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.

誰會是下任美國總統？這個重要卻難答的問題（million-dollar question），要待十一月五日美國人投票後才能解答得到。兩個主要的候選人：唐納德‧特朗普以及祖‧拜登，是美國歷史上年紀最大的候選人去競逐總統之位。拜登是個 octogenarian；特朗普則是 septuagenarian。An octogenarian就是八旬老人，年齡屆乎八十至八十九歲；an septuagenarian就是屆乎七十至七十九歲的人。十一月大選舉行時，特朗普已經七十八歲了。A million-dollar question就是一個非常重要卻難以回答的問題。

共和黨人特朗普，在共和黨人中間很受歡迎。無數的共和黨人在初選期間與特朗普較量，卻都因為缺乏支持而落選。只有南卡羅來納州州長妮基‧黑利，仍然在初選中與特朗普競爭，但民調顯示她在共和黨人中的支持度甚低。特朗普將會成為共和黨的候選人，與拜登競逐總統之位，差不多是個 foregone conclusion了——a  foregone conclusion是已成定局，在一切發生之前已經可以預料得到結果了。民主黨人拜登，在民主黨選民中可不那麼受歡迎了。然而，民調顯示，儘管他年事已高，他們仍然會支持他，因為他們已別無他選。

美國人總體上亦感到，讓拜登和特朗普二人去競選總統，都太over the hill——to be over the hill就是人老珠黃，太老或太沒有活力。我甚至都不敢想像，一個八十一歲或七十八歲的總統，要在四年任期內有效地管治一個超級大國，真的可能嗎？

mickchug@gmail.com
Michael Chugani褚簡寧
中譯：七刻