托福听力短文 II-01-3

(MA) We're going to start today talking about congressional aides, that is, the people who work for our congressional representatives both in Washington and in the representatives' local districts. It used to be that members of Congress had a relatively¹ small staff of people working for them, and the role of these people wasn't of primary importance. But now there are thousands of congressional aides, and they've profoundly affected² the way the whole government works.

Congressional aides work in two different locations: one, in the congressional representatives' local offices --- the districts from which they were elected, and two, in Washington. Staff in the local offices help members of Congress stay in touch with citizens in their districts --- these citizens can bring problems in in person, or by mail or phone. This personal connection between the aides and the local people can be helpful when the next election comes around. People remember the help they get from the office of their local congressional representative.

But as you know, members of Congress have to spend most of their time in Washington taking care of their legislative³ duties. Over six thousand new laws are introduced in Congress each session. Without help, representatives would have trouble keeping up with the proposed laws that directly affect their districts. So that's why the congressional aides play a major role in Washington. They keep their bosses informed about pending⁴ legislation, organize hearings, and just keep their local congressional representatives up-to-date and informed on what's going on in other parts of Congress.

Now another thing congressional aides do is to help develop ideas for laws that their bosses can eventually propose to Congress. This can be called the staff's entrepreneurial [ahn truh pre NUR ee uhl] function --- a bit like a business executive trying to find out what products are most popular.

Congressional aides promote or encourage laws they think will be popular with the public. You've also got other employees that work for the whole Congress, not just for individual members. We'll talk about these people next.

1 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

2 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

3 legislative   

n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的

参考例句：

• Congress is the legislative branch of the U.S. government.国会是美国政府的立法部门。
• Today's hearing was just the first step in the legislative process.今天的听证会只是展开立法程序的第一步。

4 pending   

prep.直到，等待…期间；adj.待定的；迫近的

参考例句：

• The lawsuit is still pending in the state court.这案子仍在州法庭等待定夺。
• He knew my examination was pending.他知道我就要考试了。