英语听力精选进阶版 13186

Report

As protesters outside chanted, the judges inside the US Supreme¹ Court were hearing evidence on what could turn into the largest sex discrimination lawsuit² in American history. This group of women are suing their bosses at Wal-Mart, claiming they've been passed up for pay and promotion³ in favour of men. 

It's been a ten-year battle, but they are calling on their case to be heard as a class action, so the grievances⁴ of all women employees can be heard together. The women claim thousands of workers have been held back from opportunities based on their gender⁵. 

It's for the Supreme Court to decide in the coming weeks whether the lawsuit should cover all female retail⁶ staff who've worked in Wal-Mart stores in America since 1988.

Wal-Mart says any grievances should be heard on a case-by-case basis, rather than be lumped together as one, and deny any claims of sexism.

Many big businesses fear that if the Supreme Court does allow a class action lawsuit to go ahead, it could open the floodgates to many similar large-scale discrimination cases. 

Rajini Vaidyanathan, BBC News, Washington

1 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

2 lawsuit   

n.诉讼，控诉

参考例句：

• They threatened him with a lawsuit.他们以诉讼威逼他。
• He was perpetually involving himself in this long lawsuit.他使自己无休止地卷入这场长时间的诉讼。

3 promotion   

n.提升，晋级；促销，宣传

参考例句：

• The teacher conferred with the principal about Dick's promotion.教师与校长商谈了迪克的升级问题。
• The clerk was given a promotion and an increase in salary.那个职员升了级，加了薪。

4 grievances   

n.委屈( grievance的名词复数 )；苦衷；不满；牢骚

参考例句：

• The trade union leader spoke about the grievances of the workers. 工会领袖述说工人们的苦情。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• He gave air to his grievances. 他申诉了他的冤情。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 gender   

n.（生理上的）性，（名词、代词等的）性

参考例句：

• French differs from English in having gender for all nouns.法语不同于英语，所有的名词都有性。
• Women are sometimes denied opportunities solely because of their gender.妇女有时仅仅因为性别而无法获得种种机会。

6 retail   

v./n.零售；adv.以零售价格

参考例句：

• In this shop they retail tobacco and sweets.这家铺子零售香烟和糖果。
• These shoes retail at 10 yuan a pair.这些鞋子零卖10元一双。