Explanation:   

  More than 300 million people live in the United States and they have many different opinions about how the government should be. If each of them voted independently (or alone, not paying attention to what other people are doing), then it would be very difficult to predict (or know ahead of time) how our government would be, and no one would be able to have very much power in American government. However, our country has many political parties (or organized groups of people who have similar political opinions and try to get power in the government) that people can be affiliated with (or connected to as a member). 

 

  The two biggest political parties are the Democratic Party and the Republican Party. The Democratic Party is more liberal, believing that wealth (or money) should be shared among all people and that the government should make laws to help this happen, even if that means having higher taxes (or money paid to the government) so it can give help and services to everyone. The Democratic Party is also left-leaning socially, emphasizing (or giving importance to) protecting the environment, equal (or the same) rights for all people, and other social issues. 

 

  The Republic Party is economically conservative, believing that the economy should operate freely with little government intervention (or involvement).  The Republican Party favors (or supports) low taxes and less control and influence by the federal (or national) government. The Republicans also emphasize traditional values, such as strong families, little immigration, and the right for individuals to own guns. 

 

  The Democratic Party is symbolized (or represented in a picture or image) by a donkey, which is an animal that is similar to a small, strong horse. The Republican Party is symbolized by an elephant. The parties are also symbolized by colors, with blue for the Democratic Party and red for the Republican Party. For example, a blue state is a state where most people vote for the Democratic Party and a red state is a state where most people vote for the Republican Party. After an important election, newspapers usually print maps of the country with blue and red states to show where each party won.

 

问题：