艾米琳·潘克斯特：争取妇女投票权的伟大女性
今天是三八妇女节，首先祝各位女性读者节日快乐！这个日子是历史上的那些女性先驱们努力斗争的成果，在这样的日子里，我们不妨听听她们的故事。
Emmeline Pankhurst
1858–1928
the woman who wanted women to be able to vote
I campaigned all my life for equal rights for women. I started a political group which fought for the vote for women in Britain. After many years of protests, we finally won the right for British women to vote.
When I was born in 1858, women in Britain didn't have the same rights as men. Most women couldn't go to school or university. They were only allowed to work in certain jobs. And they didn't have the right to vote.
I grew up in Manchester in the north of England and I saw many problems every day. Mothers had to bring up children in small, dirty houses. Disease was everywhere because of the terrible conditions. And most women only lived until they were around 50 years old. I knew from a young age that I wanted to improve women's lives.
My parents believed in human rights. They believed that education was a right for women as well as men. In 1873, my parents sent me to school in Paris. They wanted me to get a wider view of the world.
In Paris, I was disappointed to discover that women were still not equal with men after the French Revolution. Action was needed and I returned to England to begin the fight.
In Britain, the political situation was quite unusual. Our ruler was a woman, Queen Victoria. She was a powerful leader, but she wasn't interested in women's rights. Our politicians were all men and they definitely weren't interested in political equality for women.
In 1879, I was surprised to discover a man who was campaigning for women's rights. His name was Richard Pankhurst and he was a lawyer. We shared many of the same beliefs and ideas. We got married and started a family.
For almost 20 years, Richard and I fought for political rights for women. Then, sadly, my dear husband died. My daughters and I were very sad, but we decided to continue our campaign. The two oldest daughters, Christabel and Sylvia, became activists. In 1903, we started the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU). It was a group that fought for the right for women to vote. Christabel became one of our bravest leaders. Sylvia was an artist and she designed our posters and signs.
The WSPU organized many public meetings and protests. Sometimes the police arrested our members. Christabel was one of the first to go to prison. When our members were in prison, we protested. And when our members came out of prison, we celebrated in the streets. It was very important to get public attention.
Unfortunately, the government didn't agree with our campaign. We had to take more powerful action. Some of our members began to break the law. They lit fires in buildings and broke windows. Our campaign was a war for these women. For me, it was always a fight for equal rights.
Every time I was arrested, I told the judge, ‘We don't want to break laws, we want to make new laws.’ But the lawyers and politicians didn’t want to listen.
In 1910, Prime Minister Asquith, the government leader, stopped a new law that gave women the vote. We were shocked and angry. On Friday, 18th November, I led a group of women to meet the Prime Minister, but he refused to see us. We started to protest in the street and 100 women were arrested. It was a terrible day. We called it ‘Black Friday’.
In 1914 the First World War began and we agreed to stop our campaign. Women were now needed as nurses in hospitals and to work in factories and on farms. In 1917, we started a new group with a new name, The Women's Party. In 1918, the First World War ended. The government realized that women were an important part of the victory in the war.
At last, women were given the right to vote – but only women over 30 years old who owned a home could vote. Any man over 21 could vote. We still didn't have full equality!
After the war, I went to live in the USA, Canada and also Bermuda. In 1926, I returned to England. I wanted to become a politician, but my health wasn't good enough. In 1928, only three weeks before I died, a new law gave women the same right to vote as men. It took much longer than we hoped. But in the end our campaign was successful and at last we won political equality for women.
以上内容摘自“柯林斯名人故事集”第一级《了不起的女性》，插图来自Wikipedia。
正文部分用简明清晰的英文讲述人物生平故事，并以脚注形式提供重点词汇解释，文后附该著名人物生平大事记。
配朗读录音、点读功能和二维码音频播放功能；
生词注释，后附来自柯林斯COBUILD语料库的词汇表和英语释义；
每篇故事之后附有人物生平大事年表。
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