2020年经济学人 美国最高法院大法官鲁斯·巴德·金斯伯格(4)

Her arguments in discrimination cases were based squarely on the 14th Amendment’s guarantee of equal protection of the laws. Gross generalisations about “how women were” or “how men were” had to be forgotten. Her dream was a world in which men and women cared for their children equally and had equal opportunities themselves. And the constitution had to embrace everyone: Lilly Ledbetter, struggling to achieve equal pay; Stephen Wiesenfeld, trying as a widower¹ to get the same benefits as a widow would; Maetta Vance, afraid to tell a racist² supervisor³ to buzz off; the young men of 18 in Oklahoma who just wanted to buy a beer, as girls of 18 could.

鲁斯在歧视案件中的论点完全基于第14修正案对平等保护法律的保证。关于“女人是怎样的”或“男人是怎样的”的笼统概括必须被忘记。她的梦想是一个男人和女人都能平等地照顾他们的孩子和拥有平等的机会的世界。宪法必须接纳每一个人：莉莉·莱德贝特，努力实现同工同酬；斯蒂芬·威森菲尔德，作为一个鳏夫，他试图获得和寡妇一样的福利；梅塔·万斯，不敢让一个种族主义上司走开；俄克拉何马州18岁的年轻人只想买杯啤酒，就像18岁的女孩一样。

She spoke⁴ for all such everyday people. As the court shifted steadily⁵ rightward she became more determined⁶ to stay on. She redoubled her exercises, despite her age and the bouts⁷ of cancer, colorectal and pancreatic, which annoyingly forced her one day to take part in oral arguments from her bed. She found herself becoming an icon⁸, a face on t-shirts and the subject of biopics: Notorious RBG, mystifying but fun.

鲁斯代表所有这些普通老百姓说话。随着最高法院稳步向右转移，她更坚定了留下来的决心。尽管鲁斯年纪大了，患过癌症、结肠直肠癌和胰腺癌，她还是加倍锻炼，这迫使她有一天不得不在床上参加口头辩论。她发现自己成为了一个偶像，t恤上的一张脸，以及传记片的主角：臭名昭著的鲁斯·巴德·金斯伯格，神秘而有趣。

What did not change was her regard for her colleagues, conservative or not, in the wonderfully civilised family that was the court. For each of them, after all, their basic motivation was the same. At the end of “Scalia/Ginsburg”, the two famous foes-and-friends sang together the aria⁹ which was her favourite: “Separate strands¹⁰ unite in friction/To protect our country’s core... And this is why we will see justice done./We are different;/We are one.”

没有改变的是，在一个非常文明的法院家庭里，她对她的同事们的尊重，不管他们是保守的还是不保守的。毕竟，对他们每个人来说，他们的基本动机都是一样的。在《斯卡利亚/金斯伯格》的结尾处，两位著名的战友一起唱了她最喜欢的咏叹调：“不同的观点在摩擦中联合起来/保护我们国家的核心...这就是我们将看到正义得到伸张的原因。/我们是不同的；/我们是一体的。”

1 widower   

n.鳏夫

参考例句：

• George was a widower with six young children.乔治是个带著六个小孩子的鳏夫。
• Having been a widower for many years,he finally decided to marry again.丧偶多年后，他终于决定二婚了。

2 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。

3 supervisor   

n.监督人，管理人，检查员，督学，主管，导师

参考例句：

• Between you and me I think that new supervisor is a twit.我们私下说，我认为新来的主管人是一个傻瓜。
• He said I was too flighty to be a good supervisor.他说我太轻浮不能成为一名好的管理员。

4 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

5 steadily   

adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地

参考例句：

• The scope of man's use of natural resources will steadily grow.人类利用自然资源的广度将日益扩大。
• Our educational reform was steadily led onto the correct path.我们的教学改革慢慢上轨道了。

6 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

7 bouts   

n.拳击（或摔跤）比赛( bout的名词复数 )；一段（工作）；（尤指坏事的）一通；（疾病的）发作

参考例句：

• For much of his life he suffered from recurrent bouts of depression. 他的大半辈子反复发作抑郁症。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• It was one of fistiana's most famous championship bouts. 这是拳击界最有名的冠军赛之一。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

8 icon   

n.偶像，崇拜的对象，画像

参考例句：

• They found an icon in the monastery.他们在修道院中发现了一个圣像。
• Click on this icon to align or justify text.点击这个图标使文本排齐。

9 aria   

n.独唱曲，咏叹调

参考例句：

• This song takes off from a famous aria.这首歌仿效一首著名的咏叹调。
• The opera was marred by an awkward aria.整部歌剧毁在咏叹调部分的不够熟练。

10 strands   

n.（线、绳、金属线、毛发等的）股( strand的名词复数 )；缕；海洋、湖或河的)岸；（观点、计划、故事等的）部份v.使滞留，使搁浅( strand的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Twist a length of rope from strands of hemp. 用几股麻搓成了一段绳子。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She laced strands into a braid. 她把几股线编织成一根穗带。 来自《简明英汉词典》