17.What are the two parts of the U.S. Congress?
17.美国国会的两个部分是？
Answer: The Senate and House (of Representatives)
答案：参议院和众议院
Explanation: In the United States, the word Congress is used to refer to (or talk about) the legislative (or lawmaking) part of American government.
解释：在美国，“国会”一词是用来指美国政府的立法机构。
Most people know this meaning of the word.
大多数人都知道这个词的这层含义。
But did you know that there is another meaning of the word congress?
但你知道“国会”这个词的另外一层含义吗？
Congress also means a meeting of legislators (or the people who make laws).
国会还有议员会议的意思（或者说是制定法律的人）。
In the U.S. government, you will hear both meanings of this word used.
在美国政府中，你会听到这个词的两种意思都在使用。
In fact, a new congress—meaning a new meeting—starts every two years.
事实上，新的国会——意思是新的会议——每两年召开一次。
The first congress was held in 1774.
第一届国会在1774年召开。
The current congress, then, is the 110th Congress, which first convened (or met) on January 4, 2007.
当前的国会，也就是第110届国会，它首次在2007年1月4号召开。
When the first congress was held in 1774, Congress was still unicameral, meaning that it had only one part or group of legislators.
1774年第一届国会召开时，国会仍然是单院制，意思是它只有一部分或一组立法者。
However, the leaders of the country very quickly realized (or noticed) that the new American government was not very efficient (or didn't do things very quickly or very well), so they wanted to change the system.
但是，美国国家领导人很快就意识到，新政府的效率低下，因此他们打算改变这种制度。
译文为秀哈英语翻译，未经授权请勿转载！
