美国将在11月6日举行中期选举

    On Tuesday, November 6, Americans will choose hundreds of federal lawmakers and state officials. The election is called the midterm because it comes in the middle of the president's four-year term.
    11月6日星期二,美国人将会选出数百名联邦议员和州级官员。这次选举被称为中期选举,因为它发生在总统四年任期的中期。

    But even though the president is not competing for re-election this year, the results of the midterm will be important to him. They will decide whether his political party, the Republicans, continues to control both parts of Congress.
    但是即使总统今年没有竞选连任,中期选举对他来说也很重要,这将决定他的政党共和党是否能继续控制国会参众两院。

    If the Republicans do, Congress will likely help him reach his policy goals. If the opposition Democratic Party wins a majority in Congress, those lawmakers will likely try to block the president's goals.
    如果共和党实现这点,国会可能会有助于总统实现其政治目标。如果反对党民主党在国会赢得多数席位,这些议员可能会试图阻止总统的目标。

    It is also very possible that after November 6 the Republicans will control one part of Congress, and the Democrats another. If that happens, the two groups of lawmakers will probably oppose each other and few changes will advance.
    也很有可能在11月6日之后,共和党控制国会的一部分,民主党则控制另一部分。如果发生这种情况,这两派议员可能会相互反对,就会少有变革。

    The numbers
    相关数字

    Here are the numbers: Congress has seats for 535 voting members. One hundred are in the Senate. The rest are in the House of Representatives.
    以下是相关数字:国会有535名拥有表决权的议员。参议院有100人,其余的都在众议院。

    This month, voters will choose 35 senators and all 435 House members. To win a majority in the House, Democrats would need to keep all their seats and gain 24 more.
    这个月,选民将会选出35名参议员和435名众议员。为了赢得众议院的多数席位,民主党需要保住所有席位,并新增24个席位。

    Such a gain would be large, but not impossible. Historically, the opposition party makes some gains in midterms. Eight years ago, Republicans gained more than 60 House seats in the midterm after then-President Barack Obama was elected. That election was seen as a check on Obama's efforts to reform health care in America. This year, a gain half as big by Democrats would give them control of those House.
    赢取这么多席位是一次大胜,但是也并非不可能。反对党历来在中期选举会有所斩获。8年前,时任总统奥巴马当选之后,共和党在中期选举新增了60多个众议院席位。这次选举被视为奥巴马改革美国医疗体系的一项约束。今年,民主党只要赢得当年共和党一半的席位就能使他们控制众议院。

    To win a majority in the Senate may be harder for Democrats, although Republicans have only a one-seat advantage now. The reason is because Democrats risk losing some Senate seats they currently control.
    尽管共和党现在只有一个席位的优势,但是要赢得参议院多数席位对民主党来说可能更难。原因是民主党有可能失去他们目前控制的一些参议院席位。

    For example, ten Democratic senators are running in states that Trump won in 2016. In other words, voters there may now decide they want a lawmaker who is more like the president.
    例如,有10位民主党参议员在川普2016年获胜的州竞选。换言之,那些州的选民现在可能会决定选出一位更倒向总统的议员。

    I'm Kelly Jean Kelly.
    我是凯莉·吉恩·凯莉。(51VOA.COM原创翻译,禁止转载,违者必究!)