2010/08/28

This Day in History August 28 歷史上的今天 8月28日

Up until the 1960s in America, black Americans were not allowed the same freedoms as whites. What's more, many were treated like second-or third-rate human beings. One man was fed up, so he spent most of his life trying to change this. This man was Baptist minister Martin Luther King, Jr. With over 200,000 supporters, King marched on Washington, DC on this date in 1963. From the Lincoln Memorial, King delivered one of the most notable speeches in history-I Have a Dream. King called for racial equality and an end to discrimination. This event became one of the defining moments of the Civil Rights Movement.
在1960年代以 前,美國的黑人都無法享有和白人一樣的自由權利。尤有甚者,許多黑人都被當成次等或三等人類來對待。有一名男子對這樣的情形再也忍無可忍,因此幾乎用盡了 畢生時間來試圖改變現況。這名男子就是浸禮會的牧師-馬丁.路德.金恩。在1963的今天,金恩與20萬名支持者在華盛頓特區進行一場遊行。金恩在林肯紀 念堂發表了史上最著名的演說之一《我有一個夢想》。金恩在演說中疾呼種族平等,並呼籲人們停止歧視。這場活動最後成了美國民權運動邁向成功的決定性一刻。

單字片語

★be fed up (with...) (對……)忍無可忍,受夠了
例:Vicky was fed up with all the noise that her neighbor was making.(薇琪已經受夠了她鄰居所製造的噪音。)
★defining moment n.某種情況明顯要開始改變的決定性時刻
★notable a.著名的,顯著的
例:One of Thomas Edison's most notable achievements was the improvement of the light bulb.(湯瑪斯.愛迪生最著名的成就之一就是改良電燈泡。)
★discrimination n.歧視,不公平待遇
★deliver vt.發表(演講、談話等)
例:Peter delivered a touching speech in front of a huge crowd.(彼得在一大群聽眾之前,發表了一段感人的演說。)
★racial equality 種族平等

知識大補帖

馬丁.路德.金恩(圖,資料照片)於1929年出生於美國喬治亞州的亞特 蘭大(Atlanta, Georgia),由於他和父親同名,因此英文名字最後有一個Jr.(二世,Junior的縮寫)以示區隔。金恩博士畢生奉獻給反種族隔離(racial segregation)及反種族歧視(racial discrimination)運動,因此在1964年獲得諾貝爾和平獎。1968年在田納西州孟菲斯(Memphis, Tennessee)領導罷工運動時,他在旅館的陽台被一名刺客(assassin)開槍正中喉嚨致死,年僅39歲。

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