高中英语第二册课本朗读14-a

　　NO VOICE，NOT HERAD...
freedom fighters can be found everywhere,and they are of all times.Each age has its own struggle for rights. Between the sixteenth centuries the struggle was for freedom of religion.People struggled for the right to be free in their choice of which god to believe in.
From the late eighteenth to well into the nineteeth century different groups of people struggled for their rights. There were famous books about the rights of man and later the rights of woman.The main ideas were that all people are brothers and sisters, and that all people should be treated equally¹.It was the beginning of a struggle of more than 200 years for unconditional² rights of men and women of all races.
First there was the struggle of black people in America who fought for their rights.After the American Civil War,slavery was abolished³.Slaves⁴ were now free people, but the southern states did not want to give black people their rights. For more than a hundred years black people had to fight to be given the rights to vote, choose where to live, study and work.Nelson Mandela was a great freedom fighter, who fought for the rights of black people in South Africa.
Starting at almost the same time were the international movements for the rights of women.There was a time when women had no right to vote, could no go to university or choose their jobs. In the nineteenth century, women all over the world started asking for equal rights.In 1893, New Zealand became the first country in the world to give women the right to vote.By 1920,women in the US, Canada and most European countries had the right to vote.
In modern tiems there are still organisations that fight against prejudice⁵ and for equal rights of people.There are action groups that fight for the rights of black people, women,children,people with AIDS/HIV and prisoners⁶. What all these groups have in common is that they ask to be treated with respect, share the right to work,good housing⁷ conditionsand education,and be treated equally to other people, regardless⁸ of race, religion or sex.
When Samuel Butler wrote two chapters about the rights of animals and the rights of vegetables in a novel in 1872, everybody thought that was ridiculous⁹.But in the twentieth century organisations were foremd to give a voice to groups that do not have a voice to speak for themselves.The largest is the animal rights movement.As a part of this movement there are now also action groups that struggle should fight for the rights of robots and machines.

1 equally   

adv.平等地；公平地

参考例句：

• Divide the cake into quarters and share it equally.把蛋糕分成四份，大家平均享用。
• The blue sky belongs equally to us all.蓝天为人所共有。

2 unconditional   

adj.无条件的，无限制的，绝对的

参考例句：

• The victorious army demanded unconditional surrender.胜方要求敌人无条件投降。
• My love for all my children is unconditional.我对自己所有孩子的爱都是无条件的。

3 abolished   

adj.[法]废除的v.废除，废止( abolish的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• This tax should be abolished. 这种税应该取消。
• Food rationing was abolished in that country long ago. 那个国家早就取消了粮食配给制。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 slaves   

n.奴隶( slave的名词复数 )；苦工；完全受（某事物）控制的人；完全依赖（某事物）的人v.奴隶般地工作，做苦工( slave的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Slaves were not emancipated until 1863 in the United States. 美国奴隶直到1863年才获得自由。
• fashionistas who are slaves to the latest trends 被潮流牵着鼻子走的赶时髦者

5 prejudice   

n.偏见，成见；损害，侵害；vt.使…抱偏见；损害，不利于

参考例句：

• Prejudice is a social disease.偏见是一种社会弊病。
• He continued to smoke,to the prejudice of his health.他继续吸烟，这不利于他的健康。

6 prisoners   

n.囚徒( prisoner的名词复数 )；俘虏；被夺去自由的人[动物]等

参考例句：

• The president granted a general amnesty for all political prisoners. 总统大赦了所有的政治犯。
• The prisoners were living in appalling conditions. 囚犯的居住条件极为恶劣。

7 housing   

n.房屋，住宅；住房建筑；外壳，外罩

参考例句：

• Do you think our housing sales will turn around during this year?你认为今年我们的住宅销路会好转吗？
• The housing sales have been turning down since the summer.入夏以来，房屋的销售量日趋减少。

8 regardless   

adj.不留心的，不注意的；不管，不顾；adv.无论如何，不管怎样

参考例句：

• I protested,but she carried on regardless.我极力反对，但她仍一意孤行。
• I shall go regardless of the weather.无论天气好坏我都要去。

9 ridiculous   

adj.荒谬的，可笑的；荒唐的

参考例句：

• It is simply ridiculous to attempt such a thing.试图干这种事，简直可笑。
• It's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard in my life.这是我有生以来听到的最为荒唐可笑的事。