新潟市立総合教育センター
20th Century Greats
2　Martin Luther King, Jr.　

Part 1　　　　　ALTによるReading　(slow)　 (fast)　
　　　Martin Luther King, Jr. was born in the United States in 1929. He was only 39 years old when he was killed. But during his short life, he became one of the most famous and important people in America and the world.
　　　　When King was a young man, life in many places in the U.S. was hard and unfair for black Americans. Black people could not eat in the same restaurants as white people. Black children could not go to the same schools that white children did. And on public buses, blacks often had to give their seats to whites.
　　　 King became a Christian preacher when he was 24 years old, and he often spoke in church about the problems black people had. One day, a black woman on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama, did not give her seat to a white person. The police came, and the black woman was arrested.
　　　When King heard the news, he decided to ask black people not to use public buses. For more than one year, black people in the city did not use the bus. Finally, the laws were changed, and blacks could sit anywhere they wanted to on buses.

　Part 2　　　　　ALTによるReading　(slow)　 (fast)
　　　King became very busy as a worker for equality for black Americans and human rights for all people. He thought that unfair laws could be changed without using violence. He often led　marches, and he was sometimes put in jail. King asked American people, both black and white, to meet in Washington D.C. in 1963 for the “March on Washington”. About 250,000 people went to Washington, and they listened to many speeches. The most famous of all was King’s speech, “I Have a Dream”. In the speech, King said, “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation　where they will not be judged by the color of their skin…”
　　　At the time, people all over America and the world knew about King and his work. In 1964 he received the Nobel Peace Prize, and during the next four years he continued to work for equality and human rights.
　　　Martin Luther King, Jr. was shot and killed on April 4, 1968. But King’s message of equality did not die with him. After his death, others continued his work. In 1986, King’s birthday became a holiday in the United States.

＜注＞　
Martin Luther King, Jr.（マーティン・ルーサー・キング・ジュニア），kill（殺す），
unfair（不公平な），the same〜as/that･･･（･･･と同じ〜），blacks（黒人の人々），
whites（白人の人々），Christian preacher（キリスト教の牧師），
Montgomery, Alabama,（アラバマ州〔の州都〕モン〔ト〕ゴメリー市），
police（警察），arrest（逮捕する），ask〜not to･･･（〜に･･･しないように頼む），
more than〜（〜より多い），law（法律），worker（働く人），equality（平等），
human rights（人権），violence（暴力），led＜lead（率いる），march（行進），
jail（刑務所），Washington D.C.（ワシントン市〔アメリカ合衆国の首都〕），
March on Washington（ワシントン大行進），one day（〔未来の〕ある日），
nation（国家），where（関係副詞，前のnationをwhere以下が修飾，意味なし），
judge（判断する），skin（肌，皮膚），at the time（当時），
all over〜（〜中の），receive（受ける，受賞する），
Nobel Peace Prize（ノーベル平和賞），shot＜shoot（撃つ），death（死）



Questions and Answers:  Please answer the following questions
in English in a complete sentence, with a subject and a verb.


Q1. How was life for many black people when King was a young man?

A1.


Q2. What was something black people could not do at that time?

A2.


Q3. How long did blacks in Montgomery, Alabama, not use public buses?

A3.


Q4. Where did more than 200,000 people meet in 1963?

A4.


Q5. Did King believe that unfair laws could be changed peacefully?
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 　　　（平和的に）
A5.
 





＜解答例＞
A1 It was hard and unfair (for black Americans).

A2 Black people could not eat in the same restaurants as white people.
　　Black children could not go to the same schools that white children did.
　　Blacks often had to give their seats to whites on public buses.

A3 They did not use public buses for more than one year.
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　=them
A4 They met in Washington D.C.

A5 Yes, he did.