【美国精神】第28期

Explanation:   

  The American Dream is the idea that Americans can do and become anything they want to through hard work. Children are brought up (or raised) to believe that if they work hard enough, they can even become the president of the United States. Almost any American can become president. There are three requirements for becoming president: citizenship¹, residency, and age. Let’s look at them one at a time. 

 

  To become president of the United States you must be a U.S. citizen, or someone who legally is part of the United States and who can vote here. The only exception is if you are a U.S. citizen who was born abroad (or in another country) but whose parents were both U.S. citizens.  In this case, you can still become president. Anyone else, such as an immigrant who came to the United States at a very young age, even as a baby, and became a citizen is not eligible² (or does not meet the requirements) to become president. 

 

  The second requirement for becoming president is residency (or where a person has lived and for how long). To be president, in addition to being a citizen you must also have lived in the United States for 14 years. This requirement prevents (or makes it not possible for) someone who was born in the United States but then spent his or her whole life in another country from becoming president. 

 

  Finally, there is an age requirement for becoming president. The president of the United States must be at least 35 years old. So far, the youngest president elected has been John F. Kennedy, who was 43 when he became president. There is no maximum age limit (or upper end). So far, the oldest president has been Ronald Reagan, who was 76 years old when his presidency³ ended. 

 

  And those are the only three requirements for being president. There are no restrictions⁴ or limitations on whether the president is a man or woman, what skin color the president has, what religion the president follows, or anything else. It’s all part of the idea of the great American Dream. 

 

问题：

What is the name of the President of the United States in 2005?  

Answer:   

•  George W. Bush  

•  George Bush  

•  Bush 

1 citizenship   

n.市民权，公民权，国民的义务(身份)

参考例句：

• He was born in Sweden,but he doesn't have Swedish citizenship.他在瑞典出生，但没有瑞典公民身分。
• Ten years later,she chose to take Australian citizenship.十年后，她选择了澳大利亚国籍。

2 eligible   

adj.有条件被选中的；(尤指婚姻等)合适(意)的

参考例句：

• He is an eligible young man.他是一个合格的年轻人。
• Helen married an eligible bachelor.海伦嫁给了一个中意的单身汉。

3 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

4 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制