又中又英｜To be over the hills

Who will be the next president of the United States? It’s a million-dollar question that will be answered on November 5 when Americans cast their votes. The two main candidates, Donald Trump and Joe Biden, are the oldest in US history to run for president. Biden is an octogenarian. Trump is a septuagenarian. An octogenarian is a person aged between 80 and 89. Biden is 81 years old. A septuagenarian is a person aged between 70 and 79. Trump will be 78 when the elections are held in November. A million-dollar question is a very important question that is hard to answer.

Trump, a Republican, is very popular among Republicans. Numerous Republicans competed against Trump during the primaries but dropped out when they lacked support. Only Nikki Haley, the former governor of South Carolina, is still competing against Trump in the primaries but polls show she has very little support among Republicans. It is almost a foregone conclusion that Trump will be the Republican Party nominee to run against Biden. A foregone conclusion is a result that is certain even before it happens. Biden, a Democrat, is not as popular among Democratic voters. But polls show they will still support him despite his age because they have no other choice.

Americans overall feel both Biden and Trump are too over the hill to run for president. To be over the hill means to be too old to be fit or energetic. I don’t even want to imagine if it is possible for a president who is 81 or 78 to effectively govern a superpower for a four-year term.

谁会是下任美国总统？这个重要却难答的问题（million-dollar question），要待十一月五日美国人投票后才能解答得到。两个主要的候选人：唐纳德‧特朗普以及祖‧拜登，是美国历史上年纪最大的候选人去竞逐总统之位。拜登是个 octogenarian；特朗普则是 septuagenarian。An octogenarian就是八旬老人，年龄届乎八十至八十九岁；an septuagenarian就是届乎七十至七十九岁的人。十一月大选举行时，特朗普已经七十八岁了。A million-dollar question就是一个非常重要却难以回答的问题。

共和党人特朗普，在共和党人中间很受欢迎。无数的共和党人在初选期间与特朗普较量，却都因为缺乏支持而落选。只有南卡罗来纳州州长妮基‧黑利，仍然在初选中与特朗普竞争，但民调显示她在共和党人中的支持度甚低。特朗普将会成为共和党的候选人，与拜登竞逐总统之位，差不多是个 foregone conclusion了——a  foregone conclusion是已成定局，在一切发生之前已经可以预料得到结果了。民主党人拜登，在民主党选民中可不那么受欢迎了。然而，民调显示，尽管他年事已高，他们仍然会支持他，因为他们已别无他选。

美国人总体上亦感到，让拜登和特朗普二人去竞选总统，都太over the hill——to be over the hill就是人老珠黄，太老或太没有活力。我甚至都不敢想像，一个八十一岁或七十八岁的总统，要在四年任期内有效地管治一个超级大国，真的可能吗？

mickchug@gmail.com
Michael Chugani褚简宁
中译：七刻

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