When a senator receives many letters from his or her constituency (or the people who live in an area that the senator represents),
当参议员收到许多来自他或她选民（或者是说生活在参议员所代表的地区的居民）的书信时，
then the senator knows that the topic is important for many of the people who elected him or her.
参议员就会知道这个议题对很多选举他或她的人来说是非常重要的。
This information might help the senator decide to vote a certain way.
这样的信息有助于参议员下定投票的决心。
Sometimes the people who organize letter-writing campaigns have pre-printed (or already written) letters that people can just sign (or write one's name) and send to the senator's office.
有时候，组织投书运动的人会预先印好人们可以直接在上面签名的书信，然后送至参议员办公室。
Other organizations request (or ask) that people write their own letter.
其它组织会要求人们亲自写信。
This is more effective than a pre-printed letter,
这比预先印好书信的方式更有效率。
because it shows the senator that that person cares enough about the topic to take the time to write a letter about it.
因为它向参议员表明这个人足够关心该议题，愿意花时间写关于该议题的信。
Sometimes people also call their senator's office when they have strong feelings about a topic.
有时候，当人们非常关心某个议题时，他们还会给他们参议员的办公室打电话。
If you are a citizen of the United States and you want to find out who your senator is and to get his or her contact information, such as their address, telephone number, or email address,
如果你是美国公民，你想知道你的参议员是谁和他或她的联系信息，例如他们的地址、电话号码或电子邮件地址，
you can go to the official website for the U.S. Senate and look at the list of senators representing all 50 states.
你可以去美国参议院官网查看代表所有50个州的参议员名单。
译文为秀哈英语翻译，未经授权请勿转载！
