Sonia Joins the Supreme Court

Sonja Joins the Supreme Court, written by Cynthia Kennedy Hensel.

《索尼娅入驻最高法院》，辛西娅·肯尼迪·亨塞尔 著

A big dream. Sonia Sotomayor dreamed of becoming a detective when she was a girl. Doctors told her when she was eight that she had type 1 diabetes. She had to learn to take good care of herself because this is a serious disease. Doctors told her that she should not be a detective. Sonia changed her dream. She began to dream of becoming a lawyer instead.

大大的梦想。 索尼娅·索托马约尔小时候，梦想成为一名侦探。 八岁那年，医生告诉她，她得了1型糖尿病。 这是一种严重的疾病，因此她必须学会好好照顾自己。 医生告诉她，她不适合当侦探。 索尼娅改变了自己的梦想。 她转而开始梦想成为一名律师。

Sonia had to try her best to make her dream of being a lawyer come true. Her parents moved to New York from Puerto Rico. They did not have much money to help her pay for school. Sonia's father died when she was nine. Her mother worked more than one job to support Sonia and her brother. Sonia studied hard in school. She tried to be the best student she could be. She made good grades and won many awards. She won scholarships or money for school to attend Princeton University and then Yale Law School. She was an excellent student at both schools.

为了实现当律师的梦想，索尼娅拼尽全力。 她的父母从波多黎各搬到了纽约。 家里没多少钱供她上学读书。 索尼娅九岁的时候，父亲去世了。 母亲打了好几份工，养活索尼娅和弟弟。 索尼娅在学校刻苦学习。 她努力做到最好，要成为最优秀的学生。 她成绩优异，拿到了很多奖项。 她靠着奖学金，先后进入普林斯顿大学和耶鲁法学院学习。 在两所学校，她都是出类拔萃的好学生。

The dream comes true. After graduating from law school, Sonja got her first job as a lawyer. Her dream had come true. After several years as a lawyer, her dream changed again. She dreamed of becoming a judge. Her dream to become a judge came true in 1991.

梦想成真了。 从法学院毕业后，索尼娅得到了第一份工作，成为一名律师。 她的梦想实现了。 当了几年律师后，她的梦想又变了。 她梦想成为一名法官。 1991年，她当法官的梦想实现了。

In May 2009, President Barack Obama had to choose a new justice of the U .S. Supreme Court. One of the justices, David H. Souter, was retiring. The president announced Judge Sotomayor was his choice to replace Justice Souter. The president said she had done a great job as a judge and would be a wise justice.

2009年5月，贝拉克·奥巴马总统需要选出一位新的美国最高法院大法官。 时任大法官之一的大卫·H·苏特即将退休。 总统宣布，他选择索托马约尔法官接替苏特大法官的职位。 总统说，她当法官时表现出色，一定会成为一位明智的大法官。

Picking a New Justice Presidents often choose a justice who agrees with them on important ideas. All U .S. Supreme Court justices have worked as lawyers. Many justices have not been judges in other courts, as Sonia has. A justice can be any age. The youngest justice was 32 when chosen. The oldest was 65 when chosen. Presidents often choose a younger person so he or she can work on the court for many years. Sonya was 55 when President Obama chose her.

挑选新大法官：总统通常会选在重要理念上和自己一致的人选。 所有美国最高法院大法官都曾当过律师。 和索尼娅不同，很多大法官此前没有在其他法院担任过法官。 大法官的人选没有年龄限制。 最年轻的大法官获得提名时只有32岁。 最年长的获得提名时已经65岁。 总统通常会选更年轻的人，这样对方就能在法院任职很多年。 奥巴马总统提名索尼娅的时候，她55岁。