又中又英｜A razor-thin election

Americans will cast their votes next Tuesday, November 5, in the most divisive presidential election in modern times. All the polls show it will be a nail-biting event. It will be even more of a nail-biter if there is no clear winner after voting closes in all the 50 states. This is possible because polls show it is a razor-thin election. A nail-biting event or a nail-biter means a very exciting or worrying situation because you don’t know how it will end. A razor-thin election is an election in which the winner wins by only a small number of votes.

Vice President Kamala Harris of the Democratic Party and former President Donald Trump of the Republican Party both know this is a razor-thin election that could be decided by just a few thousand votes in each of the seven battleground states. A battleground or swing state, as I explained before, means a state where the Democrats and Republicans have similar voter support. That’s why both candidates have campaigned many times in the battleground states. They are also spending millions of dollars on TV, radio, and digital platform ads attacking each other.

I am now in Atlanta in the battleground state of Georgia. I see these ads every time I turn on the TV. Campaigning has reached the home stretch with just days to go before election day. The home stretch is the final part of something, such as a horse race or political campaigning. Harris and Trump are now making their final arguments at rallies and with attack ads.

美国人将于下星期二，十一月五日，近代最分化的总统大选之中投票。所有的民调均显示，那将会是一个非常紧凑刺激的局面（nail-biting event）。要是在五十个州的投票皆完成以后，还没有明显的胜出者，那就将会更加令人焦急万分（nail-biter）。这是有可能的，因为民调显示这是一个势均力敌的选举 （razor-thin election）。A nail-biting event或 a nail-biter 是指一个非常刺激或令人焦虑万分的局面，因为你不知道它将会走向怎样的结局。A razor-thin election就是在一个选举中，当选者只是以些微的票数险胜。

民主党的副总统贺锦丽以及共和党的前总统唐纳德‧特朗普，都知道这是一场斗得难分难解的选举（razor-thin election），最终很可能取决于七个 battleground states中每个州的几千票之差而已。正如我之前解释过的，a battleground或swing state就是战场州、摇摆州，在这些州分中民主党和共和党有非常接近的选民支持。因此，两名候选人都在这些战场州（battleground states）之中为竞选宣传过许多遍。他们也花了数以百万美元计的经费，在电视、电台和电子媒体平台上投放广告，攻击对手。

我现身处战场州（battleground state）乔治亚州的亚特兰大。我每次打开电视，便会见到这些广告。距离选举日只有数天，竞选活动已进入 home stretch—— home stretch是最后阶段，例如赛马或政治竞选活动的最后直路。贺锦丽与特朗普现在都于集会和攻击广告中作最后的辩论。

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Michael Chugani褚简宁
中译：七刻