翻译《美国简介》第21-25节
原文：
The House of Representatives has how many voting members?
Answer:Four hundred thirty-five (435)
Explanation:Americans live all over the United States, but some places are much more popular than others. For example, more than 35 million people live in California, but only about 500,000 people live in Wyoming. One of the challenges (or difficult things to do) in the U.S. government is to let big and small states participate in the government fairly. Is it fair to give both states equal participation in the government? Or should California have more power than Wyoming since it has so many more people?
The people who created the U.S. government decided that they would have to answer ‘yes’ to both questions. They created the Senate, where each state has equal power no matter how big or small it is, and they created the House of Representatives, where states with more people have more power than states with fewer people.
The House of Representatives currently has 435 representatives, or people who are elected (or chosen by large groups of people) to make decisions for their states. Congress can pass a law to change the total number of representatives if it wants to, but the number hasn’t changed from 435 since 1910. Larger states have more representatives than smaller states do. Right now, California has the most, with 53 representatives. Several of the smallest states, such as Wyoming, Montana, and North and South Dakota, have only one representative each.
The U.S. government does a census every few years, which is an official count of the number of people living in the country. After each census, how many representatives each state gets of the 435 seats (or positions) in the House of Representatives is redone. This means that states that have grown may get more representatives and states that have shrunk (or become smaller) get fewer representatives. This process is called apportionment, which means deciding how something should be shared among many people or, in this case, among many states.
In addition to the 435 representatives, the House also has four delegates who can speak at the meetings but cannot vote. These delegates represent Washington, D.C. (the nation’s capitol), and the country’s territories, which are areas of land that belong to the United States but are not states.
翻译：
众议院有多少名投票成员？
答案：四百三十五（435）
说明：美国人居住在美国各地，但有些地方比其他地方受欢迎得多。例如，加利福尼亚州有超过3500万人，而怀俄明州只有约50万人。美国政府面临的挑战（或要做的事情很困难）之一就是要让大小州公平地参与政府。让两州平等参与政府是否公平？还是因为人口众多，加利福尼亚应该比怀俄明州拥有更多权力？
创立美国政府的人决定，他们必须对两个问题都回答“是”。他们创建了参议院，每个州无论大小，都拥有同等的权力，并创建了众议院，众议院拥有的权力多于人数少的州。
众议院目前有435名代表，或经选举（或由大批人选出）为自己的州做出决策的人。国会可以根据自己的意愿通过一项法律来更改代表总数，但自1910年以来，435人这一数字从未更改过。较大的州代表人数多于较小的州。目前，加利福尼亚州代表人数最多，共有53名代表。怀俄明州，蒙大拿州，北达科他州和南达科他州等几个最小的州，每个州只有一名代表。
美国政府每隔几年进行一次人口普查，这是对该国生活人数的官方统计。每次人口普查后，重做州众议院435个席位（或职位）中每个州获得的代表人数。这意味着已成长的州可能会获得更多的代表，而已经缩减（或变得更小）的州可能会得到更少的代表。此过程称为分摊，这意味着确定应如何在许多人之间共享（或在这种情况下，在许多州之间）共享某物。
除435名代表外，众议院还拥有四名代表，他们可以在会议上发言，但不能投票。这些代表分别代表华盛顿特区（美国国会大厦）和该国领土，这些领土属于美国，但不属于某州。
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原文：
We elect a U.S. Representative for how many years?
Answer: Two (2)
Explanation:In most jobs, if you do your work well, you can continue working there almost as long as you like. In general, this is a good thing, but some people think that the United States Congress should be different. When we elect (or choose) a U.S. Representative, he or she works as a representative for only two years. This is known as his or her term, or the length of time that a person works in a public position. Once those two years have ended, if he or she wants to continue to work as a representative, he or she can be reelected for another two years. This can continue indefinitely (or forever or without end).
Some people think that this is a good idea, because it lets us reward representatives who do their work well by allowing them to continue to represent us. But other people believe that there should be a term limit, which would be a maximum number of times that a representative can be reelected for two-year terms. The U.S. President, for example, has a term limit and can be president for only two four-year terms, for a total of eight years.
The people who advocate for (or are in favor of) term limits believe that this would let more people participate in the House of Representatives, bringing new ideas and enthusiasm (or interest and desire to do something) to their work. Americans have debated (or argued for and against) term limits for many years, but there is still no agreement.
In 2003, a popular newspaper called the Wall Street Journal conducted (or carried out) a study about term limits and found that 2/3 of all Americans would like to have term limits in Congress. Because term limits are such a popular idea in many parts of the country, many representatives have pledged (or said that they would do something) to limit the number of terms that they serve (or work in a public position as representatives). However, there is no legal requirement for them to do this. It might, however, help them to get elected if this is something that is important to voters in their area.
