VOA常速英语2018--纪念马丁·路德·金博士

Today, on the fifty-year anniversary, we mourn the assassination¹ of civil rights leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Dr. Martin Luther King.

在五十周年纪念日的这一天，我们悼念民权领袖以及诺奖获得者马丁 路德 金(Martin Luther King)博士的遇刺。

Born in 1929 into the family of an Atlanta Baptist minister, young Martin was a gifted child who entered Morehouse College at 15 years old, where he studied theology under the mentorship of Dr. Benjamin Mays, an outspoken² advocate for racial equality. In 1955, Martin Luther King earned a doctorate³ in theology from Boston University. That year, he made his first significant mark on the civil rights movement leading a bus boycott⁴ in Montgomery, Alabama.

1929年，金博士出生在亚特兰大的一个牧师家庭里。他年少时就显露出了自己的才华，15岁就被莫尔豪斯学院录取。在那里，他师从本杰明 梅斯(Benjamin Mays)，专攻神学，并且公开表示支持种族平等。1955年，金博士获得了波士顿大学的神学博士学位。同年，他在民权运动领域迈出了重大的第一步，即在阿拉巴马州的蒙哥马利领导了一场公共汽车抵制运动。

Under Alabama's segregationist⁵ laws of that time, black customers were required to ride in the back of the bus, and to give up their seat for a white passenger. But on December 1, 1955, African American seamstress Rosa Parks, tired after a hard day's work, refused to yield her bus seat to a white passenger; she was arrested and fined. Four days later, Dr. King organized a bus boycott, during which African Americans refused to ride city buses to protest segregated⁷ seating. The boycott began on December 5, 1955, and ended on December 20, 1956. Ultimately, the U.S. Supreme⁸ Court ordered Montgomery to integrate its bus system. The bus boycott is regarded as the first large-scale U.S. demonstration⁹ against segregation⁶.

根据阿拉巴马州那时候的种族隔离主义法律，黑人乘客只能待在车的尾部，而且必须要给白人乘客让座。但1955年12月1日，一名从事缝纫工作的非裔美国女性罗莎 帕克斯(Rosa Parks)在经历了一天的劳累工作后拒绝将自己的座位让给一名白人乘客；她因此遭到逮捕和罚款。4天后，金博士组织了一次公共汽车抵制运动。该运动期间，非裔美国人以拒绝乘坐城市公交车的方式来抗议种族隔离的让座机制。这次抵制运动从1955年12月5日持续到1956年12月20日。最后，美国最高法院命令蒙哥马利整合其公交系统。这次抵制运动被视为美国针对种族隔离的首次大规模示威。

Dr. King was heavily influenced by Mahatma Gandhi, who utilized¹⁰ non-violent actions to affect change. Until his death in 1968, Dr. King organized and participated in mass-action boycotts¹¹, sit-ins, peaceful marches and other non-violent acts of civil disobedience.

金博士深受圣雄甘地的影响，后者通过非暴力的行为来影响并产生改变。1968年，金博士去世。他生前曾组织并参与过多次大规模的抵制运动、静坐抗议、和平游行等非暴力反抗行动。

On July 2, 1964, the hard work of Dr. King and thousands of civil rights activists¹² was rewarded with the signing of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits segregation in public places, as well as employment discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, gender¹³ or national origin.

1964年7月2日，金博士和无数民权活动家的艰苦工作有了回报——《民权法案》得以签署。该法案不仅禁止公开场合的种族隔离行为，也禁止基于种族、肤色、宗教、性别、国籍而产生的就业歧视。

For his nonviolent resistance to racial prejudice, Dr. King was awarded the 1964 Nobel Peace Prize. At 35 years of age, he was the youngest person ever to receive the award.

由于金博士在种族歧视非暴力反抗方面的贡献，1964年，他获得了诺贝尔和平奖。获奖时，他才35岁，是世界上获得该奖项的人中最年轻的。

On April 4th, 1968, as he stood on a hotel balcony in Memphis, Tennessee, Dr. King was fatally shot by petty thief and virulent¹⁴ racist¹⁵ James Earl Ray.

1968年4月4日，站在田纳西州孟菲斯市某旅店露台上的时候，他受到致命的枪击，凶手是小偷，也是怀有敌意的种族主义者詹姆斯 厄尔 雷(James Earl Ray)。

At the time of his death, Dr. King was 39 years old.

金博士逝世时才只有39岁。

Nonetheless, his life is well summed up in his own words: The quality, not the longevity¹⁶, of one's life is what is important.

虽然如此，他的一生还是可以用他自己的来总结，即：重要的是，人的一要活得有素质，而不是活得长久。

1 assassination   

n.暗杀；暗杀事件

参考例句：

• The assassination of the president brought matters to a head.总统遭暗杀使事态到了严重关头。
• Lincoln's assassination in 1865 shocked the whole nation.1865年，林肯遇刺事件震惊全美国。

2 outspoken   

adj.直言无讳的，坦率的，坦白无隐的

参考例句：

• He was outspoken in his criticism.他在批评中直言不讳。
• She is an outspoken critic of the school system in this city.她是这座城市里学校制度的坦率的批评者。

3 doctorate   

n.(大学授予的)博士学位

参考例句：

• He hasn't enough credits to get his doctorate.他的学分不够取得博士学位。
• Where did she do her doctorate?她在哪里攻读博士？

4 boycott   

n./v.(联合)抵制，拒绝参与

参考例句：

• We put the production under a boycott.我们联合抵制该商品。
• The boycott lasts a year until the Victoria board permitsreturn.这个抗争持续了一年直到维多利亚教育局妥协为止。

5 segregationist   

隔离主义者

参考例句：

• Recent federal action undermined the segregationist position. 近期的联邦行动消弱了隔离主义者的地位。

6 segregation   

n.隔离，种族隔离

参考例句：

• Many school boards found segregation a hot potato in the early 1960s.在60年代初，许多学校部门都觉得按水平分班是一个棘手的问题。
• They were tired to death of segregation and of being kicked around.他们十分厌恶种族隔离和总是被人踢来踢去。

7 segregated   

分开的； 被隔离的

参考例句：

• a culture in which women are segregated from men 妇女受到隔离歧视的文化
• The doctor segregated the child sick with scarlet fever. 大夫把患猩红热的孩子隔离起来。

8 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。

9 demonstration   

n.表明，示范，论证，示威

参考例句：

• His new book is a demonstration of his patriotism.他写的新书是他的爱国精神的证明。
• He gave a demonstration of the new technique then and there.他当场表演了这种新的操作方法。

10 utilized   

v.利用，使用( utilize的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• In the19th century waterpower was widely utilized to generate electricity. 在19世纪人们大规模使用水力来发电。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The empty building can be utilized for city storage. 可以利用那栋空建筑物作城市的仓库。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 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？

12 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 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。

14 virulent   

adj.有毒的，有恶意的，充满敌意的

参考例句：

• She is very virulent about her former employer.她对她过去的老板恨之入骨。
• I stood up for her despite the virulent criticism.尽管她遭到恶毒的批评，我还是维护她。

15 racist   

n.种族主义者，种族主义分子

参考例句：

• a series of racist attacks 一连串的种族袭击行为
• His speech presented racist ideas under the guise of nationalism. 他的讲话以民族主义为幌子宣扬种族主义思想。

16 longevity   

n.长命；长寿

参考例句：

• Good habits promote longevity.良好的习惯能增长寿命。
• Human longevity runs in families.人类的长寿具有家族遗传性。