双语阅读：还有2周就101岁的百岁老人第15次参加总统选举投票
这位百岁选民在大选前分享了她的投票建议，列出了她这辈子最喜欢的总统
翻译：涂博士（微信号：jefftu95）
切斯特菲尔德县 – 玛贝尔·库克（Mabel Cook）的年龄比妇女投票权的年龄还要长。在10月28日她101岁生日之前，她行使了她的投票权。
在上周，这位经历了18位总统的百岁老人兴高采烈地完成了她的第15次总统选举投票。她人生中的第一次总统选举投票给了富兰克林·D·罗斯福，此后她一直坚持参加总统选举投票，直到现在。她没有参与其人生中的其他四个总统（伍德罗·威尔逊，沃伦·哈丁，加尔文·柯立芝或赫伯特·胡佛）的投票的唯一原因是因为她当时太年轻了，还没有投票的资格。
高龄的库克（Cook）现在通过履行公民职责参与投票来践行她的娘家姓“责任（Duty）”的含义（译者注：美国人结婚后一般会改名随夫家姓，库克是她现在的姓，她的娘家姓是Duty，在英语中是责任的意思）。
库克说：“我觉得人们参与投票非常重要。而且，那些不投票的人没有权利来抱怨，因为他们本应该通过参与投票来帮助解决他们抱怨的问题。”
尽管直到1920年美国才正式将赋予妇女投票权纳入宪法，但相关的提案在国会提出的时间是1919年，这比Mabel Dorothy Duty在弗吉尼亚州罗素县的一个农场里出生的时间还是要早五个月。
库克在切斯特菲尔德县的女儿乔伊斯·博伊德（Joyce Boyd）说：“玛贝尔是11个兄弟姐妹中的老三。”
在这11个人中，库克和两个妹妹还在世，一个94岁的妹妹在阿宾登（Abingdon），另一个80多岁的妹妹在亚特兰大市生活。
1920年8月18日，在库克（Cook）距离她的一岁生日还有大约三个月的时候，第19条宪法修正案在国会获得通过。
在距离101岁生日不到两周的时候，库克在她的四个孩子，六个孙子和九个曾孙的在场陪同下愉快地投下了一票。
博伊德说：“从伍德罗·威尔逊开始，她一生中经历了18位总统，其中她投票给了14位总统。”
根据库克的说法，她过去投票给了以下总统：富兰克林·罗斯福[D]，哈里·杜鲁门[D]，德怀特·D·艾森豪威尔[R]，约翰·肯尼迪[D]，林登·约翰逊[D] ]，理查德·尼克松[R]，杰拉尔德·福特[R]，吉米·卡特[D]，罗纳德·里根[R]，乔治·H·W·布什[R]，比尔·克林顿[D]，乔治·W·布什[R]，巴拉克·奥巴马[Barack Obama] D]，唐纳德·特朗普[R]。
库克说：“我认为艾森豪威尔是一位伟大的总统。”
博伊德说：“她的父亲很钦佩艾森豪威尔，在墙上还挂着艾森豪威尔的照片。”
她对共和党和民主党会更偏爱其中一方吗？库克说：“我投票给我认为能称职的人。”
库克机智地补充道。“有时候，我觉得我父亲会开枪毙了我，因为我投票给民主党人了。”
当被问及有没有记忆中非常难忘的选举，库克说：“在大萧条之后，当然，当时美国负债累累，胡佛不欠任何人的……我能理解……就像我们现在所做的那样。在大萧条中生活很艰难，幸好我们生活在一个农场里，有很多东西可以吃。上帝给了我们所有的美好的生活。”
她告诉她的孩子和孙辈在投票中要自己做出明智的决定。
库克说：“你知道……如今，孩子们比我们小的时候更聪明。他们什么都知道，他们比我了解得多。”
库克说：“我会告诉他们去听候选人之间的辩论会，然后再去判断他们认为谁会做得最好。”
博伊德评论说：“她很高兴现在还活着，而且还能出去投票。”
库克说：“四年之后我可能就不在了，所以，我要好好利用好今天。”
切斯特菲尔德县选举委员会主席解释了路边投票是怎么一回事。
苏珊·比尔斯（Susan Beals）介绍道：“路边投票适用于65岁以上或有残障的任何人。选民过来先停在登记办公室的橙色交通锥的地方，把身份证给我们，我们还会要求您报出您的姓名和地址，然后我们进到里面在选民登记簿上核实您的信息，核实无误后我们帮您把选票带出来，您在选票上标好您的选择后，我们帮您把选票拿到里面去扫描，然后我们出来送您一个“我已投票”的徽章。”
在库克一生中发生了1918-1919年的流感大流行，这是有记载的世界历史上最严重的流行病。 她说她对目前的新冠疫情很担心。
库克说：“哦，是的，我很担心，因为我知道这很危险。我注射流感疫苗已有一段时间了。我不怕普通流感，但他们说，这个新冠病毒要严重得多。我们没试过都不知道它的厉害，我可不希望自己去试试。”
库克说：“我的妈妈坚信用各种茶来预防感冒和流感。其中有些茶的味道太难喝了，但不管味道好坏，我们都不得不喝掉它，不过90％的时间这些茶还是管用的。”
库克补充说：“如果我妈妈还在世的话，她会给我们制作各种各样的热茶。她会做这种叫作兰草茶的东西，非常的苦，我把它叫做杂草。”
库克说，她知道她现在要选一个什么样的总统。她说：“我不希望他提高税收。要降低税收，还要看到药品价格的下降，有太多的病人买不起药了。”
重大时刻到了。
因为库克没有戴老花镜，因此她的从田纳西州金斯波特市过来度假的孙子柯蒂斯·利顿（Curtis Litton）签署了一份“协助表格”，这样他就可以帮助库克投票。
“这位年轻女士，请问您准备好了吗？”利顿对他的奶奶说。 “现在是投票的时候了。”
