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But then the question becomes: What happens if all 15 people die and are unable to serve as president?
但问题又来了：要是这15个人都死了、无法履行总统职责该怎么办？
Actually, there is no answer to that question.
事实上，这个问题没有答案。
U.S. law lists only these 15 positions.
美国法律只列出了这15个职务。
If they all die at the same time, then there wouldn't be a clear president of the country.
如果他们同时死了，那这个国家就没有总统了。
But instead of extending the list (or making it longer), our government tries to avoid (or not let happen) the possibility of all 15 people dying at once.
但我们政府的做法不是扩大这个名单（或使名单变得更长），而是尽力避免（或不让发生）15个人同时死去的可能性。
How does the government do this?
政府是怎么做的？
The government never lets the president and all of his or her successors be in the same place at the same time.
政府从不让总统和其所有继任者同时同地出现。
For example, once a year the president makes a State of the Union Address, which is a long speech about how well the country is doing that year.
当总统在做一年一度的国情咨文演说时，介绍过去一年这个国家的表现，
Almost all of the important members of the government go to hear the State of the Union,
几乎所有政府要员都会去聆听这个国情咨文演说。
but one of the people who is on the succession list is always kept away from the rest of the people that day.
但是只有一个人例外，这个人出现在继任者名单上，在演说那天会和其他人隔离起来，
He or she has to go to another hidden (or secret) place while the president is speaking.
当总统演讲的时候，他或她必须躲到一个隐秘的地方。
That way, if the building is attacked during the State of the Union,
这样的话，就算演说大厅遭到袭击，
there will still be one person alive who is on the succession list, and he or she can become president.
总有一个继任者存活下来，并担负起总统大任。
译文为可可英语翻译，未经授权请勿转载！
