各国名人英文介绍-Wangari Muta Maathai

Dr. Wangari Muta Maathai was born in 1940 in a village in Kenya. In 2004, she became the first African woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. The judges valued "her contribution to sustainable development, democracy and peace”. She is also a member of Kenya’s Parliament. She served as Assistant Minister for Environment and Natural Resources between 2003 and 2005.

Maathai left Kenya after high school to study biology in the USA. She got both her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees and returned to Kenya. She became the first Kenyan woman to earn a Ph.D. In 1971, she became a professor at the University of Nairobi. In 2002, Maathai accepted a position at Yale University's Global Institute of Sustainable Forestry¹.

Her environmental roots were planted in 1977. She founded the Green Belt Movement, a non-governmental organization whose mission was to plant trees across Kenya to prevent soil erosion. It has planted over 40 million trees to date and earned her the nickname of "The Tree Mother of Africa." This experience sparked her keen interest in protecting the environment and saving the planet.

Dr. Maathai became more involved in environmental and women's issues. Her politician husband divorced her because of this. He said she was too strong-minded for a woman. Amazingly, the divorce judge agreed and jailed her! She has been imprisoned² several times since for standing³ up for her beliefs. Today, she is a member of the Nobel Women's Initiative and campaigns globally for peace with justice and equality.

1 forestry   

n.森林学；林业

参考例句：

• At present, the Chinese forestry is being at a significant transforming period. 当前, 我国的林业正处于一个重大的转折时期。
• Anhua is one of the key forestry counties in Hunan province. 安化县是湖南省重点林区县之一。

2 imprisoned   

下狱，监禁( imprison的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He was imprisoned for two concurrent terms of 30 months and 18 months. 他被判处30个月和18个月的监禁，合并执行。
• They were imprisoned for possession of drugs. 他们因拥有毒品而被监禁。

3 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。