- What are two Cabinet-level positions?
Answer:
- Secretary of Agriculture
- Secretary of Commerce
- Secretary of Defense
- Secretary of Education
- Secretary of Energy
- Secretary of Health and Human Services
- Secretary of Homeland Security
- Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
- Secretary of Interior
- Secretary of State
- Secretary of Transportation
- Secretary of Treasury
- Secretary of Veterans’ Affairs
- Secretary of Labor
- Attorney General
Explanation:The U.S. Cabinet (or the group of people who advise the president, giving him or her ideas, advice, and information) has grown a lot over time. Under our first president, George Washington, the Cabinet had only four members: the Secretary of State, Secretary of the Treasury, Secretary of War, and Attorney General. Today, the Cabinet has 15 members. However, not all 15 are equally important. Some have much more power than others.
The four most important Cabinet members are the same ones that George Washington had, although their titles (or the names of their jobs) have changed a little bit. These four most important members are known as the “Big Four” and are the Secretary of State, the Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of Defense, and the Attorney General.
The Secretary of State is responsible for foreign affairs (or relationships between the United States and other countries). The Secretary of State negotiates (or discusses) international agreements and gives instructions to U.S. ambassadors (or official representatives of the United States in other countries).
The Secretary of the Treasury mostly works with finance, economics, and money. He or she recommends what the president should do to keep the U.S. economy strong. The Secretary’s signature is on all of the United States’ monetary bills (or paper money).
The Secretary of Defense, who used to be known as the Secretary of War, works with the military (or the people and organizations who fight to protect the United States).
Finally, the last member of the Big Four, the Attorney General, serves as the United States’ most important lawyer, making sure that laws are enforced (or applied). When the United States needs to be represented in-person in court, the Attorney General is responsible for stating the government’s position. The Attorney General is the only member of the U.S. Cabinet who does not have the title of “secretary.”
- 什么是兩個內(nèi)閣級別的職位?
回答：
農(nóng)業(yè)部長
商務(wù)部長
國防部長
教育部長
能源部長
衛(wèi)生及公共服務(wù)部部長
國土安全部部長
住房和城市發(fā)展部長
內(nèi)政部長
國務(wù)卿
交通部長
財政部長
退伍軍人事務(wù)部長
勞工部長
總檢察長
解釋:美國內(nèi)閣(或群人建議總統(tǒng),讓他或她的想法,建議,和信息)已經(jīng)成長很多。在我們的第一任總統(tǒng)喬治·華盛頓的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)下，內(nèi)閣只有四名成員:國務(wù)卿、財政部長、戰(zhàn)爭部長和司法部長。今天，內(nèi)閣有15名成員。然而，并不是所有的15個都同等重要。有些人的權(quán)力比其他人大得多。
四位最重要的內(nèi)閣成員都是喬治·華盛頓的內(nèi)閣成員，盡管他們的頭銜(或職位名稱)發(fā)生了一點(diǎn)變化。這四個最重要的成員被稱為“四大”，分別是國務(wù)卿、財政部長、國防部長和司法部長。
國務(wù)卿負(fù)責(zé)外交事務(wù)(或美國與其他國家的關(guān)系)。國務(wù)卿談判(或討論)國際協(xié)議，并向美國大使(或美國在其他國家的官方代表)發(fā)出指示。
財政部長主要與金融、經(jīng)濟(jì)和貨幣打交道。他或她建議總統(tǒng)應(yīng)該做什么來保持美國經(jīng)濟(jì)的強(qiáng)勁。部長的簽名印在美國所有的貨幣(或紙幣)上。
國防部長，過去被稱為戰(zhàn)爭部長，與軍隊(或為保護(hù)美國而戰(zhàn)的人民和組織)合作。
最后，四大中的最后一員，司法部長，是美國最重要的律師，負(fù)責(zé)確保法律的執(zhí)行(或適用)。當(dāng)美國需要被人代表親自出庭時，總檢察長負(fù)責(zé)陳述政府的立場。總檢察長是美國內(nèi)閣中唯一沒有“部長”頭銜的人。
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- What does the judicial branch do?