库克的孙子向她念了候选人名单，并填写了她的选择。
柯蒂斯·利顿（Curtis Litton）不知道怎么念竞选国会议员的斯潘伯格（Spanberger）和弗雷塔斯（Freitas）这两个人的名字，但是他的祖母对这两个候选人却很熟悉。
利顿的这句话把他祖母给逗笑了：“如果您愿意，任何时候我们都可以填上米老鼠的名字。”
完成勾选后，柯蒂斯·利顿（Curtis Litton）在比尔斯（Beals）没有触碰的情况下将选票交给了祖母，这样就不会有任何不符合程序的不当之处。
她的愿望实现了。
柯蒂斯·利顿问道：“哎，奶奶，您是想自己走进去投票，还是想让那位女士帮你把选票投进去？如果您想自己把选票投进去，我可以把您带到投票机那里去。”
比尔斯说：“您肯定可以做到的，我们一起来完成这件事。”
志愿者们以热烈的掌声欢迎库克进入登记办公室里投票。
柯蒂斯·利顿（Curtis Litton）告诉大家：“再过两周，她就101岁了，她说她想确保自己投的那一票能被算进有效票里。”
在切斯特菲尔德县登记办公室的志愿者罗莎·约翰逊（Rosa Johnson）说：“我为她感到骄傲。她有很多智慧和知识可以与我们所有人分享。”
在场的每个家庭成员都准备好了手机来记录这有纪念意义的一刻。
当库克（Cook）将选票推入投票机后，又响起了一阵热烈的掌声。
在开始阅读英文原文之前，请先复习下列核心词汇：
100-year-old - 百岁
voter - n. 选民
share - v. 分享
ahead of - 在 ... 之前
favorite - adj. 偏爱的，喜欢的
centenarian - n. 百岁的人
live up to - 践行，做到
maiden - n. 少女，未婚女子
maiden name - 娘家姓
complain - v. 抱怨
sibling - n. 兄弟姐妹
cast - v. 投
ballot - n. 选票
cast ballot - 投票
boneset - n. 兰草
tea - n. 茶
boneset tea - 兰草茶
weed - n. 杂草
touch - v. 触碰
在复习了以上词汇后，请将下面的英文原文一口气读完，不要在中途停下来去查那些不认识的单词。有了上面的核心单词打底，你完全可以将整篇文章读完并且理解里面的大致意思。记住，你只要做到大致明白就可以了。
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100-year-old voter shares advice ahead of election, names favorite president in her lifetime
Kristi K. Higgins
USA TODAY
CHESTERFIELD – Mabel Cook is older than the right to vote, and in advance of her 101st birthday on Oct. 28, she exercised that right.
Last week, the still-spry centenarian cast the 15th presidential vote of a lifetime that has spanned 18 chief executives. That string began with a ballot for Franklin D. Roosevelt and has continued ever since. The only reason she did not vote for the other four — Woodrow Wilson, Warren G. Harding, Calvin Coolidge or Herbert Hoover — was because she was just too young.
Now, at her advanced age, Cook is living up to her maiden name — Duty — by doing her civic duty and voting.
"I feel it is very important for people to vote," said Cook. "And, those that don't vote have no right to complain, because they should have helped a little bit by voting."
Even though it was not officially added to the Constitution until 1920, the proposal to give women voting power was born in Congress in 1919 five months before Mabel Dorothy Duty was born on a farm in Russell County, Va.
