时间:2019-01-12 作者:英语课 分类:2015年VOA慢速英语(九)月


英语课

US Labor 1 Day Arrives Five Months Late


September 7 is Labor Day in the U.S., a national holiday that began more than 100 years ago to honor low-paid factory workers.


Labor Day also informally marks the end of summer. Many children return to school after Labor Day, and the warm days of summer turn cooler. Many Americans celebrate the holiday with one last family meal outdoors.


But Labor Day started with a struggle. On May 1, 1889, workers demonstrated on the streets of Paris. International Labor Day was born. Most industrialized countries in the world -- except the U.S. and Canada -- celebrate Labor Day on the first of May.


The first American Labor Day celebration was held in New York City on September 5, 1882. About 10,000 workers marched through the streets to show the strength of labor organizations.


For many years after that, American workers used the first Monday in September to demand better working conditions and pay. Music was part of many of those marches.


Labor songs traditionally tell stories of conflict and hopes for a better life.  Here is Pete Seeger’s “We Shall Not Be Moved.”


Many classic American labor songs came from workers in the coal mines of the South. Mine owners bitterly opposed workers’ unions. In Kentucky, company police searched for union leaders. They waited outside a worker’s home for several days to block him from organizing.


The coal miner’s wife, Florence Reece, stayed inside with her children. She wrote this song, “Which Side Are You On?”  And again, here is Pete Seeger.


Another American labor song is called “Bread and Roses.” It is based on a poem by James Oppenheim, published in December 1911.


The poem speaks about the women’s labor movement. At that time, conditions in factories, where many women worked, were horrible. A fire at a clothing factory in New York killed 146 people. Most of the victims were immigrant women.


A month after Mr. Oppenheim’s poem was published, textile workers in Lawrence, Massachusetts, went on strike. Their protest won them higher pay and better working conditions. Oppenheim’s poem gained more attention.


We close with Pat Humphries singing “Bread and Roses.” Even though Labor Day demonstrations 2 are not as common in the U.S., the song reminds us to celebrate the effort and love that many people give to their work.



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
  • 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。
证明( demonstration的名词复数 ); 表明; 表达; 游行示威
  • Lectures will be interspersed with practical demonstrations. 讲课中将不时插入实际示范。
  • The new military government has banned strikes and demonstrations. 新的军人政府禁止罢工和示威活动。
标签: VOA慢速英语
学英语单词
Adams-Bashforth process
anoxomer
anti management
antidopaminergics
balzer
bargelike
be on the hedge
bi-synchronous batch terminal
brassnecked
buehler test
burst up
Calices renales majores
cambon
case under dispute
Cennetabat
chilled food
collateral eligibility
control of source
Cowley Father
Croatians
decisiemens
dihydroactinyldiolide
discriminal
dry meal
electrostatic focusing TWT
ephedra
error detection routine
essentia
explosion funnel
eye cream
falbalas
final continuation line
Fleet parson
fleischig
front-focometer
Galois canonical form
Gentiana pseudosquarrosa
ghostbusting
glyptographical
Hallonite
heat storage device
hydrocarbonous
Ilhabela
Inagawa
instability
inversions of chromosomes
K (key)
Keret', Ozero
kexey taint
kol nidres
laurylamine
Lever Art Gallery
liquid level gauge with nozzle
lubricant trap
maternalism
McDonalds
menaced-acing
methu'selah
Mexican jumping beans
microseismic period
monodist
monotonicity
north-westwards
nullozygous gene
ouali
photoceram
pigment rubine R
pilot lever
post-concussional
preincisional
primary moisture separator
push-button control system
red clause credit
redalder
repeating sounder
right-down
rotary disk bit
sacroparasitus
Sebina
seeay
shoe chaffer
sleeve nut
streetballer
superficial cortical vein
swiper
system shop
terminal roundabout line
the father and mother of a
third force
tile-work
to carry the can
torque yarn
total body radiation
trimelic
uncheckered
unreedified
up-down error
vapo(u)r-proof
water-proof case
write-up
Zenteno, Pta.
zoocecidium