Answer:
Reviews laws
Explains laws
Resolves disputes (disagreements)
Decides if a law goes against the Constitution
Explanation:The U.S. government has three branches (or parts): the executive branch which makes sure that people follow laws, the legislative branch which makes new laws, and the judicial branch which interprets laws (or decides what the laws mean and how they should be applied). Normally the executive and legislative branches can work together without any trouble. The legislative branch makes new laws and the executive branch enforces them. However, sometimes people don’t agree on what the laws mean. They think the laws are unclear or unconstitutional (or not in agreement with the U.S. Constitution). When that happens, someone needs to be able to say what the law really means and that is exactly what the judicial branch does. The judicial branch comprises (or is made up of) many courts. A court is a place where legal decisions are made, especially about whether or not someone has broken a law or what that law really means in the first place. When the Constitution created the judicial branch, it created the Supreme Court, which is the highest and most important court in the country. Since then, Congress has created many lower courts (or less powerful courts) that hear cases (or decide on legal issues) in many special areas. These lower courts include the tax courts, which decide whether or not people and businesses are evading (or not paying) taxes, and the bankruptcy courts, which decide whether people and businesses can declare bankruptcy (or not pay back the money they owe to other people and organizations because they don’t have any money left). The judicial branch needs to have many different courts because there are too many cases to send all of them to the Supreme Court. The Department of Justice is a very large part of the U.S. government that tries to get justice (or fairness in the law) for all Americans. The Department also tries to prevent and control crime (or things like murders (killings) and theft) to make the United States safer. The Department of Justice is not part of the judicial branch, however. It is part of the executive branch of the national government.
- 司法部門做什么?
答:
審查法律
解釋法律
解決爭端(分歧)
決定一項法律是否違反憲法
解釋:
美國政府有三個部門(或部分):確保人們遵守法律的行政部門，制定新法律的立法部門，以及解釋法律的司法部門(或決定法律的含義和應(yīng)用方法)。通常，行政部門和立法部門可以毫無困難地合作。立法部門制定新法律，行政部門執(zhí)行新法律。然而，有時人們不同意法律的含義。他們認(rèn)為這些法律不明確或違憲(或與美國憲法不一致)。當(dāng)這種情況發(fā)生時，需要有人能夠說出法律的真正含義，而這正是司法部門的職責(zé)所在。司法部門由許多法院組成。法院是一個做出法律決定的地方，尤其是關(guān)于某人是否觸犯了法律，或者法律最初的真正含義。當(dāng)憲法設(shè)立司法部門時，它設(shè)立了最高法院，這是國家最高和最重要的法院。從那時起，國會設(shè)立了許多下級法院(或權(quán)力較小的法院)，在許多特殊領(lǐng)域?qū)徖戆讣?或就法律問題作出決定)。這些下級法院包括稅務(wù)法院，它決定個人和企業(yè)是否逃稅(或不納稅);破產(chǎn)法院，它決定個人和企業(yè)是否可以宣布破產(chǎn)(或不償還欠其他人和組織的錢，因為他們沒有任何錢剩下)。司法部門需要有許多不同的法院，因為有太多的案件要提交給最高法院。司法部是美國政府的一個非常大的部門，它試圖為所有美國人爭取正義(或法律上的公平)。該部門還試圖預(yù)防和控制犯罪(或像謀殺和盜竊這樣的事情)，以使美國更安全。然而，司法部不是司法部門的一部分。它是國家政府行政部門的一部分。
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- What is the highest court in the United States?
Answer:The Supreme Court
Explanation:Everybody makes mistakes, but what happens if it is a judge (or a person who makes legal decisions in a court)? Imagine that you are in a lawsuit (or a problem or argument that has to be talked about in court) and the judge rules (or decides) against you, but you still think that you are right. Your next step is an appeal, which is an official document asking a higher, more important court to rule on your lawsuit. And if that appeal fails (or doesn’t work), you might make another appeal to an even higher court. Eventually, however, there are no higher courts because you have arrived at the Supreme Court, which is often called “the highest (or most important) court in the United States.”
The Supreme Court doesn’t agree to rule on all cases (or lawsuits). The Supreme Court receives more than 7,000 petitions (or requests to rule on a case) each year, but it accepts fewer than 100 of them. That is because the Supreme Court has limited time and people to do the work, and it wants to use them to rule on only the most important cases. In particular, it wants to rule on cases that are related to how federal laws are interpreted (or understood), especially when they are related to the U.S. Constitution (or the country’s most important legal document).
The Supreme Court’s cases are very far-reaching, meaning that they have a lot of influence in American culture and law. Some of their cases are well known to most Americans. For example, one famous case known as Brown v. Board of Education made it illegal to have separate schools for white students and black students. Another famous case known as Roe v. Wade made abortions (the practice of ending a pregnancy so the baby is never born) legal.
The Supreme Court meets in the Supreme Court Building in the center of Washington, DC. The building is sometimes called the “Temple of Justice” where a temple is a holy place that people build for their gods.
