【美国精神】第38期

Explanation:

  Everybody makes mistakes, but what happens if it is a judge (or a person who makes legal decisions in a court)? Imagine that you are in a lawsuit¹ (or a problem or argument that has to be talked about in court) and the judge rules (or decides) against you, but you still think that you are right. Your next step is an appeal, which is an official document asking a higher, more important court to rule on your lawsuit. And if that appeal fails (or doesn’t work), you might make another appeal to an even higher court. Eventually, however, there are no higher courts because you have arrived at the Supreme² Court, which is often called “the highest (or most important)

court in the United States.”

  The Supreme Court doesn’t agree to rule on all cases (or lawsuits). The Supreme Court receives more than 7,000 petitions (or requests to rule on a case) each year, but it accepts fewer than 100 of them. That is because the Supreme Court has limited time and people to do the work, and it wants to use them to rule on only the most important cases. In particular, it wants to rule on cases that are related to how federal laws are interpreted (or understood), especially when they are related to the U.S. Constitution (or the country’s most important legal document).

  The Supreme Court’s cases are very far-reaching, meaning that they have a lot of influence in American culture and law. Some of their cases are well known to most Americans. For example, one famous case known as Brown v. Board of Education made it illegal to have separate schools for white students and black students. Another famous case known as Roe³ v. Wade⁴ made abortions⁵ (the practice of ending a pregnancy⁶ so the baby is never born) legal.

  The Supreme Court meets in the Supreme Court Building in the center of Washington, DC. The building is sometimes called the “Temple of Justice” where a temple is a holy place that people build for their gods.

 

问题：

What is the highest court in the United States?

Answer:

The Supreme Court

1 lawsuit   

n.诉讼，控诉

参考例句：

• They threatened him with a lawsuit.他们以诉讼威逼他。
• He was perpetually involving himself in this long lawsuit.他使自己无休止地卷入这场长时间的诉讼。

2 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

3 roe   

n.鱼卵；獐鹿

参考例句：

• We will serve smoked cod's roe at the dinner.宴会上我们将上一道熏鳕鱼子。
• I'll scramble some eggs with roe?我用鱼籽炒几个鸡蛋好吗？

4 wade   

v.跋涉，涉水；n.跋涉

参考例句：

• We had to wade through the river to the opposite bank.我们只好涉水过河到对岸。
• We cannot but wade across the river.我们只好趟水过去。

5 abortions   

n.小产( abortion的名词复数 )；小产胎儿；（计划）等中止或夭折；败育

参考例句：

• The Venerable Master: By not having abortions, by not killing living beings. 上人：不堕胎、不杀生。 来自互联网
• Conclusion Chromosome abnormality is one of the causes of spontaneous abortions. 结论：染色体异常是导致反复自然流产的原因之一。 来自互联网

6 pregnancy   

n.怀孕，怀孕期

参考例句：

• Early pregnancy is often accompanied by nausea.怀孕早期常有恶心的现象。
• Smoking during pregnancy increases the risk of miscarriage.怀孕期吸烟会增加流产的危险。