VOA慢速英语--美国第一夫人吉尔·拜登向全世界的女性致敬

First lady Jill Biden, the wife of President Joe Biden, helped the U.S. State Department honor 21 women for their "courage" and "intentional¹ decisions" in 2020.

The women were recognized with the 2021 International Women of Courage Award. The honors were presented virtually because of the coronavirus health crisis.

Seven of those honored, all from Afghanistan, had died recently. Among them were a reporter, a woman who helped mothers in childbirth, a democracy activist², a police officer and a general who worked to fight kidnapping. Many of them were killed by people who targeted them for their work.

Fourteen other women from around the world were honored for their work in many fields. One, Maria Kalesnikava, is in prison in Belarus for her support of democracy and her opposition³ to President Alexander Lukashenko.

Another, Phyoe Phyoe Aung, works to make connections between young people of different ethnic⁴ and religious groups in Myanmar. She was in prison for over a year after she was arrested at a protest march in 2015.

Julienne Lusenge of the Democratic Republic of Congo is an activist for women and girls. She works to stop gender⁵-based violence. She has helped shape policy in her home country and around the world. She helped with the United Nations' decision to recognize sexual violence as a weapon of war.

During the presentation, Biden said the women "are fighting for their own lives and for their children. They want to right the wrongs of our past..."

She said each of the women made an important decision to choose to be courageous⁶ and fight for ideas they believed in "despite the obstacles and fear they faced."

Biden said that the U.S. is making a choice to support women around the world. She said the U.S. will "lift up the women and girls everywhere who light our way."

Some of the other women, who Biden said fought "for something bigger than themselves," were:

Erika Lorena Aifan, a judge in Guatemala who deals with threats of violence while working on corruption⁷ and war crimes cases.

Shohreh Bayat was a chess judge from Iran. She was photographed without her head covering while working at the Women's Chess World Championship last year. The Iranian Chess Federation⁸ said she might not be able to safely return to her country without apologizing. She refused and is now living as a refugee in Britain without her husband, who has not been able to get permission to be with her.

Muskan Khatun worked to make new laws against acid attacks on women in her home country of Nepal. She was a victim of an attack as a teenager after rejecting the romantic proposals of a boy. After meeting with Nepal's Prime Minister and requesting a strong law against these attacks, the country made rules limiting the sale of acid. Stronger punishments for acid attacks were also put in place.

Biden said the U.S. will work harder to stay connected with powerful and courageous women around the world. "We will stand with you as we build a brighter future for us all," she said.

Words in This Story

courage –n. the ability to do something that you know is difficult or dangerous

virtual –adj. existing or occurring on computers or on the Internet

gender –n. the state of being male or female

despite –prep. without being prevented by

obstacle –n. something that makes it difficult to do something

1 intentional   

adj.故意的，有意（识）的

参考例句：

• Let me assure you that it was not intentional.我向你保证那不是故意的。
• His insult was intentional.他的侮辱是有意的。

2 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

3 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

4 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

5 gender   

n.（生理上的）性，（名词、代词等的）性

参考例句：

• French differs from English in having gender for all nouns.法语不同于英语，所有的名词都有性。
• Women are sometimes denied opportunities solely because of their gender.妇女有时仅仅因为性别而无法获得种种机会。

6 courageous   

adj.勇敢的，有胆量的

参考例句：

• We all honour courageous people.我们都尊重勇敢的人。
• He was roused to action by courageous words.豪言壮语促使他奋起行动。

7 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

8 federation   

n.同盟，联邦，联合，联盟，联合会

参考例句：

• It is a federation of 10 regional unions.它是由十个地方工会结合成的联合会。
• Mr.Putin was inaugurated as the President of the Russian Federation.普京正式就任俄罗斯联邦总统。