翻译：
我们选举美国代表多少年？
答案：2
说明：在大多数工作中，如果工作做得不错，只要你喜欢，你可以继续在那里工作。总的来说，这是一件好事，但有些人认为美国国会应该有所不同。当我们选举（或选择）美国代表时，他或她仅担任代表两年。这称为他或她的任期，或一个人在公共场合工作的时间长度。两年结束后，如果他或她想继续担任代表，则可以通过再次被选举而连任两年。这可以无限期（或永远或没有尽头）继续。
有人认为这是一个好主意，因为它使我们能够奖励那些表现出色的代表，通过允许他们继续代表我们。但是其他人则认为应该有任期限制，代表可以连选连任两年的最大次数。例如，美国总统有任期限制，并且只能担任两个四年任期的总统，共八年。
主张（或赞成）任期限制的人们认为，这将使更多的人可以参加众议院，为他们的工作带来新的想法和热情（或兴趣和渴望做某事）。美国人多年来一直在争论（或主张和反对）任期限制，但是仍然没有达成一致。
2003年，一家名为《华尔街日报》（Wall Street Journal）的流行报纸进行了一项关于任期限制的研究，结果发现，2/3的美国人希望在国会拥有任期限制。由于期限限制在美国许多地区非常流行，因此许多代表已承诺（或说他们会做些事情）来限制其服务期限（或在公共场合作为代表工作）。但是，他们没有这样做的法律要求。但是，如果这对他们所在地区的选民很重要，则可能有助于他们当选。
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原文：
Name your U.S. Representative.
Answer:Answers will vary. [Residents of territories with nonvoting Delegates or resident Commissioners may provide the name of that Delegate or Commissioner. Also acceptable is any statement that the territory has no (voting) Representatives in Congress.]
Explanation:It’s important for Americans to know not only who their U.S. Representative is, but also how he or she is representing them. Americans need to know how their representatives are voting and whether or not those votes accurately (or correctly) represent their interests. If the representative isn’t voting the way that his or her constituents (or the people represented by a representative) want, then those constituents should vote for someone else in the next elections.
However, it could be difficult and time-consuming (or taking a lot of time) to find out how a representative is voting. That is because the U.S. Congress spends a lot of time talking about important issues and voting on many different bills (or ideas for new laws). A normal American wouldn’t have time to read all of those bills and find out how his or her representative is voting. That would be a full-time job!
Fortunately, many organizations try to gather (or collect) this information, summarize it (or say the most important ideas in fewer words), and share that information with voters, so that they can make informed decisions. Some groups provide biographical information (or information about a person’s life) about representatives, as well as their voting records (or a list of how a person has voted on all decisions during a certain period of time). People can quickly read this information to determine how well their representative is representing them.
The website for the U.S. House of Representatives provides the roll call votes, or lists of how representatives have voted over time. However, the other organizations make this information easier to understand, because they also explain what the votes mean for each bill and show changes in a representative’s votes over time. Many people study the voting records published by these organizations before they decide who they want to vote for.
翻译：
命名您的美国代表。
答：答案会有所不同。 [具有不投票权的代表或常驻专员的领土居民可以提供该代表或专员的姓名。关于领土没有国会（投票）代表的任何声明也是可以接受的。]
说明：
重要的是，美国人不仅要知道他们的美国代表是谁，而且还要知道他或她如何代表他们。美国人需要知道他们的代表如何投票，以及这些投票是否准确（或正确）代表了他们的利益。如果代表未按其选民（或代表所代表的人民）的意愿进行投票，则这些选民应在下次选举中投票给其他人。
但是，要找出代表的投票方式可能既困难又耗时。这是因为美国国会花费大量时间谈论重要问题，并对许多不同的法案（或新法律的想法）进行投票。普通的美国人没有时间阅读所有这些法案，也不知道其代表如何投票。那将是一份全职工作！
幸运的是，许多组织尝试收集（或收集）此信息，对其进行汇总（或用较少的单词说出最重要的想法），并与选民共享该信息，以便他们可以做出明智的决定。一些小组提供有关代表的传记信息（或有关一个人的生活的信息），以及他们的投票记录（或一个人在一段时间内如何对所有决定进行投票的列表）。人们可以快速阅读此信息，以确定他们的代表代表他们的情况。
美国众议院网站提供唱名表决，或代表随着时间的推移如何投票的列表。但是，其他组织则使这些信息更容易理解，因为它们还解释了每个法案的投票含义，并显示了代表过去投票的变化。许多人在决定要投票给谁之前会研究这些组织发布的投票记录。
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原文：
Who does a U.S. Senator represent?
Answer:All people of the state
Explanation:Here’s an interesting thing about the U.S. government: even if you vote against the person who wins an election (or a competition to see who gets the most votes and is chosen for a public position), he or she has to represent you! In other words, if you vote for person A to become senator, but person B wins, then person B must represent you just as if you had voted for him or her! That is why we say that U.S. senators represent all the people of a state.
