英语名人堂：马丁路德金

马丁·路德·金（Martin Luther King, Jr.，1929年1月15日－1968年4月4日），著名的美国民权运动领袖。1948年大学毕业。1948年至1951年期间，在美国东海岸的费城继续深造。1963年，马丁·路德·金觐见了肯尼迪总统，要求通过新的民权法，给黑人以平等的权利。1963年8月28日，在林肯纪念堂前，发表了《我有一个梦想》的演说。1964年度诺贝尔和平奖的获得者。1968年4月，马丁·路德·金前往孟菲斯市，领导工人罢工后，被人刺杀，年仅39岁。从1986年起，美国政府将每年1月的第3个星期一，定为马丁路德金全国纪念日。马丁·路德·金被美国的权威期刊《大西洋月刊》评为影响美国的100位人物第8名。

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was the most important leader of the American civil rights movement. He helped unite a nation with his powerful speeches and use of non-violent protests. His 1963 “I Have a Dream” speech is one of the greatest in human history. King’s efforts to end racial discrimination earned him the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964.

 

King was born in 1929 in Atlanta. His father was a reverend and so King had a religious upbringing. He graduated from college with a degree and a Ph.D. in religious studies. King went to India to visit Gandhi’s family. He was inspired by Mohandas Gandhi's success with non-violent resistance and saw it as a “potent weapon” in America’s struggle for civil rights.

 

King was instrumental in achieving many successes in ending segregation¹ laws. He led the Montgomery Bus Boycott² which ended racial segregation on public buses in Montgomery. He realized that non-violent protest would attract extensive media coverage³ of the struggle for racial equality. His campaigns soon elevated the Civil Rights Movement to be the most important issue in American politics.

 

King helped organize the famous March for Jobs and Freedom on Washington in 1963, where he spoke⁴ to the nation appealing for racial harmony. His non-violent protests met with success as Congress passed civil rights laws (1964) and voting rights laws (1965). King’s friendship with President John F. Kennedy also helped his cause. King was assassinated⁵ on April 4, 1968. Stevie Wonder pays tribute to King with his song "Happy Birthday".

1 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。

2 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。

3 coverage   

n.报导，保险范围，保险额，范围，覆盖

参考例句：

• There's little coverage of foreign news in the newspaper.报纸上几乎没有国外新闻报道。
• This is an insurance policy with extensive coverage.这是一项承保范围广泛的保险。

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 assassinated   

v.暗杀( assassinate的过去式和过去分词 )；中伤；诋毁；破坏

参考例句：

• The prime minister was assassinated by extremists. 首相遭极端分子暗杀。
• Then, just two days later, President Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas. 跟着在两天以后，肯尼迪总统在达拉斯被人暗杀。 来自辞典例句