Question

英译中 - 一个小短语！ 谢谢咯~~~~~~~~ :)

the lame-duck session of Congress

这究竟指的是什么意思啊？？？ 谁能帮忙仔细说明一下？？？ 万分感谢啦！！！

Answer 1

下面是网上的解释
意思是说在下届议会选举出来举行全体会议之前，上届离任之间这期间的国会，称之为lame duck session

lame duck:
无用的人, 即将卸职的官员

A "lame duck" session of Congress in the United States occurs whenever one Congress meets after its successor is elected, but before the successor's term begins. The expression is now used not only for a special session called after a sine die adjournment, but also for any portion of a regular session that falls after an election. In current practice, any meeting of Congress after election day, but before the next Congress convenes the following January, is a lame duck session.[1] Prior to 1933, when the 20th Amendment changed the dates of the congressional term, the last regular session of Congress was always a lame duck session.
Congress has held 16 lame duck sessions since 1940. Recesses preceding lame duck sessions have usually begun by mid-October, and typically lasted between one and two months. Congress typically reconvened in mid-November and adjourned before Christmas, so that the lame duck session lasted about a month. Some recesses, however, have begun as early as August 7 or as late as November 3, and ended as early as November 8 or as late as December 31. Lame duck sessions have ended as early as November 22 and as late as January 3, and have extended over as few as one, and as many as 145, calendar days.
Some lame duck sessions have been held largely for pro forma reasons (e.g., 1948), on a standby basis (e.g., 1940, 1942), or to deal with a single specific matter (e.g., 1954, 1994, 1998). Some sessions, as well, have deferred major matters to the succeeding Congress (e.g., 1944, 1982, 2004), especially when a stronger majority for the same party was in prospect. Most, however, could be regarded as at least moderately productive. When the President has presented an extensive agenda to a lame duck session controlled by his own party, it has often approved many of his recommendations (e.g., 1950, 2002, 2004), but when he has done so under conditions of divided government, he has had less success, and has often vetoed measures (e.g., 1970, 1974, 1982). Additionally, a major task of most lame duck sessions in recent years has been to complete action on appropriations and the budget. In 1974, 1980, 1982, 2000, and 2004, this effort was at least somewhat successful, but in 1970 and 2002 a final resolution was largely left to the following Congress.
Lame duck sessions do not usually occur in countries under a parliamentary system of government, whether using the Westminster System or the Continental European system. In these systems, there are no fixed dates for elections or the beginning of terms, so that a new session of parliament will always begin with its first meeting after an election has been held.