When people want to participate in their government, they should contact (or speak with or write to) their senators and other representatives.
当人们想要参与到政府事务中来的时候，就应该联系（与之交谈或写信）他们的参议员和其他代表。
Each of the senators has only one vote, so one senator is not more powerful than another senator.
每个参议员都只能投一票，因此一个参议员的权力不会比其他参议员的权力更大。
However, there are some special roles (or positions) in the Senate.
但是，参议院中有一些特殊的职位。
For example, the vice president of the United States is the president of the Senate, but can vote only to break a tie, which is when an equal number of senators vote for and against something.
比如，美国副总统是参议院主席，但其只能投打破僵局的票，也就是在正反双方表决结果平手的时候。
The senators also elect a president pro tem who acts as the president of the Senate when the vice president of the United States cannot participate.
当美国副总统不在场时，参议员也可以选出参议院临时主席代行主席职务。
A political party is a group of people who have the same political beliefs and belong to the same political organization.
政党就是一群有着相同政治信仰并属于相同政治组织的人。
In the U.S., there are currently two major political parties: the Democrats and the Republicans.
美国目前有两大政党：民主党和共和党。
In the Senate, each political party elects a leader.
在参议院里，每个政党选出一名领导。
The leader of the party with the most number of senators is known as the majority leader and the leader for the party with fewer senators is called the minority leader.
担任院内多数席位政党的参议员被称为多数党领袖，担任院内少数席位政党的参议员被称为少数党领袖，
These people are sometimes called the floor leaders.
这些人有时又被称为议席领袖。
They are the spokespeople, or the people who represent the political party in public.
他们是其政党的发言人，或者说他们是党对外的代表。
译文为秀哈英语翻译，未经授权请勿转载！
