欧美人文风情第207篇:五一劳动节的由来

 For millions of workers around the world, the 1st of May is their day. 对全世界数百万名劳工而言，5 月 1 日是属于他们的日子。

In the late 19th century, American labor¹ unions were fed up—fed up with being overworked, in dangerous conditions and with little pay. 十九世纪晚期，美国工会受够了－－受够过度劳累、身处危险工作环境但只领到微薄薪水。

So in 1884, the Federation² of Organized Trades and Labor Unions met in Chicago and had one major demand: an eight-hour workday. 于是在 1884 年，美加产职业工会联合会聚在芝加哥，并提出一项主要诉求：一天工作八小时。

And on May 1, 1886, over 300,000 American workers went on strike. 1886 年 5 月 1 日，超过三十万名美国劳工发动罢工。

Three days later, thousands of strikers met in Haymarket Square, where a riot broke out between cops and workers. 三天后，数千名罢工工人在干草市场广场聚集，警方与劳工在那爆发冲突。

A bomb was thrown into the crowd, killing³ several people. It was called the Haymarket Massacre⁴. 一颗炸弹被丢到群众中，造成数人死亡。这被称作「干草市场屠杀」。 

And today, May 1 is known as International Workers' Day. 如今，5 月 1 日被称为国际劳动节。

While every country's workers have a different history behind May Day, 尽管每个国家的劳工在劳动节背后有着不同历史，

they all commemorate⁵ those who have and continue to give their lives for workers' justice. 但他们全都纪念着那些曾经，并且持续为劳工正义付出生命的人。

 

1 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

2 federation   

n.同盟，联邦，联合，联盟，联合会

参考例句：

• It is a federation of 10 regional unions.它是由十个地方工会结合成的联合会。
• Mr.Putin was inaugurated as the President of the Russian Federation.普京正式就任俄罗斯联邦总统。

3 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

4 massacre   

n.残杀，大屠杀；v.残杀，集体屠杀

参考例句：

• There was a terrible massacre of villagers here during the war.在战争中，这里的村民惨遭屠杀。
• If we forget the massacre,the massacre will happen again!忘记了大屠杀，大屠杀就有可能再次发生！

5 commemorate   

vt.纪念，庆祝

参考例句：

• This building was built to commemorate the Fire of London.这栋大楼是为纪念“伦敦大火”而兴建的。
• We commemorate the founding of our nation with a public holiday.我们放假一日以庆祝国庆。