美国国家公共电台 NPR Young Widow With 5 Kids Turns To Activism To Challenge A President

Young Widow With 5 Kids Turns To Activism To Challenge A President

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In Zimbabwe, young people are emerging as outspoken² activists⁴ for democracy. They're out on the streets. They're organizing pop-up and online anti-government protests. They are demanding the departure of veteran President Robert Mugabe. Some have been imprisoned⁵ for these actions but they say they are not going to give up. And NPR's Ofeibea Quist-Arcton brings us the story of one activist³.

OFEIBEA QUIST-ARCTON, BYLINE⁶: Linda Tsungirirai Masarira is 35 and a widow with five children. The former professional train driver and labor-leader-turned-rights-campaigner has risen to prominence⁷ in Zimbabwe recently. She's calling for change in the southern African country where President Robert Mugabe has ruled since independence from Britain in 1980.

LINDA TSUNGIRIRAI MASARIRA: We all grew up with ambitions. But we realized when we'd grown up that the lock of the door had changed. And we cannot just sit back and watch our lives just go down the drain at the expense of just a few elitists who think they are demi-gods. We want to reclaim⁸ Zimbabwe.

QUIST-ARCTON: Masarira says she's been outspoken since childhood, standing⁹ up for the oppressed. After spearheading a campaign demanding the payment of salary arrears¹⁰, she was fired last year from the National Railways of Zimbabwe.

MASARIRA: So I just decided¹¹ to go into full-time¹² activism because there are gross violations¹³ of human rights in Zimbabwe and I kind of realized that if I didn't speak, no one else was going to speak out.

QUIST-ARCTON: Speaking out has landed Masarira in trouble. In July, she went to prison for 84 days after participating in a nationwide strike and a series of anti-Mugabe street protests organized by Zimbabwean hashtag opposition¹⁴ movements like #Tajamuka, her group.

MASARIRA: I still remember the prosecutor¹⁵ saying, this woman is a state security threat. We cannot allow her to walk in the streets of Harare because she is trying to cause despondency and take over power from Mugabe.

QUIST-ARCTON: Masarira spent 18 days in solitary¹⁶ confinement¹⁷ at Chikurubi maximum prison - for men. That was after she was accused of inciting¹⁸ female prisoners at the separate women's jail to protest against poor living conditions, food, health and sanitation¹⁹.

MASARIRA: Prison life in Zimbabwe is terrible. Prisons in Zimbabwe are just like a death trap, where you just go there to wait for your day to die.

QUIST-ARCTON: At Chikurubi Prison, the men were downstairs and Masarira held upstairs alone.

MASARIRA: I had to stay positive because I told myself that what doesn't kill me makes me stronger. And I got stronger.

QUIST-ARCTON: And she sang to keep herself company.

MASARIRA: My days in solitary confinement - I spent most of my time reading. And when I got tired of reading, I would sing. And after singing, I would just write.

QUIST-ARCTON: As Masarira later found out, the male inmates²⁰ were listening.

MASARIRA: (Laughter, singing in foreign language) means, like, free Zimbabwe. I've got a passion to free Zimbabwe. And I used to sing that song a lot. All the male prisoners would - when they see me, they'll go like, ah, sunungura (ph) Zimbabwe because, like, there were echoes when I sang that.

QUIST-ARCTON: Then came freedom and then a reunion with her family of five children.

MASARIRA: I can't go home because there are always different cars parked outside my house inquiring where I am, why I haven't been home. One of the guys who got out of prison the day I got out of prison and went straight home was abducted²¹ that very same night and was beaten up and injected with some substance which we don't know.

QUIST-ARCTON: But we will not be cowed, says Linda Tsungirirai Masarira.

MASARIRA: We will not be silenced. And we will fight on as long as I'm still breathing. I am also fighting for my children's future, for my fellow Zimbabwean's future. Because as it stands right now, we've got no hope.

