【美国精神】第85期

 Explanation:   

  One of the most famous speeches (or a presentation spoken to many people) in American History is “I have a dream” by Martin Luther King, Jr. He made the speech as part of the civil rights movement, or the period of time when many people were working to have equal rights for whites and non-whites. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a black leader of the civil rights movement, fighting for equality (or the same treatment) for all Americans whether they were black, white, or any other color. 

 

  On August 28, 1963, about 250,000 people participated in the “March on Washington for Freedom and Jobs,” walking around Washington, DC to show how important freedom and jobs were to them. About 80% of the people were black. Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his speech called “I have a dream” (or something that he wanted to see happen). Let’s hear some of the most famous parts of the speech.   

 

  Martin Luther King, Jr. said: 

“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged (or evaluated) by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character (or their personality, or what they are like inside).” 

 

In his speech, he also said: 

"I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former (or previous) slave owners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood¹." 

 

  “Let freedom ring (or be heard everywhere). And when this happens, and when we allow freedom to ring—when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet (or town), from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children…. will be able to join hands (or hold each other’s hands) and sing in the words of the old Negro² spiritual (or song): "Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty³, we are free at last!" 

 

  These are some of the important words that Martin Luther King, Jr. said that day.  And these are still words that remind us (or help us remember) that there are a lot of things that must still change for the United States to have equality for all. 

 

问题：

What did Martin Luther King, Jr. do?  

Answer:   

•  Fought for civil rights  

•  Worked for equality for all Americans 

1 brotherhood   

n.兄弟般的关系，手中情谊

参考例句：

• They broke up the brotherhood.他们断绝了兄弟关系。
• They live and work together in complete equality and brotherhood.他们完全平等和兄弟般地在一起生活和工作。

2 Negro   

n./adj.黑人；黑人的

参考例句：

• It's impolite to call the black people Negro.称呼黑人为Negro是不礼貌的。
• He was the first Negro ever to enroll there.他是学院招收的第一个黑人学生。

3 almighty   

adj.全能的，万能的；很大的，很强的

参考例句：

• Those rebels did not really challenge Gods almighty power.这些叛徒没有对上帝的全能力量表示怀疑。
• It's almighty cold outside.外面冷得要命。