- 美國最高法院是什么?
答:最高法院
解釋:
每個人都會犯錯，但如果是法官(或在法庭上做出法律決定的人)會怎么樣呢?假設(shè)你在一場官司中(或在法庭上必須討論的一個問題或爭論中)，法官做出了不利于你的裁決(或決定)，但你仍然認(rèn)為自己是對的。你的下一步是上訴，這是一個官方文件要求更高，更重要的法院對你的訴訟裁決。如果上訴失敗(或無效)，你可能會再次上訴到更高的法院。然而，最終沒有更高一級的法院，因為你已經(jīng)到了最高法院，它通常被稱為“美國最高(或最重要)的法院”。
最高法院不同意對所有案件(或訴訟)做出裁決。最高法院每年收到7000多份請愿書(或案件裁決請求)，但它只受理不到100份。這是因為最高法院有有限的時間和人員來做這項工作，它想用他們來裁決最重要的案件。特別地，它想要裁決那些與聯(lián)邦法律如何解釋(或理解)有關(guān)的案件，特別是當(dāng)它們與美國憲法(或國家最重要的法律文件)有關(guān)的時候。
最高法院的案件影響深遠(yuǎn)，這意味著它們對美國文化和法律有很大的影響。他們的一些案例為大多數(shù)美國人所熟知。例如，著名的布朗訴教育委員會案規(guī)定，白人學(xué)生和黑人學(xué)生分校是非法的。另一個著名的案例是“羅伊訴韋德案”(Roe v. Wade)，該案件認(rèn)定墮胎(即終止妊娠，使嬰兒永遠(yuǎn)不能出生)合法。
最高法院在華盛頓特區(qū)中心的最高法院大樓舉行會議。這座建筑有時被稱為“正義之廟”，這里的寺廟是人們?yōu)樗麄兊纳窠ㄔ斓氖サ亍?/p>
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- How many justices are on the Supreme Court?
Answer: Nine (9)
Explanation:The Supreme Court, which is the most important court in the United States, has changed in many ways since it was first founded (or created) in 1790. When the Supreme Court first began, there were only six justices (or the judges who work on the Supreme Court). This number changed six times, but since 1869 there have always been nine justices.
Supreme Court justices are appointed (or given their positions by people who work in politics). First they are nominated, which is when the president selects or picks them and says that this is the person who should get the job. Then they are rejected or accepted by the U.S. Senate. Justices are not rejected very often. In fact, only 12 nominees have ever been rejected as Supreme Court justices. All the others have been confirmed (or approved when at least half of the Senate members voted for them). The leader of these nine justices is called the Chief Justice; the other eight are called Associate Justices.
When justices are confirmed (or approved), then they are appointed for life, meaning that once they become a justice they can never be forced to leave. Also, their salary (or the amount of money they make each year) can never be reduced (or made less). Because of this, the justices never have to worry about losing their jobs or losing money if they vote the wrong way or make a decision the president or other people don’t like. This is a good thing, because it means that they can rule (or make legal decisions) based on their beliefs and not to please the current president.
Because the justices serve (or work in this public job) for life, the Supreme Court has a very low turnover rate. The turnover rate is how often old people leave and new people take their place in an organization. Most of the justices serve (or work) for many, many years, often until they die or decide that they want to retire (or stop working to enjoy their old age). Since 1790, there have been only 16 Chief Justices and 97 Associate Justices. On average (or typically), they serve 15 years. Because of this, the Supreme Court has a lot of continuity (or consistency over time).
- 最高法院有多少法官?
答:九個
解釋:
最高法院是美國最重要的法院，自1790年成立以來，在許多方面都發(fā)生了變化。最高法院剛成立時，只有6名法官(或在最高法院工作的法官)。這個數(shù)字改變了6次，但自1869年以來，一直是9位大法官。
最高法院法官是由政界人士任命的。首先，他們被提名，也就是總統(tǒng)選擇他們，并說他們應(yīng)該得到這份工作的時候。然后他們被美國參議院拒絕或接受。法官不經(jīng)常被拒絕。事實(shí)上，只有12名被提名者被最高法院法官拒絕。其他的都已經(jīng)得到確認(rèn)(或至少有一半的參議院成員投票支持)。這九名大法官的領(lǐng)袖被稱為首席大法官;其他八人被稱為助理法官。
當(dāng)大法官被確認(rèn)(或批準(zhǔn))后，他們將被終身任命，這意味著一旦他們成為大法官，他們就永遠(yuǎn)不會被迫離開。此外，他們的工資(或他們每年掙的錢)永遠(yuǎn)不會減少。正因為如此，如果他們投錯了票，或做出了總統(tǒng)或其他人不喜歡的決定，法官們永遠(yuǎn)不必?fù)?dān)心失去工作或失去金錢。這是一件好事，因為這意味著他們可以根據(jù)自己的信仰進(jìn)行統(tǒng)治(或做出法律決定)，而不是取悅現(xiàn)任總統(tǒng)。
因為大法官是終身任職的，所以最高法院的人員流動率非常低。離職率是指老員工離職和新員工就職的頻率。大多數(shù)大法官任職(或工作)多年，通常直到他們?nèi)ナ阑驔Q定退休(或停止工作以享受晚年)。自1790年以來，只有16位首席大法官和97位副大法官。平均而言，他們要服務(wù)15年。正因為如此，最高法院有很多連續(xù)性(或隨著時間的推移的一致性)。
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- Who is the Chief Justice of the United States?
