3.The idea of self-government is in the first three words of the Constitution. What are these words?
3.宪法的前三个字母体现了自治政府的理念，这三个字母是什么？
Answer:
答案：
We the People
我们人民
Explanation:
解释：
The idea behind the words “We the people” is one of the most important ones in a democracy. A democracy is a government where the citizens (the people who are part of a country) vote for and elect (or choose) the people who will govern (or lead and make decisions for) them. The United States has a representative democracy, which means that citizens vote for people who then represent them in the government, making laws and decisions that reflect (or are the same as) what the citizens want.
“我们人民”背后的理念是民主最重要的体现之一。所谓民主就是选民（国民的一部分）有权利选举和选择谁执政（或领导和做决定）。美国有代议民主，选民选取这些代表在政府执政，制定的法律，做出的决定要体现选民的意愿。
These first three words of the Constitution, “We the people,” also tell us about the main difference between the United States and the European countries that most of the United States’ first citizens came from. Back in the 1700s, countries like England and France, where many of the first Americans came from, were ruled by a monarch (or a king). These monarchs usually inherited their power (or received it because one of their relatives had been a ruler or a king and then died) and often made decisions that their citizens did not like. One of the reasons that the American colonists (or the people who moved to the new country) fought the Revolutionary War to get their independence from Great Britain was because the colonists felt that the English king, George III, was treating them badly. Americans said that they were fighting the Revolutionary War for the right to self-government, or to have the ability to create their own government and elect their own officials or leaders.
宪法的前三个字母“我们人民”也告诉我们美国和欧洲的主要区别，很多美国的首批公民来自于欧洲这些国家。18世纪时，英国和法国（首批美国人来自于这里）由君主（或国王）统治，这些君主都是继承王位（或是接替已故统治者的亲属），并没有按照民众的意愿做决定。美国殖民者（或移居美国的人民）发动革命战争获取自由的一个原因就是不满当时大不列颠帝国国王乔治三世的统治。美国人称其发动革命是为获得政府自治，有能力自建自己的政府选举自己的领导。
The authors (or writers) of the Constitution were not writing it for just themselves. The writers of the Constitution wrote it on behalf of (or in the name of) all Americans. This is because they believed that for a government to be fair, it would have to be made by the people (that is, elected by citizens) and for the people, meaning doing things for the good of all citizens, not just a few.
宪法的编著者们出台宪法并不仅仅是代表他们自己，也代表了广大美国民众。他们认为政府要想做到公正，就应该由人民决定，也应该为人民服务，并且做到一视同仁。
Glossary
词汇
3.The idea of self-government is in the first three words of the Constitution.
3.宪法的前三个字母体现了自治政府的理念，这三个字母是什么？
citizen - a person who is part of a country; a person who belongs to a country
Citizen—组成国家的个体人；隶属于国家的个体人
*If you want to work in the U.S. government, you must be a U.S. citizen.
*若想在美国政府工作，你必须是美国公民。
to elect - to select or choose a person to work in a government job
To elect—选举某人为政府工作
*The mayor was elected with 62% of the votes.
*市长获得了62%的选票。
to govern - to lead and make decisions for a group of people
To govern—代表一个团体做决定
*Russia used to be governed by a tsar and now it is governed by a president.
*俄罗斯曾经由沙皇统治，现在由总统统治。
representative democracy - a type of government in which citizens vote for people who represent them in the government, usually making laws and decisions that the citizens want
Representative democracy—由选民选举的能代表选民意愿制定法律并做出决定的政府代表
*In a representative democracy, citizens can call their representatives to tell them how they would like them to vote.
*代议民主之下，选民可以致电代表自己的选举意愿。
monarch - a king or queen
Monarch—国王或王后
*How long was King Henry I the monarch of England?
*英国君主亨利一世在位多长时间？
to inherit - to receive something when a relative dies
To inherit—亲属去世后继承的
*Isabelle inherited $35,000 when her grandfather died.
*伊莎贝尔从她去世的祖父那里继承了35，000美元
colonist - a person who lives in an area of land that belongs to a country that is far away
Colonist—居住在某地但由其他国家统治的居民
*The first colonists who came to North America from Europe had to work very hard to build farms, towns, and cities.
*第一批从欧洲来到北美的殖民者必须辛勤劳作，开拓农田，建造城镇。
self-government - the ability of a group of people to create their own government and decide who will represent them in that government
Self-government—一群人有能力创建自己的政府并决定由谁来执政
*Native Americans had to fight for self-government for many years.
*当地美国人为赢得自治政府斗争了多年。
on behalf of (someone) - in the name of someone; doing something for someone else or because someone else has asked one to
On behalf of (someone)—以某人的名义；为某人做事或应某人要求做事
*I'd like to accept this award on behalf of Dr. Holmes who couldn't come to the ceremony tonight.
*我代表今晚不能来参加典礼的福尔摩斯博士领取此奖项。