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A Top Gun for the Environmental Movement
环境运动的勇士
Wilma Subra had no intention of becoming a public speaker. After graduating from college with degress in chemistry and microbiology, she went to work at Gulf South Research Institute in Louisiana.
威尔玛·苏夫拉原来没有想过要成为一名公共演说家。她大学毕业拿到了化学和微生物学学位后，就职于路易斯安那州南海湾研究所。
As part of her job, she conducted field research on toxic substances in the environment, often in minority communities located near large industrial pollutrs. She found many families were being exposed to high, sometimes deadly levels of chemicals and other toxic substances. But she was not allowed to make her information public.
作为工作职责的一部分，她从事环境有害物质方面的土地研究，调研地区经常是大型工业污染源附近的少数族裔社区。她发现许多家庭暴露于高度的，甚至是致命的化学物和其他有害物质中。但是她无权将她的信息公之于众。
Frustrated by these restrictions, Subra left her job in 1981, created her own company and has devoted the past two decades to helping people fight back against giant industrial polluters. She works with families and community groups to conduct environmental tests and hybrid test results, and organize for change.
受困于这些制约，苏夫拉在1981年离开了她的工作，创立了自己的公司，并且在过去的20年中帮助人们与大型工业污染源抗争。她与居民家庭和社区团体一起努力进行环境测试，混合测试结果，组织活动以改变环境。
Because of her efforts, dozens of toxic sites across the counry have been cleaned up. And one chemical industry spokesperson calls her "a top gun" for the environmental movement.
因为她的努力，遍及全国的大量有害地区被清理干净了。一家化工企业的发言人称她是环境运动的“勇士”。
How has Subra achieved all this? Partly through her scientific training, partly through her commitment to environmental justice. But just as important is her ability to communicate with people through public speaking. "Public speaking," she says, "is the primary vehicle I use for reaching people."
苏夫拉是怎样做到这一切的呢？部分原因是她科学的训练，部分是因为她追求环境公平的奉献精神。但是，同样重要的原因还有她借助公共演说与他人交流的能力。“公共演说，”她谈到，“是我与人们沟通的主要工具。”
If you had asked Subra before 1981, do you see yourself as a major public speaker? She would have laughed at the idea. Yet today she gives more than one hundred presentations a year. Along the way, she's lectured at Harvard, testified before congress, and addressed audiences in 40 states, as well as in Mexico, Canada, and Japan.
如果在1981年之前，我问苏夫拉，你认为自己是一位重要的公共演说家吗？她可能会对此一笑置之。然而，在今天，她每年要进行100多场演讲。她一直坚持这条路，她在哈佛大学发表演说，在国会发表声明，向来自于美国40个州，以及墨西哥、加拿大和日本的观众进行演说。
