TED演讲:有关激情的故事(8)

 　　Millions of women live like this today. They are the poorest of the poor. 如今还有万千上万的妇女像这样生活着。她们是真正的最穷的穷人。

　　Although women do two-thirds of the world's labor¹, they own less than one percent of the world's assets. 尽管妇女从事着世界上三分之二的劳力工作，但是她们仅仅拥有低于1%的资产。

　　They are paid less than men for the same work if they're paid at all, 相同的工作他们的报酬比男性更低，即使她们得到报酬，

　　and they remain vulnerable because they have no economic independence, 也很容易受到伤害，因为她们并没有经济独立能力，

　　and they are constantly threatened by exploitation, violence and abuse. 并且她们常常受到剥削、暴力以及侮辱。

　　It is a fact that giving women education, work, the ability to control their own income, inherit and own property, benefits the society. 事实上如果给妇女提供教育，工作以及控制自己的收入，财产等的能力，将会为社会带来好处。

　　If a woman is empowered, her children and her family will be better off. 如果妇女的能力得到了提升，她的孩子和家庭都将会获益。

　　If families prosper², the village prospers³, and eventually so does the whole country. 如果家庭变好，村庄也会繁荣起来，从而整个国家都将会变得更好。

　　Wangari Maathai goes to a village in Kenya. 旺加里·马塔伊去了肯尼亚的一个村庄。

　　She talks with the women and explains that the land is barren because they have cut and sold the trees. 她与妇女交谈，并向她们解释土地荒芜的原因是因为他们砍掉了那些树木。

　　She gets the women to plant new trees and water them, drop by drop. 她让妇女们慢慢地种植新的树木并且进行浇灌。

　　In a matter of five or six years, they have a forest, the soil is enriched, and the village is saved. 在五年或者六年后，他们拥有了森林，土壤被催肥，村庄被拯救了。

　　The poorest and most backward societies are always those that put women down. 在最为贫穷的社会中，往往妇女位于最低层。

　　Yet this obvious truth is ignored by governments and also by philanthropy. 并且很明显地是真相往往被政府所忽略，同样也被慈善事业所忽略。

　　For every dollar given to a women's program, 20 dollars are given to men's programs. 在妇女项目得到一美元的同时，男性项目却得到了二十美元。

　　Women are 51 percent of humankind. Empowering them will change everything -- more than technology and design and entertainment. 妇女占有人类的51%。将妇女变强的话将会改变一切，远超过技术、设计和娱乐所带来的影响。

　　I can promise you that women working together -- linked, informed and educated -- can bring peace and prosperity to this forsaken⁴ planet. 我敢保证如果妇女们一起工作--相互联系、了解情况并且受到过教育，那就能够为这个星球带来和平和繁荣。

　　In any war today, most of the casualties are civilians⁵, mainly women and children. 在当今的任何战争中，大多数受害者是平民，主要是妇女和小孩。

　　They are collateral⁶ damage. Men run the world, and look at the mess we have. 他们是被动受害者。男性主宰世界，然后看着我们所带来这一切。

1 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

2 prosper   

v.成功，兴隆，昌盛；使成功，使昌隆，繁荣

参考例句：

• With her at the wheel,the company began to prosper.有了她当主管，公司开始兴旺起来。
• It is my earnest wish that this company will continue to prosper.我真诚希望这家公司会继续兴旺发达。

3 prospers   

v.成功，兴旺( prosper的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Whatever prospers my business is welcome. 凡使我生意兴隆者皆竭诚欢迎。 来自辞典例句
• Whatever prospers my business is good. 任何使我生意兴隆的都是好的。 来自辞典例句

4 Forsaken   

adj. 被遗忘的, 被抛弃的 动词forsake的过去分词

参考例句：

• He was forsaken by his friends. 他被朋友们背弃了。
• He has forsaken his wife and children. 他遗弃了他的妻子和孩子。

5 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

6 collateral   

adj.平行的；旁系的；n.担保品

参考例句：

• Many people use personal assets as collateral for small business loans.很多人把个人财产用作小额商业贷款的抵押品。
• Most people here cannot borrow from banks because they lack collateral.由于拿不出东西作为抵押，这里大部分人无法从银行贷款。