超模成长手册

2020-06-11江丽

疯狂英语·读写版 2020年5期

江丽

当她正准备从麦当劳下班时，一个不同寻常的顾客来到了店里。正是这个人，改变了她的人生轨迹……

难词探意

“Hi， welcome to McDonalds. My name is Aweng. How can I help you？” The woman stood in front of me and stared. She was not a typical customer in this quiet branch of the Golden Arches in Sydneys western suburbs. I stared back at her. “Oh my god， youre beautiful，” she said. I was tired. Id been working for hours and was about to leave for my shift at the KFC down the road. I had multiple jobs to pay for college. I told the woman that my shift was about to end and she was the last person I would serve. She placed a business card on the counter. “Heres my friends card. Youre going to be a superstar. Youll thank me one day.”

Two weeks later， I was on a plane to Paris to walk for one of the most exclusive fashion houses： Vetements. It turned out that the friend of the woman whod come into McDonalds was a model agent. After I met her， she immediately made me an offer： If she could fly me out of Australia within two weeks， then she would sign me to her agency. If she couldnt， then I could get on with my regular life.

It was surreal to be leaving home on my own until I got my Australian passport. My ticket was only one way， so no one—including me—knew whether Id be coming back. I arrived at Paris one February morning. In the evening， we did a fitting for the show. Everyone kept telling me to breathe， but the first time I stepped out onto the catwalk， for the Vetements AW18 show， all I could think was that I had to focus on walking. I wasnt used to walking like a model and my velvet trousers went all the way over my shoes， so I constantly felt as though I was about to fall.

Walking exclusively for Vetements was just the beginning. Later I got news that Id been signed by agencies in Paris， Milan， New York and London， all in one night. Since then Ive seen the world， shooting with industry legends and working with fashion houses such as Burberry.

Above everything else， its been important to be honest to myself and to the world. I never wanted my story to be all about the refugee girl who became a supermodel overnight. I wanted to shape my own narrative. After all， I worked to make the best out of the situation. You cant change the past—all you can do is grow from it.

Reading Check

1. Why did the author work in McDonalds？

A. To experience the life as a waitress.

B. To make money for the college tuition.

C. To prepare for her future business.

D. To wait for a model agent.

2. What can be inferred from paragraph 3？

A. The show was held in the morning.

B. The author got accustomed to walking like a model.

C. Leaving home on her own was unexpected for the author.

D. The trousers and shoes were not suitable for the author.

3. What can be the best main idea of the text？