英语名人堂：凯萨查维斯

凯萨查维斯 (Cesar Chavez) 是一位墨西哥裔美国劳工运动者，也是联合农场工人联盟的领袖二十世纪时，他是农场季节工人(migrant farm workers：为找工作四处迁徙的人)的主要发声人。他坚忍的领导能力让全国人民注意到劳工的工作环境有多糟糕，最后，他们的工作环境终于因此而获得改善。

Cesar Chavez was a Mexican-American labour leader and civil rights activist¹. He was a farm worker who co-founded the biggest farm workers’ union in the USA and improved the working conditions of thousands of farm labourers. Many see him as one of America’s greatest civil rights leaders. More and more US states are honoring him by making his birthday a holiday.

 

Chavez was born in Arizona in 1927 to farm worker parents. His childhood was very tough because of the poverty caused by the Great Depression. Chavez was a natural leader and in 1952 he became an administrator² in the Latino civil rights group the Community Service Organization. He travelled throughout California urging Mexican Americans to vote and speaking about workers’ rights.

 

In 1962, Chavez co-founded the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA) with Dolores Huerta. His first success was to lead a California grape pickers strike for better wages. The strike lasted five years and attracted the attention of Robert Kennedy. The NFWA won its first major labour victory for American farm workers. Chavez moved on to campaign for the rights of other farm workers.

 

The NFWA developed into the United Farm Workers. Chavez led marches and encouraged farm workers across America to join together. He helped them strike and organize boycotts³. In the 1980s he fasted to draw public attention to the dangerous use of pesticides⁴. Chavez died in 1993 of natural causes. Ten years later, America honoured him with a postage stamp.

1 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。

2 administrator   

n.经营管理者，行政官员

参考例句：

• The role of administrator absorbed much of Ben's energy.行政职务耗掉本很多精力。
• He has proved himself capable as administrator.他表现出管理才能。

3 boycotts   

（对某事物的）抵制( boycott的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Their methods included boycotts and court action, supplemented by'sit-ins". 他们的主要方法包括联合抵制、法庭起诉，还附带进行静坐抗议。
• Are boycotts for other purposes illegal? 至于用于其它目的的联合抵制行动是否也是非法的呢？

4 pesticides   

n.杀虫剂( pesticide的名词复数 )；除害药物

参考例句：

• vegetables grown without the use of pesticides 未用杀虫剂种植的蔬菜
• There is a lot of concern over the amount of herbicides and pesticides used in farming. 人们对农业上灭草剂和杀虫剂的用量非常担忧。 来自《简明英汉词典》