Chief Justice John Roberts of the Supreme Court was sworn in to preside over the trial. He then asked all senators to raise their right hands to take an oath to "do impartial justice according to the Constitution and laws, so help you God?"
美国最高法院首席大法官约翰·罗伯茨宣誓就任主审。然后他要求所有参议员举起右手宣誓“根据宪法和法律进行公正审判。”

The U.S. Constitution says the chief justice serves as the presiding officer in the trial. But only the 100 members of the Senate will pass judgement.
美国宪法规定首席大法官担任审判的主审。但是只有参议院100名成员才能作出判决。

Earlier in the day, Democrats from the House of Representatives led by Adam Schiff read the charges, or articles of impeachment, in the Republican-led Senate.
当天早些时候，由亚当·希夫领导的众议院民主党人在共和党领导的参议院宣读了弹劾条款。

"With the permission of the Senate, I will now read the articles of impeachment," said Schiff.
希夫表示：“经过参议院允许，我现在开始宣读弹劾条款。”

"House Resolution 755 Impeaching Donald John Trump, president of the United States, for high crimes and misdemeanors," Schiff began, reading the nine pages of the impeachment document.
“众议院第755号决议以其它重罪和轻罪对美国总统川普发起弹劾，”希夫开始宣读有9页的弹劾条款。

Trump is charged by the House of Representatives with abuse of presidential power by pressuring Ukraine to investigate Democratic opponent Joe Biden. He is charged with withholding military aid to the country in exchange for an announcement of the investigation. Trump is also charged with blocking the Congressional investigation.
众议院指控川普滥用权力向乌克兰施压，要求调查其民主党对手乔·拜登。他还被指控拒绝向该国提供军事援助，以换取乌克兰宣布调查拜登。川普还被指控妨碍国会调查。

The president has repeatedly called the House impeachment hearing a "hoax." His administration has told its officials not to answer orders from the House for testimony and documents.
川普总统一再称众议院的弹劾是一场骗局。川普政府已告知下属官员不要回应众议院要求提供证词或文件的命令。

More accusations
更多指责

Before the Senate met, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) said Thursday that the Trump administration had violated federal law in withholding military aid to Ukraine. It said, "The law does not permit the President to substitute his own policy priorities for those that Congress has enacted into law."
在参议院召开会议之前，美国政府问责办公室周四表示，川普政府扣押对乌克兰的军事援助违反了联邦法律。该办公室称：“总统不得用他自己的重点政策来取代国会已经通过的法律。”

The GAO is an independent agency that reports to Congress.
美国政府问责办公室是一家对国会负责的独立机构。

On Wednesday, Schiff released new records from Lev Parnas about Trump's actions regarding Ukraine. Parnas was working with Trump's personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani. Parnas has claimed that Trump knew of his efforts to find information that could hurt his political opponent.
周三，希夫发布了列弗·帕纳斯就川普对乌克兰行动的新调查记录。帕纳斯正在与川普的私人律师鲁迪·朱利安尼合作。帕纳斯声称，川普清楚他努力查找的信息可能会伤害其政治对手。

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat, said the new information shows the need for the Senate to consider additional evidence about the president's actions toward Ukraine. She suggested that a special government lawyer could investigate the issue.
众议院议长南希·佩洛西表示，新信息表明，参议院需要审查总统对乌克兰行动的其它证据。她建议由政府特别律师对此事展开调查。

A quick end to the trial?
快速结束审判？

The president has suggested that he would be open to a quick vote to simply dismiss the charges.
川普总统暗示他将会接受直接投票以驳回指控。

Last December, Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told reporters that impeachment is a political process and not a judicial process.
去年12月，共和党参议院多数党领袖米奇·麦康奈尔对记者表示，弹劾是一个政治过程而不是司法过程。

"The House made a partisan political decision to impeach," he said. "I would anticipate we will have a largely partisan outcome in the Senate. I'm not impartial about this at all."
他说：“众议院做出了一个充满党派色彩的政治决定。我预计我们将在参议院获得很大的党派支持。我不会不偏不倚。”

Democrat lawmaker Adam Schiff told the Associated Press, "The challenge is to get a fair trial." He noted, "It shouldn't be a challenge — if the senators are really going to live up to their oath to be impartial, they'll want a fair trial."
民主党议员亚当·希夫对美联社表示：“我们的挑战在于获得公正的审判。”他指出：“这不应该是一种挑战，如果参议员们真正履行自己的誓言保持公正的话，他们需要做出公正审判。”

Republicans control the U.S. Senate with a 53-47 majority. However, it takes 51 votes during the trial to approve changes to the rules or to call witnesses. It also takes 51 votes to dismiss the charges against Trump.
共和党以53比47的多数优势控制了美国参议院。然而，在审判期间需要获得51票支持才能批准修改规则或是传唤证人。驳回对川普的指控也需要51票。

Several Republican senators, including Susan Collins of Maine, Mitt Romney of Utah, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Lamar Alexander of Tennessee want to hear from more witnesses during the trial.
包括缅因州的苏珊·柯林斯，犹他州的米特·罗姆尼，阿拉斯加的丽莎·莫科夫斯基以及田纳西州的拉马尔·亚历山大在内的几名共和党议员都希望在审判期间听取更多证人的证词。

Romney said he wants to hear from former national security advisor John Bolton. Several witnesses have said Bolton was worried about the actions of Giuliani, the president's personal lawyer, in Ukraine.
罗姆尼表示，他想要听听前国家安全顾问约翰·博尔顿的证词。几位证人表示，博尔顿对总统私人律师朱利安尼在乌克兰的举动有所担忧。

Opening arguments are to begin next Tuesday after the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.
公开辩论将在小马丁·路德·金假期过后的下周二开始进行。

The historic trial will be a test of the Trump presidency as he is running for re-election. It also is expected to be a test of the nation's three branches of power and its constitutional system of checks and balances.
这次历史性的审判是对川普连任的一次考验。预计它也将是对美国三大权力分支机构及其宪法制衡体系的考验。

I'm Mario Ritter.
我是马里奥·里特。(51VOA.COM原创翻译，禁止转载，违者必究！)