【美国精神】第46期

Explanation:

  Senators, representatives, and the president of the United States almost all have political affiliations² (or membership in a political party), but not necessarily the same ones. Sometimes most of the members of Congress have the same political affiliation¹ that the president does. When that happens, making laws is usually easy, because Congress and the president have the same beliefs about what the government should do. Congress makes laws and the president approves them.

  At other times, things don’t work as smoothly³ (or easily). Congress has one political affiliation, but the president has another political affiliation. When that happens, it is more difficult to make laws, because Congress and the president do not agree on what the government should do. Congress might pass a law, but when it goes to the president for approval, he or she may not sign it (or put his or her name on it to show that it is okay to make it a law).

  Whether or not Congress and the President have the same political affiliation can change during an administration (or the period of time when one person is serving or working as president). That’s because the president is elected every four years, but Congress is elected more often. Members of the House of Representatives are elected every two years. Members of the Senate are elected for six years, but one third (or 33%) of them are elected every two years, so the political affiliation of the majority (or the bigger part, more than 50% of the members) can change every two years.

  This means that a president might begin his or her administration or term with a Congress that has a majority (or over 50%) of its members from the same party, but at the end of the administration, the situation might have reversed itself (or become the opposite). Presidents try to take advantage of (or use the opportunity to get the most or best results) the time when the majority of Congress members have the same political affiliation, because this is when the president can most easily pursue (or try to get) his or her agenda (or the plan of what a person wants to get done while working in a public job).

 

问题：

What is the political party of the President now?

Answer:

Democratic (Party)

1 affiliation   

n.联系，联合

参考例句：

• There is no affiliation between our organization and theirs,even though our names are similar.尽管两个组织的名称相似，但我们之间并没有关系。
• The kidnappers had no affiliation with any militant group.这些绑架者与任何军事组织都没有紧密联系。

2 affiliations   

n.联系( affiliation的名词复数 )；附属机构；亲和性；接纳

参考例句：

• She had affiliations of her own in every capital. 她原以为自己在欧洲各国首府都有熟人。 来自辞典例句
• The society has many affiliations throughout the country. 这个社团在全国有很多关系。 来自辞典例句

3 smoothly   

adv.平滑地，顺利地，流利地，流畅地

参考例句：

• The workmen are very cooperative,so the work goes on smoothly.工人们十分合作，所以工作进展顺利。
• Just change one or two words and the sentence will read smoothly.这句话只要动一两个字就顺了。