When she looked ahead, Florence Chadwick saw nothing but a solid wall of fog. Her body was numb. 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 that Fourth of July morning in 1952, the sea was like an ice bath and the fog was so dense she could hardly see her support boats.
Alongside Florence in one of the boats, her mother and her trainer offered encouragement. They told her it wasn’t much farther. But all she could see was fog. They urged her not to quit. She never had...until then. With only a half mile to go, she asked to be pulled out.
Still warming her chilled（冷冻了的） 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 fatigue（疲劳） 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 dense fog, she swam with her faith 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, eclipsing the men’s record by two hours!
相关单词：numb
numb解释：adj.麻木的，失去感觉的；v.使麻木
numb例句：
His fingers were numb with cold.他的手冻得发麻。
Numb with cold,we urged the weary horses forward.我们冻得发僵，催着疲惫的马继续往前走。
相关单词：dense
dense解释：a.密集的，稠密的，浓密的；密度大的
dense例句：
The general ambushed his troops in the dense woods. 将军把部队埋伏在浓密的树林里。
The path was completely covered by the dense foliage. 小路被树叶厚厚地盖了一层。
相关单词：alongside
alongside解释：adv.在旁边；prep.和...在一起，在...旁边
alongside例句：
There was a butcher's shop alongside the theatre.剧院旁边有一家肉店。
Alongside of him stood his uncle.他的身旁站着他叔叔。
相关单词：chilled
chilled解释：adj. 冷却的, 冷藏的，冷冻了的 动词chill的过去式和过去分词
chilled例句：
He felt totally chilled. 他感觉完全放松了下来。
Rain chilled the glittering pageant. 雨使华丽的庆典大为逊色。
相关单词：fatigue
fatigue解释：n.疲劳，劳累
fatigue例句：
The old lady can't bear the fatigue of a long journey.这位老妇人不能忍受长途旅行的疲劳。
I have got over my weakness and fatigue.我已从虚弱和疲劳中恢复过来了。
相关单词：eclipsing
eclipsing解释：重叠
eclipsing例句：
There it raises its large curves still, eclipsing the hills. 它依然拱起它那庞大的圆弧，遮挡了山峰。
Eclipsing Z-scan(EZ-scan) and reflection Z-scan(RZ-scan),and analyses the characters and applications of these techniques. 分析了各种Z scan技术的特点及应用。 综述了Z扫描理论与技术的发展。
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