For example, the Nineteenth Amendment changed something very important for half of the country—it gave women the right to vote in 1920.
例如,第十九条修正案作出的改变对支撑这半个国家的人来说非常重要——它在1920年赋予了女性选举权。
Before then, women were not allowed to vote.
在此之前,女性不能投票。
This Amendment forced society to change the way it thought about women and it eventually led to other changes and more equal rights for women in the United States.
这条修正案迫使整个社会改变对女性的固有观念并最终促成了其它的改变、使美国女性获得了更多的平等权。
A proposed amendment (or one that has been suggested but not yet approved) must be approved by both the Senate and the House of Representatives.
修正案议案(或者说是已经提出但未被通过的修正案)必须由参议院和众议院议员批准通过。
Once it is approved by the Senate and the House of Representatives,
一经参议院和众议院议员批准通过,
the amendment must be approved by three-fourths (or 75%) of the states before it can be added to the Constitution.
它还必须由四分之三的州批准通过才能添加到宪法当中。
The Constitution says that another way to make amendments is to have another Constitutional Convention (or meeting of the states' representatives), but this has never been done.
宪法规定了另外一个产生修正案的办法,那就是召开另一个制宪会议(也就是州代表会议),但这个办法从未实行过。
The U.S. presidents do not participate in the passage (or approval) of an amendment,
美国总统不参与修正案的批准,
but they can tell the public what they think about it.
但他们可以对修正案发表看法。
Currently, there are 27 amendments to the Constitution.
目前,宪法有二十七条修正案。
The first 10 are collectively (or as a group) known as the Bill of Rights.
前十条修正案统称为《权利法案》。
The amendments included in the Bill of Rights were added long ago, in 1791.
包括《权利法案》在内的修正案早在1791就添加到了宪法当中。
The most recent amendment (Amendment 27) was ratified (or approved) in 1992.
最近的修正案也就是第二十七条修正案在1992年获得通过。