English practice 8

Aviation Princess

My daughter just turned nine last week. We went to the mall and I gave her the best gift I could imagine: free rein to pick out anything she wanted and desired to have₁. I expected her to pick out some clothes, a new video game, maybe even a doll. However, she₂ insisted the only one thing she wanted was a model airplane.

I guess about her request I shouldn't be surprised.₃ My daughter has grown up₄ in a military household, the pride and joy of a family that believes it appropriate₅ that if one has a passion for flying, then she would play pilot more than play house.₇

Yet soon stories and pictures of aircraft weren't enough;₈ she wanted to see the real thing. So my husband started taking her to the annual air show at the local military base that happens every year₉. Most other children her age admired how fast the planes flew or how nicely they were painted, but not my daughter: She would ask, "Daddy, when are they going to upgrade the avionics system in that F-22 Raptor?" or "Do you think unmanned drones will ever be as useful as manned aircraft?" I once overhead her correcting an older gentleman whom₁₁ was mistaken about the planned retirement date of the F-15 Eagle. I would have been embarrassed about her presumption, if she hadn't been absolutely and unequivocally₁₂ right.

Of course, my husband has big dreams₁₃ for his little aviatrix. She is going to be a military pilot, graduating at the top of her class from the Naval Academy. Then she's going to₁₄ be the individual who design the next-generation supersonic fighter personally, while lecturing at Harvard about the history of fixed-wing aircraft. Otherwise, how₁₅ she's going to fit that in between being a surgeon and the president. I'll never know!