纪录片《美国商业大亨传奇》 掌控全局(27)

90% of eligible¹ voters go to the polls, roughly double recent turnouts.

90％的合格选民都去投票了 大约是近期的一倍多

In the 1890s voting was a public act and on one side there was the Republican ballot² box and on the other side was the Democratic ballot box.

在19世纪90年代投票是公开的 一边是投给共和党的投票箱 另一边是投给民主党的投票箱

And so your foreman or an agent of your foreman could see who you voted for.

所以工头或者工头代理能够看出你是投给谁的

So there was a certain coercion³ that was employed by the Republicans upon those urban workers.

因此共和党对这些城镇职工施加了一定的压力

They might well have decided⁴ what they decided on their own but this simply made it easier for them to decide that.

他们可能有自己的决定 但是这样一来 他们决定起来就简单了

When the polls close, the nation's future hangs in the balance.

投票结束 国家的前途未卜

For 20 long hours Carnegie, Morgan and Rockefeller agonize⁵ over the results.

在漫长的二十小时里 卡内基 摩根与洛克菲勒都在苦等结果

Not knowing whether the modern country they helped to build will still be the same when all the ballots⁶ are counted.

不知道选票统计完毕后 他们帮助建立的现代化国家 还能不能维持原样

America is at a crossroads.

美国正处在一个十字路口

A small group of men have created the modern country, building unimagined empires in oil, steel and electricity.

一小群人建立起了现代化国家 打造了难以想象的石油 钢铁以及电力帝国

But now, those empires are being threatened.

但现在这些帝国正在受到威胁

1 eligible   

adj.有条件被选中的；(尤指婚姻等)合适(意)的

参考例句：

• He is an eligible young man.他是一个合格的年轻人。
• Helen married an eligible bachelor.海伦嫁给了一个中意的单身汉。

2 ballot   

n.（不记名）投票，投票总数，投票权；vi.投票

参考例句：

• The members have demanded a ballot.会员们要求投票表决。
• The union said they will ballot members on whether to strike.工会称他们将要求会员投票表决是否罢工。

3 coercion   

n.强制，高压统治

参考例句：

• Neither trickery nor coercion is used to secure confessions.既不诱供也不逼供。
• He paid the money under coercion.他被迫付钱。

4 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

5 agonize   

v.使受苦，使苦闷

参考例句：

• Why do you agonize yourself with the thought of your failure?你为何总是对于你的失败念念不忘而自我折磨呢？
• There's no reason to agonize over telling people you're job hunting.没有理由为告诉他人你正在找工作而感到苦恼。

6 ballots   

n.投票表决( ballot的名词复数 )；选举；选票；投票总数v.（使）投票表决( ballot的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• They're counting the ballots. 他们正在计算选票。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The news of rigged ballots has rubbed off much of the shine of their election victory. 他们操纵选票的消息使他们在选举中获得的胜利大为减色。 来自《简明英汉词典》