Answer:John Roberts (John G. Roberts, Jr.)
Explanation:The Supreme Court is the highest (or most important) court in the United States, so it makes sense that the leader of the Supreme Court, known as the Chief Justice, is the highest (or most important) judge in the U.S. government.
The Chief Justice has all the same responsibilities as the Associate Justices for hearing cases (or listening to lawsuits and stating a legal opinion). However, the Chief Justice also has many other responsibilities.
When the nine justices of the Supreme Court discuss (or talk about) cases, the Chief Justice must lead the discussion. The Chief Justice speaks first, and this gives him or her the power to influence (or affect) the discussion. The Chief Justice also makes the agenda (or plan for what will be discussed) for each weekly meeting where the justices decide which cases they are going to hear.
When the justices vote on a case, the Chief Justice’s vote is equal to (or has the same importance as) the other eight votes. However, the Chief Justice gets to decide who will write the court’s opinion (or a written document explaining what the court decided and why). Because the Chief Justice knows each justice’s writing style and opinions, he or she can pick the one who will write an opinion that describes the case as he or she would want it to be described. That is an important way for the Chief Justice to influence the work of the Supreme Court, since lawyers and other judges often go back to read the Supreme Court’s opinions and use them to make other legal decisions later.
When the U.S. president is inaugurated (or first begins working as the president), the Chief Justice states the oath (or promises that are made before entering a public office) that the new president must repeat.
The Chief Justice also must preside over (or lead) impeachment trials for the U.S. president. An impeachment trial happens when the members of Congress believe that the president is doing his or her job very poorly or has done something very wrong and want to vote to have the job of president taken away from him or her.
- 誰是美國的首席大法官?
答:約翰·羅伯茨
解釋:
最高法院是美國最高的(或最重要的)法院，所以最高法院的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)人，即首席大法官，是美國政府中最高的(或最重要的)法官是有道理的。
首席大法官與副大法官在審理案件(或聽取訴訟并陳述法律意見)方面負(fù)有同樣的責(zé)任。然而，首席大法官還有許多其他職責(zé)。
當(dāng)最高法院的九位大法官討論案件時，首席大法官必須引導(dǎo)討論。首席大法官首先發(fā)言，這賦予他或她影響(或影響)討論的權(quán)力。首席大法官還為每周一次的例會制定議程(或討論內(nèi)容的計劃)，大法官們將在會上決定他們將審理哪些案件。
當(dāng)大法官們對一個案件進(jìn)行投票時，首席大法官的投票與其他八票相等(或同等重要)。然而，首席大法官將決定由誰來撰寫法院的意見(或解釋法院裁決的內(nèi)容和理由的書面文件)。因為首席大法官了解每一位大法官的寫作風(fēng)格和觀點(diǎn)，所以他或她可以挑選一位大法官，讓他或她按照自己希望的方式來撰寫對案件的描述。這是首席大法官影響最高法院工作的一個重要途徑，因為律師和其他法官經(jīng)?；剡^頭來閱讀最高法院的意見，然后用它們來做出其他法律決定。
在美國總統(tǒng)宣誓就職(或首次以總統(tǒng)的身份就職)時，首席大法官宣布新總統(tǒng)必須重復(fù)的誓言(或在進(jìn)入公職之前所作的承諾)。
首席大法官還必須主持彈劾美國總統(tǒng)的審判。彈劾審判發(fā)生在國會議員認(rèn)為總統(tǒng)的工作做得很糟糕，或者做了一些非常錯誤的事情，想要投票剝奪他或她的總統(tǒng)職位的時候。
