大学英语自学教程 下册 un10

[08:07.50]Usually about a dozen parties nominate presidential candidates
[08:10.23]通常约有十几个政党提名总统候选人.
[08:12.96]We call it a two-party system because we have two large parties
[08:18.91]and a number of small parties,
[08:20.65]我们之所以称之为两党制,是因为有两个大党派和许多小党派.
[08:22.39]and the large parties are so large that we often forget about the rest.
[08:25.51]大党派很大以致于我们常常忘记其他的小党派.
[08:28.63]Usually the small parties collectively poll
[08:30.85]大党派很大以致于我们常常忘记其他的小党派.
[08:33.07]less than 5 per cent of the votecast in national elections.
[08:35.74]通常小党派合在一起在僵选举中得票低于全国所投票数的5%.
[08:38.40]The Democratic and Republican parties
[08:40.39]在美国社会里,
[08:42.37]are the largest and most competitive organizations in the American community.
[08:45.31]民主党和共和党是最大和最有竞争力的组织.
[08:48.25]They organize the electorate very simply by maintaining the two-party system
[08:51.33]他们通过维持两党制,很容易地组织选民.
[08:54.41]Americans almost inevitably become Democrats or Republicans
[08:59.77]because there is usually no other place for them to go.
[09:02.09]因为通常没有其他地方可去,美国人几乎无可避免地成为民主党员或共和党员.
[09:04.42]Moreover,because the rivalry of these parties is very old
[09:07.30]此外,因为这些党的竞争历史很久,
[09:10.19]most'Americans know where they belong in the system.
[09:12.52]多数美国人知道自己属于两党制中的哪一派.
[09:14.84]As a consequence of the dominance of the major parties
[09:19.57]most elected officials are either Republicans or Democrats.
[09:25.13]Attempts to break up this old system have been made
[09:29.57]in every presidential election in the past one hundred years,
[09:32.00]在过去的100年里,每年的总统选举中都进行了一些打破旧体制的尝试,
[09:34.43]but the the system has survived all assaults.
[09:38.59]How does it happen
[09:41.54]that the two-party system is so strongly rooted in American politics?
[09:44.46]  两党制能如此坚实地扎根于美国政治中,这是怎么发生的呢?
[09:47.39]The explanation is probobly to be found in the way elections are conducted.
[09:50.42]人们可能在选举的动作方式中找到解释.
[09:53.45]In the United Statesunlike countries with a parli amentary system of government,
[09:56.58]在美国,不像政府议会制国家,
[09:59.72]we elect not only the President,
[10:01.48]我们不仅选举总统,
[10:03.25]but a large number of other officials about 800,000 of them.
[10:06.12]而且还选举许多官员,他们大约有80万人.
[10:08.99]We also elect congress men from single-member districts.
[10:11.63]国会议员也是从每区一票的选举中选出的.
[10:14.27]For example,we elect 435 members of the House of Representatives
[10:20.80]from 435 districts (there are a few exceptions),
[10:26.65]one member for each district.
[10:28.53]例如:我们从435个选区(有一些例外)选举435名参议员,例如:我们从435个选区(有一些例外)选举435名参议员,每一个选区选举一名参议员.
[10:30.41]Statistically this kind of election favors the major parties.
[10:33.23]据统计,这种选举对大党派有利.
[10:36.06]The system of elections makes it easy
[10:39.90]for the major parties to maintain their dominant position,
[10:42.23]选举制度使大党轻而易举地保持着他们的统治地位,
[10:44.57]because they are likely to win more than their share of the offices.
[10:47.14]因为他们赢得的席位可能比他们应得的份额多.
[10:49.72]One of the great consequences of the system
[10:53.69]is that produces majorities automatically.
[10:55.82]  这种制度的最大结果就是它自动地产生了多数党.
[10:57.95]Because there are only two competiwrs in the running,
[11:02.31]it is almost inevitable that one will receive a majority.
[11:04.88]因为只有两个竞争者参加竞选,
[11:07.45]Moreover,
[11:10.20]the system tends slightly to exaggerate the victory of the winning party.
[11:12.98]几乎可以肯定其中一个将赢得多数.
[11:15.76]This is not always true,
[11:17.45]事情并非总是这样,
[11:19.13]but the strong tendency to produce majoritiesis built into the system.
[11:22.01]但产生多数党的巨大倾向在这种制度中形成了.
[11:24.88]In over 200 years of constitutional history,
[11:27.16]在200多年的宪法史中,