VOA标准英语2011--Supreme Court Justice Continues Equality Fight

Supreme¹ Court Justice Continues Equality Fight

 

Only the second woman in U.S. history to serve on the nation’s highest court, Ruth Bader Ginsburg knew she wanted to be a lawyer by her third year in college.

Early inspiration

It was during the “red scare” in the 1950s, when Americans were fearful of the Soviet² Union. Led by Sen. Joseph McCarthy, thousands of people - especially in the entertainment industry and unions - were publicly accused of being Communists. Lives and careers were ruined.

“There were brave lawyers who were standing³ up for those people, and reminding our Senate, 'Look at the Constitution, look at the very First Amendment⁴, what does it say? It says we prize, above all else, the right to think, to speak, to write, as we will, without Big Brother over our shoulders.' And my notion was, if lawyers can be helping⁵ us get back in touch with our most basic values, that’s what I want to be.”

Ginsburg’s parents discouraged her from studying law, fearful that she would not be able to find a job in the male-dominated profession. But she was determined⁶ and, after graduating from Cornell University in 1954, was accepted into Harvard Law School, just five years after they started admitting women.

“When I entered law school," Ginsburg says, "the class numbered over 500. Nine of us were women.”

Detail of Harvard Law Review Board of Editors, 1957-1958. Ruth Bader Ginsburg (far right) was one of only two women on the prestigious7 panel.

Two years later, Ginsburg's husband - Martin Ginsburg, a renowned⁸ tax attorney and law professor - took a job in New York City, and Ginsburg transferred to Columbia Law School, where she received her degree in 1959.

Breaking into a man's world

And, as her parents had predicted, she found breaking into a man’s world challenging.

“There wasn’t a single firm in the entire city of New York that was willing to take a chance on me,” she remembers.

But with the help of a sympathetic professor, she got a clerkship. Soon after, she started teaching at Rutgers University School of Law and Columbia Law School.

In 1972, Ginsburg co-founded the Women's Rights Project, an initiative of the American Civil Liberties Union, to work for equality for women and girls in all spheres of life.

“At that time there were many, many laws on the books that gave preference to men simply based on being men,” says Lenora Lapidus, who now runs the program. "Throughout the 1970s, as she led the Women’s Rights Project, Justice Ginsburg brought case after case to the Supreme Court in order to establish that the constitution prohibited sex discrimination.”

She was the lead attorney on Reed v Reed, a U.S. Supreme Court case which triggered the landmark⁹ 1971 decision declaring it unconstitutional to discriminate¹⁰ against a woman solely¹¹ because of her gender¹².

Articulate voice

US Supreme Court justices pose for a group portrait in 1994. From left, front are: Antonin Scalia, John Paul Stevens, Chief Justice William Rehnquist, Sandra Day O'Connor and Anthony Kennedy. From left, back row are: Ruth Bader Ginsburg, David Souter, Clarence Thomas and Stephen Breyer.

Two decades later, Ginsburg was a member of that court, appointed in 1993, by President Bill Clinton. Since then, she has been an articulate voice for the liberal wing of the bench.

According to Ginsburg, gender barriers facing women in the workplace today have all but disappeared in the United States. What remains¹³, she says, is something a court cannot mandate¹⁴: for American society to be open to the idea that women, and men, need a balance between work and family.

Ginsburg balanced her own life as a working mother of two children, with the love and support of her husband Martin, who died last year.

"The most important thing, by far, was that I had a life partner, my husband, who thought my work was at least as important as his," she says, "and who wanted very much to be part of his children’s growing-up years.”

Martin D. Ginsburg and Ruth Bader Ginsburg taken in the fall of 1954 when Martin Ginsburg was serving in the Army.

At 78, Supreme Court Justice Ginsburg says she has always tried to do what she believes is right.

“I hope that I will be remembered as someone who loves the law, loves her country, loves humanity, prizes the dignity of every individual, and works as hard as she can with whatever talent she has, to make the world a little better than it was when I entered it.”

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 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

3 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。

4 amendment   

n.改正，修正，改善，修正案

参考例句：

• The amendment was rejected by 207 voters to 143.这项修正案以207票对143票被否决。
• The Opposition has tabled an amendment to the bill.反对党已经就该议案提交了一项修正条款。

5 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

6 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

7 prestigious   

adj.有威望的，有声望的，受尊敬的

参考例句：

• The young man graduated from a prestigious university.这个年轻人毕业于一所名牌大学。
• You may even join a prestigious magazine as a contributing editor.甚至可能会加入一个知名杂志做编辑。

8 renowned   

adj.著名的，有名望的，声誉鹊起的

参考例句：

• He is one of the world's renowned writers.他是世界上知名的作家之一。
• She is renowned for her advocacy of human rights.她以提倡人权而闻名。

9 landmark   

n.陆标，划时代的事，地界标

参考例句：

• The Russian Revolution represents a landmark in world history.俄国革命是世界历史上的一个里程碑。
• The tower was once a landmark for ships.这座塔曾是船只的陆标。

10 discriminate   

v.区别，辨别，区分；有区别地对待

参考例句：

• You must learn to discriminate between facts and opinions.你必须学会把事实和看法区分出来。
• They can discriminate hundreds of colours.他们能分辨上百种颜色。

11 solely   

adv.仅仅，唯一地

参考例句：

• Success should not be measured solely by educational achievement.成功与否不应只用学业成绩来衡量。
• The town depends almost solely on the tourist trade.这座城市几乎完全靠旅游业维持。

12 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。

13 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

14 mandate   

n.托管地；命令，指示

参考例句：

• The President had a clear mandate to end the war.总统得到明确的授权结束那场战争。
• The General Election gave him no such mandate.大选并未授予他这种权力。