QUIST-ARCTON: Masarira says she's staying put in Zimbabwe to help rebuild and restore hope in her troubled nation. Ofeibea Quist-Arcton, NPR News, Harare.

1 browser   

n.浏览者

参考例句：

• View edits in a web browser.在浏览器中看编辑的效果。
• I think my browser has a list of shareware links.我想在浏览器中会有一系列的共享软件链接。

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 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

4 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》

5 imprisoned   

下狱，监禁( imprison的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He was imprisoned for two concurrent terms of 30 months and 18 months. 他被判处30个月和18个月的监禁，合并执行。
• They were imprisoned for possession of drugs. 他们因拥有毒品而被监禁。

6 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

7 prominence   

n.突出；显著；杰出；重要

参考例句：

• He came to prominence during the World Cup in Italy.他在意大利的世界杯赛中声名鹊起。
• This young fashion designer is rising to prominence.这位年轻的时装设计师的声望越来越高。

8 reclaim   

v.要求归还，收回；开垦

参考例句：

• I have tried to reclaim my money without success.我没能把钱取回来。
• You must present this ticket when you reclaim your luggage.当你要取回行李时，必须出示这张票子。

9 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

10 arrears   

n.到期未付之债，拖欠的款项；待做的工作

参考例句：

• The payments on that car loan are in arrears by three months.购车贷款的偿付被拖欠了三个月。
• They are urgent for payment of arrears of wages.他们催讨拖欠的工钱。

11 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

12 full-time   

adj.满工作日的或工作周的，全时间的

参考例句：

• A full-time job may be too much for her.全天工作她恐怕吃不消。
• I don't know how she copes with looking after her family and doing a full-time job.既要照顾家庭又要全天工作，我不知道她是如何对付的。

13 violations   

违反( violation的名词复数 )； 冒犯； 违反（行为、事例）； 强奸

参考例句：

• This is one of the commonest traffic violations. 这是常见的违反交通规则之例。
• These violations of the code must cease forthwith. 这些违犯法规的行为必须立即停止。

14 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

15 prosecutor   

n.起诉人；检察官，公诉人

参考例句：

• The defender argued down the prosecutor at the court.辩护人在法庭上驳倒了起诉人。
• The prosecutor would tear your testimony to pieces.检查官会把你的证言驳得体无完肤。

16 solitary   

adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士

参考例句：

• I am rather fond of a solitary stroll in the country.我颇喜欢在乡间独自徜徉。
• The castle rises in solitary splendour on the fringe of the desert.这座城堡巍然耸立在沙漠的边际，显得十分壮美。

17 confinement   

n.幽禁，拘留，监禁；分娩；限制，局限

参考例句：

• He spent eleven years in solitary confinement.他度过了11年的单独监禁。
• The date for my wife's confinement was approaching closer and closer.妻子分娩的日子越来越近了。

18 inciting   

刺激的，煽动的

参考例句：

• What are you up to inciting mutiny and insubordination? 你们干吗在这里煽动骚动的叛乱呀。
• He was charged with inciting people to rebel. 他被控煽动民众起来叛乱。

19 sanitation   

n.公共卫生，环境卫生，卫生设备

参考例句：

• The location is exceptionally poor,viewed from the sanitation point.从卫生角度来看，这个地段非常糟糕。
• Many illnesses are the result,f inadequate sanitation.许多疾病都来源于不健全的卫生设施。

20 inmates   

n.囚犯( inmate的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• One of the inmates has escaped. 被收容的人中有一个逃跑了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The inmates were moved to an undisclosed location. 监狱里的囚犯被转移到一个秘密处所。 来自《简明英汉词典》

21 abducted   

劫持，诱拐( abduct的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（肢体等）外展

参考例句：

• Detectives have not ruled out the possibility that she was abducted. 侦探尚未排除她被绑架的可能性。
• The kid was abducted at the gate of kindergarten. 那小孩在幼儿园大门口被绑架走了。