Rosa Parks was an African-American woman who began the civil rights movement by refusing to give up her seat to a white person on a bus . She stood up for what she believed was right , and her courage inspired countless others to do the same.
Born in Alabama in 1913 , Mrs. Parks grew up on a farm just outside Montgomery in a town called Pine Level . She was home-schooled until she was 11. She later attended the Industrial School for Girls in Montgomery. She briefly attended the Alabama State Teachers College for Negroes , but had to drop out to take care of her mother and grandmother when they became ill.
Mrs. Parks married Raymond Parks in 1932 . He encouraged her to finish her education . This was very uncommon at that time , especially for a woman. Less than 7 percent of African-Americans studied in a high school in the 1930s.
Mrs. Parks also succeeded in gaining the right to vote, which was very difficult for blacks under the segregation laws( 种族隔离制度 ) . In 1943, she began working as a secretary for the NAACP----National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
Mrs. Parks made her historic decision on December 1,1955. She recalled in her autobiography(自传) :
“When the driver saw me still sitting, he asked if I was going to stand up and I said , ‘ No, I’m not.’ Then he said , ‘ Well , if you don’t stand up , I’m going to have to call the police and have you arrested .’ I said , ‘ You may do that.’”
Mrs. Parks died on October 24,2005. “ She sat down in order that we might stand up,” said civil rights leaders Jesse Jackson. “ Her imprisonment opened the doors for our long journey to freedom.”
From the passage we can infer that in Rosa Parks’ time black people ______________.
A.were not allowed to take buses |
B.only stood in the buses |
C.were looked down upon |
D.had no right at all |
From the second paragraph we know that Rosa Parks ____________________.
A.began to learn at the age of 11 |
B.studied at home until she was 11 |
C.attended the Industrial School when she was 11 |
D.graduated from the Alabama State Teachers College |
Rosa Parks didn’t give up her seat to a white person because ________________.
A.she was tired after a day’s work |
B.there were empty seats on the bus |
C.she didn’t want to stand on the bus |
D.she wanted to be treated equally |
In this passage the phrase “ stood up for ” in the first paragraph probably means “___________”.
A.acted to protect | B.paid attention to |
C.looked forward to | D.gave up to |