65.What happened at the Constitutional Convention?
65.制宪会议上发生了什么？
Answer:
答案：
The Constitution was written.
●编写了宪法
The Founding Fathers wrote the Constitution.
●建国元首们编写了宪法
Explanation:
解释:
When the 13 American colonies (or areas of land ruled by Great Britain but far away from it) got their independence (or freedom) from Britain, they did not have a strong government. They agreed to follow a document called the Articles of Confederation, but it wasn’t strong enough for the new country. So political leaders decided to have a meeting called the Constitutional Convention. Some of the people who went to the Constitutional Convention wanted to improve (or make better) the Articles of Confederation. Others wanted to create a new type of government.
13个殖民地从应英国获得独立后并没有成立有力的政府，他们同意遵循13州邦联宪法条例，但这对新国家来说并不稳定，因此政治领导们决定召开宪法例会，参加宪法例会的部分人想改善邦联宪法条例，其他人想创建新类型的政府。
The Constitutional Convention was held from May 25th to September 17th, 1787 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. During that time, political leaders discussed (or talked about) many important issues. One of the main disagreements was how Americans should be represented in the legislature (or the lawmaking part of the government). People from large states wanted representation to be based on population, while people from small states wanted each state to have equal representation. A man from Connecticut, Roger Sherman, finally solved (or found an answer to) the problem when he created the Connecticut Compromise, which was a solution that gave everybody some, but not all, of what they wanted. The Connecticut Compromise created the House of Representatives, where representation is based on population, and the Senate, where representation is equal for all states.
宪法会议于1787年5月25日到9月17日于宾夕法尼亚州费城召开。在那段时期内，政治领导们讨论了很多重要问题，其中一个重要分歧是美国人如何在立法中体现。来自大州的希望按人口来分配代表，来自小州的希望有同等的代表。罗杰.谢尔曼，一名来自康涅狄格州的青年最后通过创立康涅狄格妥协解决了问题，这一妥协使大部分人得到了希望得到的东西。康涅狄格妥协成立了按人口分配的众议院和所有州代表相同的参议院。
Another disagreement at the Constitutional Convention was how the votes of slaves (or people who were owned as property and were forced to work without being paid) should be counted. About 20% of the U.S. population was slaves, and most of them were in the South. States with many slaves wanted them to be counted for representation in the legislature, but not for taxes (or money paid to the government). States without slaves wanted them to be counted for taxes, but not for representation. The solution was another compromise: to count each slave as three-fifths (or 60%) of a person.
宪法例会的另一分歧是奴隶（被当作财产并被强迫无酬劳做的人）的投票该如何计算。美国大约20%的人口是奴隶，大部分都住在南方。有很多奴隶的州希望在立法代表时将奴隶计算在内，但不交税，没有奴隶的州则希望奴隶应该交税但不应计算在代表人数内。处理结果是另一妥协：将每个奴隶算作五分之三（60%）的人数。
There were many other disagreements during the Constitutional Convention, but eventually the Constitution (or the most important legal document in the United States) was written. The men who were at the Constitutional Convention are often called our Founding Fathers, because they were the people who helped to found (or create) the U.S. government as we know it today.
宪法例会上还有其她很多分歧，但最终确定了宪法的编纂。参加宪法例会的人现在被我们成为建国元首，因为他们是帮助建立美国政府的人。
Glossary
词汇
65.What happened at the Constitutional Convention?
65.制宪会议上发生了什么？
Articles of Confederation - a 1781 agreement that created the first government of the United States
Articles of confederation—1781年的协议成立了美国的第一个政府
*What are the main differences between the Articles of Confederation and the U.S. Constitution?
*13州邦联宪法条例和美国宪法的主要区别是什么？
Constitutional Convention - the meeting where the U.S. Constitution was written
Constitutional convention—编纂美国宪法的会议
*Some of the most famous people in U.S. history attended the Constitutional Convention.
*美国历史上有几个最重要的人物当年参加了宪法例会。
to discuss (something) - to talk about something; to have a conversation about something
To discuss (something)—谈论某事；关于某事的谈话
*Have you discussed with your boss the idea of hiring an assistant?
*你跟你们讨论过招助理的事吗？
legislature - the lawmaking part of the government
Legislature—政府的立法部门
*The state legislature made more than 40 new laws last year.
*州立法部去年颁布了四十多条新法律。
to solve (something) - to find an answer or solution to something; to fix something
To solve (something)—找到某事的答案或方法；固定某物
*How did you solve problem #7 in the math homework?
*你是怎么解决数学作业第7题的？
compromise - a solution that gives everybody some, but not all, of what they want
Compromise—使部分人但不是所有人满意的答案
*He said that the secret to his good marriage is to know how to make compromises with his wife.
*他说自己成功婚姻的秘密是知道如何与妻子达成妥协。
slave - a person who is forced to work without pay and is owned by another person
Slave—被当作财产并被强迫无酬劳做的人
*Slaves worked so hard that they often died while they were still very young.
*奴隶们工作很奴隶，以至于他们非常年轻的时候就死了。
to found - to create or establish an organization, business, or government
To found—创建或建立组织，公司或政府
*Who founded the first university in the United States?
*谁组建了美国的第一所大学？