Why do Americans vote on Tuesdays?

426,429 views ・ 2012-04-10

TED-Ed


Please double-click on the English subtitles below to play the video.

Translator: Christie Cheng Reviewer: Alan Watson
00:14
I want to tell you all about a piece of American history
0
14647
2707
我想同大家講一段非常秘密嘅美國歷史
00:17
that is so secret,
1
17378
1150
00:19
that nobody has done anything about it for 167 years,
2
19522
5346
秘密到過去 167 年嚟冇人 對呢段歷史做過任何嘢
00:24
until right now.
3
24892
1202
直到以家先至有人著手
00:26
And the way that we're going to uncover this vestigial organ of America past
4
26456
3977
而我哋揭開呢段美國秘史嘅方法
00:30
is by asking this question:
5
30457
1286
就係問:點解?
00:32
Why?
6
32272
1150
00:34
As we all know --
7
34493
1197
我哋都知道
00:35
(Laughter)
8
35714
2003
(笑聲)
00:37
we are in the middle of another presidential election,
9
37741
2574
新一屆總統選舉進行得如火如荼
大家都睇到火藥味仲好重
00:40
hotly contested, as you can see.
10
40339
1563
00:41
(Laughter)
11
41926
1000
00:42
But what you may not know is that American voter turnout
12
42950
3084
但你可能唔知道
美國嘅投票率喺世界排名排到好後
00:46
ranks near the bottom of all countries in the entire world,
13
46058
3701
00:49
138th of 172 nations.
14
49783
2848
172 個國家之中,排第 138 位
00:52
This is the world's most famous democracy.
15
52655
2149
但美國係世界上民主最出名嘅國家
00:55
So ...
16
55928
1150
所以,點解我哋要揀喺星期二投票?
00:59
Why do we vote on Tuesday?
17
59592
1714
01:02
Does anybody know?
18
62766
1150
有冇人知?
01:05
And as a matter of fact, Michigan and Arizona are voting today.
19
65450
3136
其實今日係密芝根州 同亞利桑拿州嘅投票日
01:08
Here's the answer:
20
68610
1248
答案係:冇特別原因
01:10
Absolutely no good reason whatsoever.
21
70875
2120
01:13
(Laughter)
22
73019
1001
我唔係講笑
01:14
I'm not joking.
23
74044
1150
01:16
You will not find the answer in the Declaration of Independence,
24
76590
3000
無論喺美國獨立宣言抑或憲法裏面
01:19
nor will you find it in the Constitution.
25
79614
2019
你亦都唔會搵到答案
01:21
It is just a stupid law from 1845.
26
81657
3249
而呢條,只係 1845 年訂立嘅蠢法例
01:24
(Laughter)
27
84930
5197
(笑聲)
1845 年嘅美國人以馬車作為交通工具
01:30
In 1845, Americans traveled by horse and buggy.
28
90151
2810
01:33
As did I, evidently.
29
93611
1150
就好似片中嘅我咁
01:34
It took a day to get to the county seat to vote, a day to get back,
30
94785
3163
選民需要花至少兩日來回縣城投票
01:37
and you couldn't travel on the Sabbath, so, Tuesday it was.
31
97972
3455
而佢哋又唔可以喺星期日出門
所以投票日定喺星期二
01:42
I don't often travel by horse and buggy, I would imagine most of you don't,
32
102654
3605
我就好少坐馬車
我諗你哋都好少
當我聽到頭先個解釋嘅時候 覺得好神奇
01:46
so when I found out about this, I was fascinated.
33
106283
2319
所以我聯絡一個叫 「點解係星期二?仲有咩?」嘅組織
01:48
I linked up with a group called, what else -- "Why Tuesday?"
34
108626
2918
去問一啲國內知名、獲選嘅政治領袖
01:51
to go and ask our nation's most prominent elected leaders
35
111568
2734
睇佢哋知唔知呢條問題嘅答案
01:54
if they knew the answer to the question,
36
114326
2054
01:56
"Why do we vote on Tuesday?"
37
116404
2118
「點解我哋喺星期二投票?」
