【美国精神】第2期

Explanation:

   The United States would be a very different country if it did not have the U.S. Constitution, because it does three very important things. First, it sets up (or organizes) the government, just like you would organize any organization or business. The U.S. Constitution divides the government into three branches (or parts): the legislative¹ branch, the executive branch, and the judicial² branch. The legislative branch creates (or makes) the new laws. The executive branch enforces(or makes sure people follow) the laws. The judicial branch is the court system, which interprets (or decides what something means in) the laws and determines (or decides) who is guilty of breaking (or going against) the laws.

 

   All three branches are important. The Constitution makes the branches share power equally, which means that no one branch is stronger than the others. One branch cannot take all the power for itself. We call this sharing “checks and balances.” To check here means to control, and to balance means to make things equal. These checks and balances help control the three branches and keep them equal to each other. If one branch tries to take too much power, one of the other branches can put a stop to it.

 

   The second important thing that the Constitution does is to guarantee (or promise and protect) the rights of all Americans. The representatives at the Constitutional Convention didn’t want the government interfering³ too much in the lives of the people. So they wrote a list of rights – a list of things that everyone could do – and made them part of the Constitution. These are rights that the federal government

guarantees. The federal government is the national government, which makes laws for all of the states.     There are also state governments that make laws for each individual state.

 

   The third thing the Constitution does is to define (or explain) what powers the states have and what powers the federal government has. The states have to make laws that agree with the U.S. Constitution, since the Constitution is the supreme⁴ (or highest) law in the country.

 

问题：

What does the Constitution do?

Answer:

• It sets up the government

• It defines the government

• It protects the basic rights of Americans

1 legislative   

n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的

参考例句：

• Congress is the legislative branch of the U.S. government.国会是美国政府的立法部门。
• Today's hearing was just the first step in the legislative process.今天的听证会只是展开立法程序的第一步。

2 judicial   

adj.司法的，法庭的，审判的，明断的，公正的

参考例句：

• He is a man with a judicial mind.他是个公正的人。
• Tom takes judicial proceedings against his father.汤姆对他的父亲正式提出诉讼。

3 interfering   

adj. 妨碍的 动词interfere的现在分词

参考例句：

• He's an interfering old busybody! 他老爱管闲事！
• I wish my mother would stop interfering and let me make my own decisions. 我希望我母亲不再干预，让我自己拿主意。

4 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。