How does a senator do this? Obviously (or clearly), a senator cannot meet and speak with all the people whom he or she represents. This would take up too much time and he or she would never be able to attend the Senate sessions (or meetings with other representatives). So, instead of speaking with everyone in the state, senators rely on (or depend on or use) opinion polls (or surveys or questionnaires) that show what most people in their state think about important topics. This is an easy way for a senator to know what most people think about a certain law without having to call everyone to ask.
Senators also try to create opportunities for interested voters to speak with them about pressing issues (or topics that they think are most important). Voters can always call, email, or write to their senators to share their opinions. Senators also have offices where they can meet with their constituents (or the people they represent). They normally have an office in Washington, D.C. where the Senate sessions are held (or where they happen), and at least one office in their state, usually in the most important city or cities. When Senate is in session (or having meetings), the senators are in Washington, D.C. The rest of the time, they are normally in their home states, speaking with voters and planning what they want to do the next time the Senate is in session.
翻译：
美国参议员代表谁？
答：国家的所有人
说明：关于美国政府的一件有趣的事情：即使您投票反对赢得选举的人（或竞争看谁获得最多选票并被选为公共职位的人），他或她也必须代表您！换句话说，如果您投票支持人A成为参议员，但人B获胜，那么人B必须代表您，就像您为他或她投票一样！这就是为什么我们说美国参议员代表一个州的所有人民。
参议员如何做到这一点？显然，参议员不能与他或她代表的所有人见面并讲话。这将花费太多时间，并且他或她将永远无法参加参议院会议（或与其他代表的会议）。因此，参议员不需要与州内的所有人交谈，而是依靠民意调查，这些民意调查显示了该州大多数人对重要主题的看法。这是参议员了解大多数人对某项法律的看法的一种简便方法，而无需致电所有人。
参议员还试图为感兴趣的选民创造机会，与他们就紧迫的问题（或他们认为最重要的话题）进行交谈。选民可以随时致电，发送电子邮件或写信给参议员，以分享他们的意见。参议员还设有办公室，可以与选民（或其代表的人）会面。他们通常在华盛顿特区设有参议院会议的办公室（或举行参议院的地方），并且在本州至少有一个办公室，通常在最重要的一个或多个城市。参议院开会时，参议员在华盛顿特区。其余时间，他们通常在本州，与选民交谈，并计划下次参议院开会时打算做什么。
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原文：
Why do some states have more Representatives than other states?
Answer:
- (Because of) the state’s population
- (Because) they have more people
- (Because) some states have more people Explanation: The fifty states of the United States have very different sizes, both in terms of (or related to) how much land there is and the population (or how many people there are). Some states are very large but have very few people; other states are very small but have many people. Even so, all fifty states need to be represented in the federal government. What was the solution? The Founding Fathers, or the people who created the U.S. government, decided to have two parts for lawmaking. One is the Senate, where each state has two representatives known as senators, no matter how many people live there. The other is the House of Representatives, where the number of representatives that each state has is proportional to its population, meaning that states with large populations have more representatives in the House than those states with small populations. Each state is divided into a number of districts (or areas), one for each representative that it has in the House. Each representative is elected by the people living in his or her district. Changing where the district boundaries (or the lines between districts) are drawn on the map can change which political party has more power in a district. Redistricting, or changing the district boundaries, is called gerrymandering when it influences (or affects) the results of elections so that one political party is more likely to win. As you can see, this is a very big issue because redistricting can decide which political party has power. Sometimes gerrymandering is used to make district boundaries match (or be the same as) where racial groups (or groups of people with the same skin color) live. If the district boundaries are drawn so that white people are the majority (the largest group) in each district, then it is more likely that only white representatives will be elected. Obviously gerrymandering is unfair, but it is very common in modern politics. Many have criticized this practice of racial gerrymandering.
翻译：
为什么有些州的代表人数多于其他州？
回答：
*（由于）该州的人口
*（因为）他们有更多的人
*（因为）有些州的人口更多
说明：美国的五十个州，在土地面积和人口方面大小各异。有些州很大，但人很少。其他州很小，但有很多人。即使这样，所有五十个州都需要在联邦政府中有代表。解决方案是什么？开国元勋或创建美国政府的人民决定将立法分为两个部分。一个是参议院，每个州有两个代表参议员，无论居住在那里的人数有多少。另一个是众议院，每个州的代表人数与其人口成正比，这意味着人口众多的州的代表人数要多于人口少的州。每个州都分为多个区，每个州在众议院中都有代表。每个代表由居住在其所在地区的人民选举产生。更改地图上绘制区域边界的位置可以更改哪个政党在一个区域中拥有更大的权力。重新划分或改变区域边界，当它影响选举结果以使一个政党更有可能获胜时，就被称为格里曼德。如您所见，这是一个很大的问题，因为重新划分可以决定哪个政党有权力。有时，使用格里曼德来使地区边界与种族群体居住的地区相匹配。如果划定地区边界，使白人在每个地区中占多数（最大的群体），那么更有可能只选举白人代表。显然，格里曼德是不公平的，但在现代政治中却很普遍。许多人批评这种种族歧视的做法。
