2012年10月11日是第一個(gè)“國(guó)際女童日”。然而就在這個(gè)節(jié)日的前兩天，巴基斯坦塔利班公然對(duì)14歲的少女瑪拉拉·尤薩法扎伊進(jìn)行槍擊。這一行為迅速引起國(guó)際社會(huì)的震驚和譴責(zé)，也引發(fā)更多人對(duì)于女童受教育權(quán)的關(guān)注。美國(guó)前第一夫人勞拉·布什特別撰文聲援瑪拉拉，并將其比擬成《安妮日記》的作者安妮·弗蘭克，號(hào)召世人為改善女孩們的世界作出努力。

On Tuesday afternoon, Malala Yousafzai was a 14-year-old girl riding home on a school bus. Now, after a masked gunman apparently boarded her bus, asked for her by name and shot her in the head and neck, she is fighting for her life. Malala was targeted by the Pakistani Taliban because for the past three years she has spoken out for the rights of all girls to become educated. After this 1)despicable shooting, a Taliban spokesman said that his organization considers Malalas 2)crusade for education rights an“3)obscenity” and accused her of “4)propagating”Western culture. If she survives, the group promises to try again to kill her.

周二（即2012年10月9日）下午，14歲的女孩瑪拉拉·尤薩法扎伊坐校車回家。忽然間，一名蒙面槍手公然登上校車，喊著名字找她，然后對(duì)著她的頭部和頸部開槍。她目前仍掙扎于死亡邊緣。瑪拉拉之所以成為巴基斯坦塔利班的刺殺目標(biāo)，是因?yàn)樵谶^去三年她一直在為所有女孩的受教育權(quán)而呼告。這起卑劣的槍擊事件發(fā)生后，塔利班的一位發(fā)言人稱，他的組織認(rèn)為瑪拉拉的教育權(quán)圣戰(zhàn)“污穢犯忌”，并指控她是在“散布”西方文化；如果這次她能幸免于難，他們保證會(huì)再干一次將她置于死地。

At age 11, to protest what was happening in her homeland, Malala began to write about her experiences, producing a blog for the BBCs Urdu-language service. She described wearing plain clothes, not uniforms, so that no one would know she was attending school and wrote about how she and other girls “hid our books under our 5)shawls.” Nonetheless, after the Taliban forced the closure of her school, Malala had no choice but to stay home and suspend her education. In another blog entry, she wrote: “Five more schools have been destroyed, one of them was near my house. I am quite surprised, because these schools were closed so why did they also need to be destroyed?” A few weeks later she wrote, “I am sad watching my uniform, school bag and geometry box” and “hurt” because her brothers could go to school while she could not.

Malala had dreamed of becoming a doctor, but recently she became interested in politics and speaking out for the rights of children. In 2011, Malala was a nominee for the International Childrens Peace Prize, which lauded her bravery in standing up for girlseducational rights amid rising 6)fundamentalism at a time when few adults would do the same. Last year, she was awarded Pakistans first National Youth Peace Prize. These are the accomplishments of the young girl who so terrified the Taliban.

7)Condemnations of the attempt on Malalas life have been swift and powerful. The U.S. government called it “8)barbaric” and “cowardly.” Pakistans prime minister said, “Malala is like my daughter, and yours too. If that mind-set prevails, then whose daughter would be safe?” And the Pakistani armys chief general said that the Taliban has “failed to grasp that she is not only an individual, but an icon of courage.”