VOA标准英语2011--Liberian, Yemeni Women Awarded Nobel Peace Prize

Liberian, Yemeni Women Awarded Nobel Peace Prize

 

Two women from Liberia and one from Yemen were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize Saturday for their efforts to peacefully bring change to their countries. Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Liberian activist¹ Leymah Gbowee and Yemeni activist Tawakkol Karman received their awards at a ceremony in Oslo, Norway.

Royal trumpeters heralded² the beginning of the annual ceremony, as Norway's royal family and this year's Nobel laureates entered the hall.

The Nobel Committee chose the three women for their activism in the cause of peaceful change in their countries. But President Sirleaf said it really belongs to many more oppressed women around the world.

"This award belongs to the people whose aspirations³ we have the privilege to represent and whose rights we have the obligation to defend," said Sirleaf. "History will judge us not by what we say in this moment in time, but what we do next to lift the lives of our countrymen and women."

Her fellow-Liberian, Leymah Gbowee, who led a group of women in white t-shirts who stared down warlords to help turn the tide of her country's civil war, also spoke⁴ about the millions of others who were not on the stage in Oslo on Saturday.

Nobel Peace Prize winners Liberian president Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, left, Liberian peace activist Leymah Gbowee, center, and Tawakkol Karman of Yemen, right, take the stage at City Hall in in Oslo, Norway, December 10, 2011.

"I believe that the prize this year recognizes not only our struggle in Liberia and Yemen, it is in recognition of the struggle of grass-roots women in Egypt, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Cote D'Ivoire, Tunisia, Palestine and Israel and in every troubled corner of the world," said Gbowee.

Gbowee added "victory is still afar...there is no time to rest."

The Nobel committee chairman said he first heard the voice of Yemeni activist Tawakkol Karman when she was speaking from a tent in Sana'a's Tahrir Square. A few months later, she became the first Arab woman and youngest person ever to win the Nobel Peace Prize.

On the Nobel stage, she said the prize will lift the spirits and support the aspirations of Arabs who are struggling peacefully to improve their lives.

Karman, who appeared on the verge⁵ of tears during parts of the ceremony, composed herself to make a strong speech, saying this year's Arab revolutions confronted tyrants⁶ who went too far in depriving their people of freedom and justice. She called on the international community to do more to fulfill⁷ its pledges and resolutions calling for peace, freedom and women's rights.

The three Nobel Peace Prize winners each received a medal and a diploma, and will share US$1.5 million. The Nobel Prizes in medicine, chemistry, physics and literature - and the related prize in economics - were presented later Saturday in Stockholm.

1 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。

2 heralded   

v.预示( herald的过去式和过去分词 )；宣布（好或重要）

参考例句：

• The singing of the birds heralded in the day. 鸟鸣报晓。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• A fanfare of trumpets heralded the arrival of the King. 嘹亮的小号声宣告了国王驾到。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 aspirations   

强烈的愿望( aspiration的名词复数 )； 志向； 发送气音； 发 h 音

参考例句：

• I didn't realize you had political aspirations. 我没有意识到你有政治上的抱负。
• The new treaty embodies the aspirations of most nonaligned countries. 新条约体现了大多数不结盟国家的愿望。

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 verge   

n.边，边缘；v.接近，濒临

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• She was on the verge of bursting into tears.她快要哭出来了。

6 tyrants   

专制统治者( tyrant的名词复数 )； 暴君似的人； （古希腊的）僭主； 严酷的事物

参考例句：

• The country was ruled by a succession of tyrants. 这个国家接连遭受暴君的统治。
• The people suffered under foreign tyrants. 人民在异族暴君的统治下受苦受难。

7 fulfill   

vt.履行，实现，完成；满足，使满意

参考例句：

• If you make a promise you should fulfill it.如果你许诺了，你就要履行你的诺言。
• This company should be able to fulfill our requirements.这家公司应该能够满足我们的要求。