01:59
(Video) Rick Santorum: Anybody knows? OK, I'm going to be stumped on this.
38
119806
3504
(影片)Rick Santorum: 有冇人知呀?
好啦,雖然好冒昧
但有冇人知道點解 我哋㨂喺星期二投票呀?
02:03
Anybody knows why we vote on Tuesdays?
39
123334
1860
記者:你知唔知呀?
02:05
Jacob Soboroff: Do you happen to know? Ron Paul: On Tuesdays?
40
125218
2983
Ron Paul:訂喺星期二?
記者:11 月第一個星期二
02:08
JS: The day after the first Monday in November.
41
128225
2191
Ron Paul:我唔知點解係咁
02:10
RP: I don't know how that originated.
42
130440
1850
記者:你知唔知點解 我哋喺星期二投票?
02:12
JS: Do you know why we do vote on Tuesday? Newt Gingrich: No.
43
132314
2954
Newt Gingrich:唔知
02:15
Dick Lugar: No, I don't. (Laughter)
44
135292
1916
Dick Lugar:我唔知
02:17
Dianne Feinstein: I don't. Darrell Issa: No.
45
137232
2458
Dianne Feinstein:唔知
Darrell Issa:唔知
02:19
John Kerry: In truth, really, I'm not sure why.
46
139714
3398
John Kerry:講真,我唔知點解
02:23
JS: OK, thanks very much.
47
143136
1247
02:24
(Laughter)
48
144407
2843
(笑聲)
02:27
JS: These are people that live for election day,
49
147274
2412
講者︰呢啲以選票搵食嘅人 都唔知點解我哋喺嗰日投票
02:29
yet they don't know why we vote on that very day.
50
149710
2286
02:32
(Laughter)
51
152020
1313
02:33
Chris Rock said, "They don't want you to vote.
52
153357
3185
Chris Rock 話︰ 「因為政府唔想我哋投票。
02:36
If they did, we wouldn't vote on a Tuesday in November.
53
156566
2611
如果政府想我哋投, 就唔會喺十一月嘅一個星期二搞。
02:39
Have you ever thrown a party on a Tuesday?
54
159201
2451
你會唔會喺星期二開派對?
02:41
(Laughter)
55
161676
1255
02:42
No, of course not. Nobody would show up."
56
162955
2255
梗係唔會啦,因為冇人會嚟!」
02:45
(Laughter)
57
165234
3037
(笑聲)
02:48
Here's the cool part.
58
168295
1161
嚟到犀利嘅部分
02:49
Because we asked this question, "Why Tuesday?"
59
169480
2350
因為我哋問咗 「點解係星期二」呢個問題
02:51
there is now this bill, the Weekend Voting Act
60
171854
2185
依家有人喺美國國會裏面提議 「週末投票」嘅法案
02:54
in the Congress of the United States of America.
61
174063
2239
02:56
It would move election day from Tuesday to the weekend,
62
176326
3073
通過咗嘅話 投票日就會由星期二改去週末
02:59
so that -- duh -- more people can vote.
63
179423
2210
咁做,唔使問阿貴,都知多啲人會投票
03:01
(Applause)
64
181657
4476
(掌聲)
03:06
It has only taken 167 years,
65
186157
2681
用咗 167 年
03:08
but finally, we are on the verge of changing American history.
66
188862
3535
我哋終於開始改變美國歷史
03:12
Thank you very much.
67
192421
1170
多謝各位
03:13
(Applause)
68
193615
3361
(掌聲)
多謝
03:17
Thanks a lot.
69
197000
1168
03:18
(Applause)
70
198192
2483
About this website

This site will introduce you to YouTube videos that are useful for learning English. You will see English lessons taught by top-notch teachers from around the world. Double-click on the English subtitles displayed on each video page to play the video from there. The subtitles scroll in sync with the video playback. If you have any comments or requests, please contact us using this contact form.

https://forms.gle/WvT1wiN1qDtmnspy7