ChinesePod

1 lit. three monks have no water to drink (idiom)
2 fig. everybody's business is nobody's business
3 (If there is one monk, he will fetch water for himself. If there are two, they will fetch water together. But if there are three or more, none will take it upon himself to fetch water.)

做一天和尚撞一天钟

zuò yī tiān hé shang zhuàng yī tiān zhōng

1 lit. as a monk for today, toll today's bell (idiom)
2 fig. to do one's job mechanically
3 to hold a position passively

Sample Sentences

第五：美国中期选举结果出来了，民主党获得众议院控制权，共和党保住了参议院。

dìwǔ ：Měiguó zhōngqī xuǎnjǔ jiéguǒ chūlái le ，Mínzhǔdǎng huòdé Zhòngyìyuàn kòngzhìquán ，Gònghédǎng bǎozhù le cānyìyuàn 。

5. The U.S. midterm election results are out: Democrats took control of the House of Representatives, and the republicans kept the majority of the senate.

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不太了解，我只知道一个是奥巴马，一个好像是叫什么罗姆尼的吧。奥巴马是民主党的，那那个罗姆尼就是共和党的。

bùtài liǎojiě ，wǒ zhǐ zhīdào yī gè shì Àobāmǎ ，yī gè hǎoxiàng shì jiào shénme Luómǔní de ba 。Àobāmǎ shì Mínzhǔdǎng de ，nà nàge Luómǔní jiùshì Gònghédǎng de 。

Not really. I only know one of them is Obama. I think the other called something like Romney, right? Obama is the Democrat, and that Romney is the Republican.

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其实我对民主党的候选人也不是百分之百的满意，但总比共和党的强。他们承诺改革社保体系，平等分配社会资源，免除某些大公司的税收优惠。这些政策都能让人民受益。

qíshí wǒ duì Mínzhǔdǎng de hòuxuǎnrén yě bù shì bǎifēnzhībǎi de mǎnyì ，dàn zǒng bǐ Gònghédǎng de qiáng 。tāmen chéngnuò gǎigé shèbǎo tǐxì ，píngděng fēnpèi shèhuì zīyuán ，miǎnchú mǒuxiē dàgōngsī de shuìshōu yōuhuì 。zhèxiē zhèngcè dōu néng ràng rénmín shòuyì 。

Actually I'm not 100 percent satisfied with the Democratic candidate, but they're going to be better than the Republicans. They promise to reform social security, equally distribute societal resources, and eliminate the tax breaks given certain large corporations. These policies can benefit the people.

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别做梦了，共和党肯定能笑到最后。很多人认为美国现在的困境都是共和党造成的。可越到这种时候就越需要强硬的总统和政策。

bié zuòmèng le ，Gònghédǎng kěndìng néng xiào dào zuìhòu 。hěn duō rén rènwéi Měiguó xiànzài de kùnjìng dōu shì Gònghédǎng zàochéng de 。kě yuè dào zhèzhǒng shíhou jiù yuè xūyào qiángyìng de zǒngtǒng hé zhèngcè 。

Dream on. The Republicans will have the last laugh. A lot of people believe that America's current predicament was created by the Republicans. But the more serious the crisis, the more you need a strong president and policy.

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那咱们就等着瞧吧。反正我是肯定支持共和党的。

nà zánmen jiù děng zhe qiáo ba 。fǎnzhèng wǒ shì kěndìng zhīchí Gònghédǎng de 。

Then let's just wait and see. Anyway, I will definitely support the Republican Party.

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你错了。共和党的政策才能彻底解决问题。因为他们注重扶持企业，推动经济。经济好了，就业率提高了，人民自然就有钱了。

nǐ cuò le 。Gònghédǎng de zhèngcè cáinéng chèdǐ jiějué wèntí 。yīnwèi tāmen zhùzhòng fúchí qǐyè ，tuīdòng jīngjì 。jīngjì hǎo le ，jiùyèlǜ tígāo le ，rénmín zìrán jiù yǒuqián le 。

You're wrong. It's only the policies of the Republican Party that can truly solve problems. Because they especially support business, they stimulate the economy. When the economy improves, employment rates go up, and the people naturally have more money.

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我觉得共和党只会管普通人，对有权有势的人就特别照顾。而民主党的政策更公平，比如调高最低工资、降低学生贷款利率。

wǒ juéde Gònghédǎng zhǐ huì guǎn pǔtōngrén ，duì yǒuquányǒushì de rén jiù tèbié zhàogu 。ér Mínzhǔdǎng de zhèngcè gèng gōngpíng ，bǐrú tiáogāo zuìdī gōngzī 、 jiàngdī xuésheng dàikuǎn lìlǜ 。

I think the Republicans only restrict normal people, but they take really good care of those with power and status. The Democrats' policies, on the other hand, are fairer. For example, raising the minimum wage, or lowering the interest rates on student loans.

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这也是为国家安全考虑嘛。说到安全，共和党的国内安全政策也比民主党强。

zhè yěshì wèi guójiā ānquán kǎolǜ ma 。shuōdào ānquán ，Gònghédǎng de guónèi ānquán zhèngcè yě bǐ Mínzhǔdǎng qiáng 。

That's just looking after national security. Speaking of which, the Republican domestic security policy is also stronger than the Democrats'.

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这正是我不喜欢共和党的原因，根本不顾人民的利益。明明是自己的政策失败，造成国家债务过高，可他们从来不承认。你看，医疗保险都快要崩溃了，穷人根本看不起病。共和党不仅不帮助，反而还要控制保险额。民主党就能看到问题的根本，主张扩大保险的范围。

zhè zhèng shì wǒ bù xǐhuan Gònghédǎng de yuányīn ，gēnběn bùgù rénmín de lìyì 。míngmíng shì zìjǐ de zhèngcè shībài ，zàochéng guójiā zhàiwù guò gāo ，kě tāmen cónglái bù chéngrèn 。nǐ kàn ，yīliáo bǎoxiǎn dōu kuài yào bēngkuì le ，qióngrén gēnběn kànbuqǐ bìng 。Gònghédǎng bùjǐn bù bāngzhù ，fǎn\'ér háiyào kòngzhì bǎoxiǎn é 。Mínzhǔdǎng jiù néng kàndào wèntí de gēnběn ，zhǔzhāng kuòdà bǎoxiǎn de fànwéi 。

This is exactly the reason why I don't like the GOP: it totally ignores the people's interests. It's clearly the government's policies that failed, creating such a high national deficit, but they never admit it. Look, the health care system is on the verge of collapse, and the poor just can't afford to see a doctor. The Republican Party not only doesn't help, it even wants to control insurance rates. The Democratic Party can see the root of the problem, and advocates the expansion of insurance coverage.

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要我说，这全是些不实际的想法。虽然我也不认为共和党的候选人十全十美，但比民主党的实际多了。比如说保护本土企业的利益，降低贸易逆差。这才是保护国家利益。

yào wǒ shuō ，zhè quán shì xiē bù shíjì de xiǎngfǎ 。suīrán wǒ yě bù rènwéi Gònghédǎng de hòuxuǎnrén shíquánshíměi ，dàn bǐ Mínzhǔdǎng de shíjì duōle 。bǐrú shuō bǎohù běntǔ qǐyè de lìyì ，jiàngdī màoyì nìchā 。zhè cái shì bǎohù guójiā lìyì 。

If you ask me, those are all unrealistic ideas. Although I know the Republican candidate isn't totally perfect, he's a lot more practical. For example, protecting the interests of domestic enterprises, or reducing the trade imbalance. Now that's protecting the nation's interests.

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