17.What are the two parts of the U.S. Congress?
17.美国国会的两部分是什么？
Answer:
答案：
The Senate and House (of Representatives)
参议员和众议院
Explanation:
解释：
In the United States, the word Congress is used to refer to (or talk about) the legislative (or lawmaking) part of American government. Most people know this meaning of the word. But did you know that there is another meaning of the word congress? Congress also means a meeting of legislators (or the people who make laws). In the U.S. government, you will hear both meanings of this word used. In fact, a new congress—meaning a new meeting—starts every two years. The first congress was held in 1774. The current congress, then, is the 110th Congress, which first convened (or met) on January 4, 2007.
美国国会通常指的使政府的立法部门。很多人知道这层意思,但你知道国会的另外一层意思吗?国会还指议员(制定法律的人)的会议。美国政府中你会听到对这两层意思都有运用。事实上，新的国会即新会议每两年召开一次。第一届议会于1774年召开，目前的第10届会议于2007年1月4日召开。
When the first congress was held in 1774, Congress was still unicameral, meaning that it had only one part or group of legislators. However, the leaders of the country very quickly realized (or noticed) that the new American government was not very efficient (or didn’t do things very quickly or very well), so they wanted to change the system.
1774年第一次会议召开时，国会还是单院制的，也就是只有立法部的一部分成员。但是，国家领导们很快意识到美国新政府工作效率低下并打算变更制度。
One of the major disputes (or disagreements) about Congress was how the 50 states would be represented in the federal (or national) government. People from small states thought that each state should be represented equally (or in the same way). People from large states thought that states with a higher population (or more people living there) should have more power to make decisions. The solution (or the way to fix the problem) was to write a new constitution (or document that creates the government for a country) and make the Congress become bicameral (or with two parts).
关于国会最大的争论是50个州如何在联邦（或国家）政府代表自己。小洲的人们认为每个州都应有同等的代表，大州的人们则认为拥有人数多的州应当有更多决策权。解决方案是写一部新宪法使国会成为两院制。
How does a bicameral Congress allow people in large and small states to have better representation? The answer is in how the Congress works. The two parts of the Congress are the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Senate has equal representation, which means that each state has two representatives. The House of Representatives is different: larger states have more representatives and smaller states have fewer. The Senate and the House of Representatives have to work together to make new laws. This way, neither big nor small states have more power than other states. With this solution, both sides of the dispute were satisfied (or pleased).
两院制国会如何安排大州和小州的代表权呢？答案在国会的运行流程中。国会的两部分是参议院和众议院，参议员有相同的代表，也就是每州有两名代表。众议院不同：大州代表多，小州代表少。参议员和众议院必须一起制定法律。这样， 各州的权力就一样了。通过这种解决方法，双方争端解决了。
Glossary
词汇
17.What are the two parts of the U.S. Congress?
17.美国国会的两部分是什么？
Congress - the legislative (lawmaking) part of the U.S. government; the group of elected national representatives
Congress—美国政府立法部；选举的国家代表成员
*How many new laws did Congress make last year?
*国会去年制定了几项法律？
legislator - a person who makes laws
Legislator—制定法律的人
*Do you think that legislators really understand how that law will affect everyone in the country?
*你认为立法者真的了解法律对每个人的影响吗？
to convene - to have everyone meet in a group; to create a meeting and to invite the members or other people to come
To convene—让每个人参加会议；发起集会并邀请成员或其他人参加
*Let’s convene the meeting at 8:15 on Monday.
*我们周一早晨8：:15开会。
unicameral - with only one part or group; an organization with only one major part
Unicameral—只有一个部的团体；只有一个主要部分的机构
*Do you know if Denmark has a unicameral parliament?
*你知道丹麦是单院制国会吗？
dispute - disagreement; argument
Dispute—不同意；争论
*Kiki's parents had a big dispute about whether she should be allowed to stay out later than 11:30 p.m.
*Kiki的父母关于Kiki晚于11:30出门的问题有很大争论。
equally - in the same way; fairly
Equally—以相同的方式；公平的
*The six children cut the cake into six pieces to share it equally.
*六个孩子将蛋糕公平的切成了六块。
solution - a way to fix a problem; an answer to a problem
Solution—解决问题的方法；问题的答案
*When Pierre's glasses broke, his temporary solution was to tape the two pieces together.
*皮埃尔的眼镜破了，他临时将坏的粘到了一起。
bicameral - with two chambers or parts; an organization with two major parts
Bicameral—有两部分；一个机构有两个主要部分
*Laws are made more slowly in bicameral governments, because they have to be approved by two separate groups of people.
*两院制政府法律通过的很慢，因为要经过两个独立团体的同意。
representation - having someone officially make decisions and vote for another person or for a group of people
Representation—由某人官方做决定并为其他人投票
*The students say that they don't have enough representation in the administration's decision-making.
*学生们声称在行政决策中没有足够代表。
satisfied - pleased; content
Satisfied—高兴；满意
*Were you satisfied with the service you received while you were staying at the hotel?
*你对酒店的服务满意吗？