"Mabel was the third out of 11 siblings," said her daughter Joyce Boyd of Chesterfield.
Of the 11, Cook and two "baby" sisters are still living — a 94-year-old out in Abingdon and another in her 80s down in Atlanta."
About three months shy of when Cook turned one, the 19th Amendment was adopted on Aug. 18th, 1920.
Less than two weeks before turning 101, Cook happily cast her ballot in the presence of a portion of her four children, six grandchildren, and nine great-grandchildren.
"There have been 18 presidents during her lifetime starting with Woodrow Wilson, and she's voted for 14 of them," said Boyd.
According to Cook, she has voted for the following presidents: Franklin D. Roosevelt [D], Harry S. Truman [D], Dwight D. Eisenhower [R], John F. Kennedy [D], Lyndon B. Johnson [D], Richard Nixon [R], Gerald Ford [R], Jimmy Carter [D], Ronald Reagan [R], George H. W. Bush [R], Bill Clinton [D], George W. Bush [R], Barack Obama [D], Donald Trump [R].
"I thought Eisenhower was a great president," said Cook.
"Her dad admired him and had a picture of him on the wall," said Boyd.
Does she favor one party over another? "I vote for who I think is going to do a good job," said Cook.
"Sometimes I feel as if my dad would shoot me for voting Democrat," added Cook wittingly.
Are there memorable elections she can recall? "After the Depression, of course, America was having debt and Hoover didn't owe anything…I understand… as we do now," said Cook. "It's hard living in a Depression. We lived on a farm and had plenty to eat. God gave us all a good life."
She tells her grandchildren and children to make informed decisions at the polls.
"You know…nowadays children are smarter than when we were little," said Cook. "They know everything; they know more than I do."
"I would tell them to listen to the debates and decide who they think will do the best job," said Cook.
"She's excited to be alive and be able to go out and vote," commented Boyd.
"I may not be around for four more years," said Cook. "So, I'll take advantage of today."
The chairwoman of the Chesterfield County Electoral Board explained curbside voting.
"Curbside voting is available to anyone 65-years and older or who has a disability," said Susan Beals. "Voters pull up to the orange cones at the Registrar's Office, we'll take your I.D., we'll ask you to state your name and address, we'll go inside and check you into the poll book, we'll bring you out a ballot, you mark it, we take it inside and feed it into the scanner, and we'll bring you an "I voted" sticker."
The Influenza Pandemic of 1918-1919 known as the most devastating epidemic in recorded world history happened in Cook's lifetime. She said she worries about the current coronavirus pandemic.
"Oh, yes. I'm concerned because I understand it's very dangerous," said Cook. "I have been taking a flu shot for some time now. I'm not afraid of taking on the regular flu, but they say this one is so much worse. We don't know until we try it, and I hope I don't have to try."
"My mother believed in making all kinds of teas for colds and the flu," said Cook. "Some of it tasted terrible. We always had to drink it whether it was good or bad, but they helped 90% of the time."
"If my mother was living today, she'd be making us all kinds of hot tea," added Cook. "She'd make this one called boneset tea that was really bitter. I called it a weed."
Cook said she knows what she is looking for in a president these days. "I don't want him to raise taxes. Lower the taxes, and see that the price of medicine goes down," she said. "There are too many sick people that can't afford the medicine.
The big moment arrived.
Cook did not have her reading glasses so her grandson Curtis Litton of Kingsport, Tennessee visiting on vacation signed an ‘assistance form' which allowed him to help her vote.
"Are you ready young lady," said Litton to his Grandma. "It's your time to vote."
Cook's grandson read the list of candidates to her and filled in her choices.
Curtis Litton had difficulty pronouncing Spanberger and Freitas who are running for Congress, but his grandmother was familiar with the candidates.
Litton made his grandmother laugh when he said, "We can always write in Mickey Mouse if you choose."
When finished, Curtis Litton handed the ballot to his grandmother without Beals touching it so there would not be any improprieties.
And her wish came true.
"Hey Granny, do you wanna walk in and carry it in for yourself, or do you want that lady to carry it in for you," asked Curtis Litton. "I can get you in there if you want to go in there and put it in."
"We'll make it happen," said Beals. "We can do it."
The volunteers welcomed Cook into the poll room with a round of applause.
"In two weeks, she'll be 101," shared Curtis Litton. "She said she wanted to make sure she's counted."
"I'm proud of her," said Registrar Office volunteer Rosa Johnson of Chesterfield. "She has a lot of wisdom and knowledge she could share with all of us."
Each family member present had their phones ready to record the monumental moment.
Another round of applause broke out once Cook pushed the ballot in the machine.
