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Projected Balance Of Power In The U.S. Senate; Controversial Traffic Project Near Ancient Monument; New Mission To The ISS.

CARL AZUZ, CNN 10 ANCHOR: The balance of power in the U.S. Senate, a down- the-middle explanation is our first subject today. I`m Carl Azuz, hope your week`s off to a good start. There`s a vote recount going on right now

in the U.S. state of Georgia.

The first results for the November 3rd presidential election showed Democratic candidate Joe Biden winning there over Republican incumbent

Donald Trump but the Democrat`s lead was slim, by less than 15,000 votes. So the state`s going through them once again to make sure they`re accurate.

It`s not just presidential votes that are in focus here. It`s votes for the U.S. Senate.

The make-up of this chamber of Congress is highly important to presidents. Who gets confirmed to their cabinets? Who gets confirmed to the Supreme

Court? How easy or difficult it is for presidents to accomplish their legislative goals? All of this can hinge on the Senate. A party needs a

simple majority of 51 seats to control it. Right now, Republicans have control with 53 seats.

Democrats have 45 seats and two Independents who vote with the Democrats have two seats. Results from this month`s election indicate that in the

next Congress which is sworn in next year. Republicans will likely control at least 50 seats. Democrats will likely control at least 48 seats.

I`m saying at least because there are two seats that haven`t been decided yet and they`re both in Georgia. That state has a runoff election
 

runoff [ˋrʌn͵ɔf] n. 决选投票

runoff election: A runoff election is a second election held to determine a winner when no candidate in the first election met the required threshold for victory.

scheduled for January 5th because none of Georgia`s Senate candidates won enough votes on November 3rd to capture a seat.

If a Republican candidate wins one or both of those races, that party will likely have control of the Senate for the next four years. If the two

Democratic candidates win both of those races, that party will likely have 50 seats in the Senate to match the likely 50 seats that Republicans have.

But analysts say that would effectively give Democrats control of the Senate because the deciding vote in a 50-50 tie would go to the Vice-

President and Democratic candidates Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have been projected to win the presidency and vice-presidency. Now, I keep using

words like likely and projected because the results from the November 3rd election haven`t been certified yet.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: From now until the 2nd week of December, states should settle their vote counts and certify the results. They all have their own

particular deadline so it won`t happen all at once and of course if there are local rules or legal challenge require a recount that could produce

some delays. But they`re all headed for the same goal saying within a few weeks we`ve settled all disputes and this is our final tally for each candidate.
 

tally [ˋtælɪ] n. 计算，清点

They must have that complete by December 14th because that is when the electors must vote. Who are they? They are 538 people from all 50 states
 

elector [ɪˋlɛktɚ] n. 选举人; 选民

chosen by the parties and they mirror the number of Senators and Representatives in each state plus the District of Columbia which gets three.
 

mirror [ˋmɪrɚ] v. to reflect, represent, or depict faithfully

This is the Electoral College. Typically, they gather at their local state houses and award their electoral votes, in most cases to whoever gathered the

most popular votes in their state. Although occasionally some break from that and cast rogue votes becoming what we call faithless electors.
 

rogue [rog] adj. 离群的; operating outside normal or desirable controls

Although the Supreme Court rule just as here, they can be punished if they take that action.

In any event, the results must be sent to Washington no later than December 23rd and then on January 6th those electoral votes are counted during a joint session of Congress

joint session 联席会议

under the watchful eye of the President of the Senate meaning Vice-President Mike Pence.

And when that count is done, he will be the first person to officially announce the names of the next president and vice-president and then on

Wednesday January 20th at noon as prescribed by the Constitution the big finish. The president and vice-president will be sworn in at the U.S.

Capitol and begin four years of leading the country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

AZUZ: 10 Second Trivia. Which of these historic structures is oldest? Stonehenge, the Great Wall of China, the Coliseum or Machu Picchu.

Researchers believe the construction on Stonehenge started in around 3,000 B.C. making it the oldest structure on this list.

A lot of mystery surrounds Stonehenge. Why it was built? How it was built? What it was used for? One thing that is not mysterious is that

there`s a lot of traffic nearby that often jams up. To deal with that, Britain`s government has just given the green light to a project that would

both widen the road that runs by Stonehenge and build a two-mile traffic tunnel that will run underground near the site.

