PBS高端访谈:美国出现一家女性修车厂

Judy Woodruff: Now to our NewsHour Shares, something that caught our eye that may be of interest to you too. Patrice Banks used to feel uncomfortable in auto¹ shops. Now she owns one and is on a mission to empower other women in the automotive industry. The NewsHour's Julia Griffin has this profile.

Julia Griffin: Outside Philadelphia, on a typical suburban² street corner, sits an auto repair shop that, at first glance, looks like any other, until you notice the employees, the decor, and those red heels. So I have to ask, yes, do you always wear the red heels?

Patrice Banks: Only for you, Julia, only for you, only for PBS.

Julia Griffin: Patrice Banks is the owner of Girls Auto Clinic, a garage that caters³ to the automotive industry's number one customer- women.

Patrice Banks: I created Girls Auto Clinic to educate and empower women through their cars, and so what that means is we offer automotive buying and repair resources, services and products to women.

Julia Griffin: The business was a longtime coming for a woman who was once a car care novice⁴.

Patrice Banks: I called myself an auto airhead. And I was. I hated all of my automotive experiences, right? I did put a post on Facebook, my car needs an oil change, but I'm going to go get a mani-pedi instead. And I did. The guys were like, this is why women shouldn't drive, right? You're going to be stuck on the side of the road with a blown engine. And my girlfriends were like, at least she will look cute when she's thumbing it for a ride.

Julia Griffin: But outside of cars, Banks was no airhead. The first in her family to go to college, she was making six figures as a materials engineer at DuPont when a new calling beckoned⁵.

Patrice Banks: I knew there was millions of women out there that were auto airheads or felt taken advantage of or mistreated by the industry and needed help.

Julia Griffin: At age 32, Banks enrolled⁶ in an automotive technology course at a local community college and was the only woman in her class. She also started hosting weekend car care workshops for women, an event that still sells out today, and eventually she quit her job to apprentice⁷ at male-dominated garages.

Patrice Banks: It was rough, this dirty garage with a bunch of men that don't care, cursing, screaming, yelling at me. But, again, I kept telling myself, like, Patrice, you're on a mission here. Right? This is just growth, you're learning. You're not here for these people, right? You're here for women and you're here to learn.

Julia Griffin: Finally, in January, Banks officially opened Girls Auto Clinic and made those red heels her signature logo. And in an industry where only 2 percent of mechanics are female, all of Banks' employees are women.

Patrice Banks: Our customers are excited to bring their children in to see us working on cars. This is the future, right? We want you to see like, yes, women can do these things.

Julia Griffin: But Banks also wants to shift the entire repair shop experience beyond just vehicles, with her Clutch beauty salon⁸ just next door.

Patrice Banks: I thought, OK, have this place here where women are going to say, yes, I have got to get my car oil changed, right? I'm going to get my nails done. So to be able to kill two birds with one stone is the cherry on top.

Julia Griffin: And if starting a business wasn't enough, Banks has also released the Girls Auto Clinic Glove Box Guide.

Patrice Banks: You're not supposed to put it on your bookshelf. It's not a cover-to-cover read. I want people to be able to use it, to find it helpful.

Julia Griffin: In the end, Banks says she just wants to give women a leg, or a heel, up in the automotive field.

Patrice Banks: We're working in it, not just as mechanics, but as salesmen, women selling cars to women, women engineers, women designers. I'm hoping Girls Auto Clinic can create this type of movement for the industry.

Julia Griffin: Banks plans to expand that movement by franchising⁹ Girls Auto Clinic in other cities. For the PBS NewsHour, I'm Julia Griffin in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania.

1 auto   

n.(=automobile)(口语)汽车

参考例句：

• Don't park your auto here.别把你的汽车停在这儿。
• The auto industry has brought many people to Detroit.汽车工业把许多人吸引到了底特律。

2 suburban   

adj.城郊的，在郊区的

参考例句：

• Suburban shopping centers were springing up all over America. 效区的商业中心在美国如雨后春笋般地兴起。
• There's a lot of good things about suburban living.郊区生活是有许多优点。

3 caters   

提供饮食及服务( cater的第三人称单数 )； 满足需要，适合

参考例句：

• That shop caters exclusively to the weaker sex. 那家商店专供妇女需要的商品。
• The boutique caters for a rather select clientele. 这家精品店为特定的顾客群服务。

4 novice   

adj.新手的，生手的

参考例句：

• As a novice writer,this is something I'm interested in.作为初涉写作的人，我对此很感兴趣。
• She realized that she was a novice.她知道自己初出茅庐。

5 beckoned   

v.（用头或手的动作）示意，召唤( beckon的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He beckoned to the waiter to bring the bill. 他招手示意服务生把账单送过来。
• The seated figure in the corner beckoned me over. 那个坐在角落里的人向我招手让我过去。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 enrolled   

adj.入学登记了的v.[亦作enrol]( enroll的过去式和过去分词 )；登记，招收，使入伍（或入会、入学等），参加，成为成员；记入名册；卷起，包起

参考例句：

• They have been studying hard from the moment they enrolled. 从入学时起，他们就一直努力学习。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He enrolled with an employment agency for a teaching position. 他在职业介绍所登了记以谋求一个教师的职位。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 apprentice   

n.学徒，徒弟

参考例句：

• My son is an apprentice in a furniture maker's workshop.我的儿子在一家家具厂做学徒。
• The apprentice is not yet out of his time.这徒工还没有出徒。

8 salon   

n.[法]沙龙；客厅；营业性的高级服务室

参考例句：

• Do you go to the hairdresser or beauty salon more than twice a week?你每周去美容院或美容沙龙多过两次吗？
• You can hear a lot of dirt at a salon.你在沙龙上会听到很多流言蜚语。

9 franchising   

v.给…以特许权，出售特许权( franchise的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Franchising has costs as well as benefits for the economy. 对整个经济来说特许经销有利也有弊。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件
• Franchising, a practice adaptable to small business, has increased greatly in recent years. 近年来适用于小企业的特许经销发展得很快。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件