A pioneer in gender equality and fairness

江苏南菁高级中学 薛海燕

江苏南菁高级中学 薛海燕

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这是一篇人物传记（biographical essay），介绍了澳大利亚女权主义者和政治活动家Zelda D'Aprano的生平。她不顾自己可能面临的后果和别人的眼光，通过自己的各种努力来为女性争取权益。她在第一份工作的工厂中亲眼见证了女性所遭遇的不公对待，此后成为女权主义者，甚至用链条把自己锁在市联邦大厦门口以呼吁同工同酬，因此遭到她所就职的澳大利亚肉类行业职工工会解雇。尽管她因争取女性权益一再遭到解雇，但她坚定的女权主义者形象影响了许多人，她还参与创建了女性行动委员会、女性解放中心等机构，这在很大程度上改变了澳大利亚的女权主义组织不足的局面，影响了包括作者在内的广大女性。Zelda D'Aprano在晚年还不遗余力地帮助、培养年轻一代的女权主义者。她坚强乐观、不屈不挠的精神遗产将不断鼓舞后来者去完成她未竟的事业。

本文语言平实却感人，从作者真挚的感情中我们可窥见主人公的巨大社会影响力。全文603词，建议用时10分钟。

阅读目标

1.了解Zelda D'Aprano的生平事迹以及她对作者和社会产生的巨大影响，并分析其性格特点；

2.了解文章框架结构，掌握人物传记的一般写作方式；

3.体会文章夹叙夹议的语言风格。

Zelda D'Aprano was an unstoppable force1.It's through my work as a director of the Victorian Women's Trust that I got to know her，and she has been a personal hero of mine ever since.I feel lucky for every conversation we had together.

As a staunch2feminist，labour unionist，and pay justice advocate，Zelda had an everlasting impact on the women's movements and labour movements within Australia.She also spent the time in her later years helping and nurturing young feminists.I，and many others，are beneficiaries3of that kindness，and we find ourselves grieving4an immense（巨大的）loss．

She left school at 14 to join the workforce，and it was in this factory work that she began to witness first-hand the inequality between male and female workers.Every time she took a job，she would point out the injustice of this disparity5to her employers and would be swiftly dismissed. She didn't care about personal consequences； she cared about fairness．

The legislation Zelda fought for has been all but eroded （逐渐消失）.The Equal Pay Act of 1972 has been aggressively watered down to become the“Fair Work Act”and no longer even mentions“pay equality”，“gender discrimination”or“equal pay”.We allowed ourselves to be the frogs in the hot water. Zelda noticed， and I'm heartbroken she couldn't stay long enough to see us fix it.But fix it we will．

When Zelda was chained to the doors of parliament（国会），a police officer began to criticize her. “Aren't you embarrassed？ It's just you on your own，” he said. Without hesitation，she replied，“No.Because soon there will be three，then there will be five，and then there will be...”She was right.Ten days after her protest （抗议），Alva Geikie and Thelma Solomon joined her.From that action，the three women founded the Women's Action Committee and the Women's Liberation Centre，from which the Women's Liberation Movement in Melbourne was born. This changed the landscape of feminist organizing in Australia forever．

In her 1995 biography，Zelda described wanting to get more women involved in activism，because“we had passed the stage of caring about a ‘lady-like' image； because women had been polite for too long...and were still being ignored”. She didn't care about what people thought of her；she cared about fairness．

The Women's Action Committee organized the very first pro-choice rally （公众集会）in 1975，with an impressive turnout of over 500 women. It was reported by the media as “a horde of angry barefoot women”taking to the streets.Zelda assured me they were definitely wearing shoes.She really did walk the walk6，throughout her entire life．

In 2015， the Victorian Trades Hall Council introduced the Zelda D'Aprano Award for union activism.In a bittersweet7coincidence，the nominations （提名）for the 2018 award opened on the very day she passed away.The flag at Trades Hall was lowered to half mast in her honor．

The legacy of Zelda D'Aprano cannot be contained within memorial writings， and it cannot die. It lives within the hearts of feminists—young and old—who，inspired by her spirit，will continue to fight for equality and fairness.It lives in the fire in our bellies.It lives in the smirk8we wear when we are doubted.Even through the heartache of loss，it lives．

海词积累

1.an unstoppable force 难以阻挡的力量

e.g.If you put those two things together，you have an almost unstoppable force．

2.staunch adj.坚定的；忠实的

e.g.He's a staunch supporter of controls on government spending．

3.beneficiary n.受益者

e.g.I am the beneficiary of your generosity．

4.grieve v.悲痛

e.g.He's grieving over his dead wife and son．

5.disparity n.（尤指因不公正对待引起的）不同；差异

e.g.The wide disparity between rich and poor still exists．

6.walk the walk 言出必行；说……