It`s a controversial decision. The group that manages Stonehenge says a tunnel will transform the site and allow people more easily explore it and

the surrounding countryside. Supporters also say the project will reduce traffic noise around Stonehenge.

Critics say the plan will increase traffic pollution overall and that it could damage the area and any undiscovered archeological features it has.

The project is estimated to cost $2.2 billion. Sunday night, NASA and the private space company SpaceX were set to launch America`s newest mission to

the International Space Station.

It depended on the weather though. Windy conditions had delayed the first planned attempt on Saturday so officials were prepared to delay it again if

nature didn`t cooperate. The mission is called "Crew 1". It`s part of an $8 billion investment that NASA has made with SpaceX to send people into

space from U.S. soil as opposed to paying Russia for seats aboard its Soyuz spacecraft.

NASA hopes missions like this will allow the agency to shuttle more people to and fro the ISS and increase the amount of research that`s done on the
 

fro [fro] adv. 回，（离）开

20-year-old station.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ignition. Lift off of the Falcon 9 and Crew Dragon. Go NASA. Go SpaceX.
 

lift off (指火箭或航天器)发射, 升空, 起飞

falcon [ˋfɔlkən] n. 猎鹰

RACHEL CRANE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This launch marked the dawn of a new era of U.S. spaceflight. Now more than five months after that historic test

mission, four astronauts will take the next step.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For the crew, we`re ready.

CRANE: They`re headed to the International Space Station for a six month stay. It`s the first fully operational mission for the Crew Dragon

Spacecraft.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There`s a lot of firsts on this flight. A lot of amazing discoveries that are going to happen by these four amazing

astronauts over the next six months.

CRANE: Just like in May when astronauts lifted off from U.S. soil for the first time in nine years, NASA isn`t running the whole show. It partnered

with Elon Musk`s SpaceX. The private company that designed, built and operates the Crew Dragon.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It`s been 18 years working toward this goal. So, it`s -- it`s hard to believe it`s happened.

CRANE: This time NASA astronauts Victor Glover, Michael Hopkins, Shannon Walker and Japan`s Soichi Noguchi will be onboard. The diverse foursome
 

diverse [daɪˋvɝs] adj. 多种多样的；多变化的

has been training together for months. Glover will be the first black astronaut to join a long duration crew on the space station. What does it

mean to you to be a black man and an astronaut at this moment in our country`s history?

VICTOR GLOVER, U.S. ASTRONAUT: You know, I`m not immune to the -- the things going on in the world right now from the physical, insecurity that

many people are feeling to the economic insecurity. And I will say this, the overriding feeling that I have is that I want to go up there and do my
 

overriding [ˌovɚˈraɪdɪŋ] adj. 最优先的, 最主要的

job well.

CRANE: The crew named their spacecraft "Resilience" in recognition of 2020`s challenges.
 

recognition [͵rɛkəgˋnɪʃən] n. 认可

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think all of us can agree that 2020 has certainly been a-- a challenging year. Global pandemic, economic hardships, civil

unrest, isolation.

CRANE: To stay safe, astronauts have been in strict quarantine together and NASA is begging tourists not to crowd Florida`s beaches to watch the

lift off. After all, there will be more launches. NASA`s plan is for more trips to the ISS carrying new astronauts and perhaps one day private

citizens.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a -- a very exciting time for NASA and -- and these are again historic firsts.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And look at them go.

CRANE: Rachael Crane, CNN, Kennedy Space Center, Florida.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

AZUZ: Final score, the Hawks game was 108-94. Now that would make sense in professional basketball but in high school football? A score like that

would be a record. Right? In Iowa, the Remsen St. Mary`s Hawks and the Montezuma Braves put a combined total of 202 points in a single game.

That`s a state record and though Remsen St. Mary`s 108 points won the game, the 94 that Montezuma put up was still 94 points. The scoreboard couldn`t

keep up. It`s not programmed to go that high so the Hawks score appeared as infinity.
 

infinity [ɪnˋfɪnətɪ] n. 无限，无穷

They`re not just winning at football. They`re winning at math because when you "touchdown" pen to paper, you need to make "hash marks" by the "yard

just to add up a score that "rushes" past the record. "Catches" national attention and "receives" credit for such a highly "calculated" offense that

would exceed anyone`s "field goals".

Green Mountain Union High School also scores a mention today. Hello to all of our viewers watching from Chester, Vermont and who are subscribing and

commenting on our You Tube channel. I`m Carl Azuz.

END