VOA慢速英语2015 穆斯林头巾:着装还是歧视?

AS IT IS 2015-03-01 Muslim Hijab: Dress Code or Discrimination? 穆斯林头巾:着装还是歧视?

The U.S. Supreme¹ Court has heard opening arguments in a workplace religious discrimination case. The justices are considering whether a clothing store can deny employment to someone for wearing a religious headcovering.

Seven years ago Samantha Elauf sought employment with the clothing store company Abercrombie and Fitch. At the same time, she was a 17-year-old with a love of fashion. She seemed the perfect candidate for the job.

Ms. Elauf went to her job interview wearing a religious head covering called a hijab. She says she was denied employment because of it.

Eric Baxter is a lawyer with The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty. He is leading the legal action in support of Ms. Elauf.

“She could not remove her headscarf for a job interview without remaining true to herself, and Abercrombie refused to hire her because she was true to her religious beliefs.” 

Abercrombie and Fitch says it did not object to Samantha Elauf’s headscarf for religious reasons. It says the headscarf does not meet the company’s dress code for employees.

Zainab Choudry went to the Supreme Court to support Ms. Elauf. She says she understands the difficulties of wearing a headscarf.  

“You never know if - you know - if the reason that you aren't hired for a job is because of the hijab versus² something else. I have had prospective³ employers ask me questions about my faith, about my background.”

Yolanda Rondon is a lawyer with the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee. She says if the court rules in favor of the company it could permit all employers to discriminate⁴ against people of any faith.  

“They’ll be able to not hire persons they perceive of a religious faith they do not like or does not promote their brand image.”

The Supreme Court will rule on the case in May

Words in this Story

symbol – n., an action, object, event, etc., that expresses or represents a particular idea or quality

dress code – n., a set of rules about what clothing may and may not be worn at a school, office, job, etc.

implication – n., a possible future effect or result

perceive – v., to notice or become aware of (something)

promote –v., to make (something) more popular, well-know, etc

1 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

2 versus   

prep.以…为对手，对；与…相比之下

参考例句：

• The big match tonight is England versus Spain.今晚的大赛是英格兰对西班牙。
• The most exciting game was Harvard versus Yale.最富紧张刺激的球赛是哈佛队对耶鲁队。

3 prospective   

adj.预期的，未来的，前瞻性的

参考例句：

• The story should act as a warning to other prospective buyers.这篇报道应该对其他潜在的购买者起到警示作用。
• They have all these great activities for prospective freshmen.这会举办各种各样的活动来招待未来的新人。

4 discriminate   

v.区别，辨别，区分；有区别地对待

参考例句：

• You must learn to discriminate between facts and opinions.你必须学会把事实和看法区分出来。
• They can discriminate hundreds of colours.他们能分辨上百种颜色。