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Surprises often come in boxes. Birthday presents wrapped in colorful paper, brown paper packages mailed from a friend. No matter what kind of box it is, people like to open it up and see what's inside. In America, and in many other countries, one special kind of box contains the future. It's called a ballot box. What people put into the box on election day can change the course of history.
驚奇常常是在箱子里出現：包在彩色包裝紙里面的生日禮物…朋友寄來牛皮紙包的包裹…不論是怎樣的箱子，人們喜歡打開來看看里面是什么。在美國以及其它許多國家，有一個特殊的箱子關系著未來，稱為投票箱。人們在選舉日投在箱子里的東西可以改變歷史的走向。
Elections are the lifeblood of a democracy. The word democracy literally means "the people rule," an important concept in America's history. In the mid-1700s, England began passing laws that made the American colonies angry. The colonists had to pay more and more taxes and enjoyed less and less freedom. They felt the government of England didn't represent their interests. On July 4, 1776, the colonies declared their independence from England. They wanted to establish a democracy where people could have a voice in government.
選舉是民主的原動力。民主這個字照字面的意思是“人民自主”，是美國歷史中一個重要的觀念。十八世紀中期，英國開始通過一些使美國殖民地憤怒的法律。殖民地人民必須付愈來愈多的稅，享有愈來愈少的自由。他們感到英國政府沒有代表他們的權益。一七七六年七月四日，殖民地宣布脫離英國獨立。他們想要建立民主制度，使人們在政府中有發言權。
An effective democracy holds regular elections. In America, elections are held every two years for members of Congress. In these elections, all seats in the House of Representatives and one-third of the Senate seats are up for grabs. In addition, every four years, voters go to the polls to elect the nation's president and vice-president. Voters also regularly cast their ballots for state and city government leaders and local school board members. Sometimes they also have to vote on a proposed law.
有效的民主制度定期舉行選舉。在美國，每兩年選一次國會議員。在這些選舉中，人們可以爭取所有眾議院的席位和三分之一的參議院席位。除此以外，選民每四年去投票所選出國家的總統和副總統。選民也定期投票選出州長、市長及當地學校的董事會成員。有時他們也必須投票決定提議的法律。
