藉的就是在自家后院看著別人開著噴氣式戰(zhàn)斗機在天上穿梭。他一坐在后院草坪的躺椅上，就憧憬著飛行的奇妙。

于是一天，拉里想出了一個主意。他去當(dāng)?shù)爻鍪坳懞＼娛Ｓ辔镔Y的商店買了一罐氦氣和45個氣象氣球。這些氣球可不是你在派對上用的那種色彩鮮艷的裝飾氣球，而是充足氣后直徑會超過4英尺(約1.22米)的負(fù)重氣球?；氐阶约液笤海镉脦ё訉馇蛳翟诓萜禾梢紊稀褪悄慵液笤嚎赡芤矔械哪欠N椅子。

他把椅子固定在吉普車的保險杠上，然后給氣球充入氦氣。接著，他裝了一些三明治和飲料，并給一把槍裝好了子彈——他想著到該返回地面時，就可以用這把槍打破一些氣球。

一切準(zhǔn)備就緒，拉里·沃爾特斯在椅子上坐好，然后砍斷了固定椅子的繩索。他原本打算優(yōu)哉游哉地飛到自家后院上方30英尺(約9.14米)左右的地方，在那兒享受幾個小時飛行的樂趣后就回到地面?？墒牵聭B(tài)的發(fā)展卻十分出乎他的意料。

拉里把繩子砍斷后，他并沒有緩緩地飄浮起來——而是像出膛的炮彈一樣被發(fā)射了上去!他既沒有停在100英尺(約30.48米)的高度，也沒有在1000英尺(約304.8米)處停下來。經(jīng)過不停地爬升，他飛到了1.6萬英尺(約4876.8米)的高度!在這樣一個高度，他覺得自己不能冒險擊破氣球，以免失去平衡使自己真的陷入困境。于是在這個高度上，拉里伴著啤酒和三明治，在寒冷和驚恐中飄行了14個多小時。當(dāng)他橫穿洛杉磯國際機場的主降落航道時，一名美聯(lián)航的飛行員用無線電報告了這怪異的一幕。

最終，拉里壯起膽子打爆了幾個氣球，開始緩緩下降?？蓮臍馇蛏洗瓜聛淼睦K子繞在一起，纏在了輸電線上，導(dǎo)致長灘附近區(qū)域的電力中斷了20分鐘。拉里爬到安全的地方，可等他一到地面，就被逮捕了。

但就在他被銬上手銬帶走時，一名電視臺的記者大聲問他:“沃爾特斯先生，您為什么要這么做?”

拉里停下腳步，看了那個記者一會兒，然后淡然答道:

“人不能只是閑坐著而不做點什么!”

說真的，

你今天為了實現(xiàn)自己的理想和目標(biāo)正在做些什么呢?

What's Fun

Larry's efforts won him a $1，500 FAA (聯(lián)邦航空局) fine， a prize from the Bonehead Club of Dallas， the altitude record for gas-filled clustered balloons， and a 1982 Darwin Awards Honorable Mention. He gave his aluminum lawn chair to admiring neighborhood children， abandoned his truck-driving job， and went on the lecture circuit (巡回演講).

Vocabulary

1.crisscross [5krIskrCs] vt. 在……上劃(或覆)以交叉線

2.surplus [5sE:plEs] adj. (商店)出售(軍用)剩余物資的

3.helium [5hi:lIEm] n. 【化】氦

4.inflate [In5fleIt] vt. 使膨脹，使充氣，使脹大

5.anchore [5ANkE] vt. 把……系住(或扎牢、粘住);使固定

6.bumper [5bQmpE(r)] n. (汽車)保險杠

7.pop [pCp] vt. 使砰(或啪)的一聲爆裂(或打開)

8.level off: 穩(wěn)定

9.nerve [nE:v] n. 膽量，勇氣

10.tangle [5tAN^l] vi. 纏結(jié)，糾結(jié)

11.nonchalantly [5nCnFElEntlI]

adv. 冷淡地，不激動地

12.sit around:(在……)坐著沒事干