President of football's world governing body FIFA Sepp Blatter has said that he expected the upcoming World Cup in Brazil to be a success. He was speaking in Sao Paulo. Katy Watson reports from Sao Paulo.

At a press conference in Sao Paulo on Thursday, FIFA insisted that the World Cup would be a success.

We have listened to all the reports. It's not up to me now to comment on that. But I can tell you, listening to the report, we are confident, we and FIFA, we are confident.

But even some of its executives couldn't avoid reality as they sat in traffic jams for hours trying to get across the city during the strike. Union leaders on Sao Paulo's metro system have asked for a double digit pay rise and better conditions. They deny it has anything to do with the World Cup and everything to do with needing higher salaries to keep pace with the inflation. The state-owned underground company was locked in negotiations with Union leaders on Thursday afternoon. And the government is under a huge amount of pressure. The only viable way for fans to reach Sao Paulo Stadium is on public transport. If that fails, it won't just be a huge inconvenience for visitors but a huge embarrassment for the government, too. Katy Watson, our reporter in Sao Paulo.

Now Eimear McBride took 6 months to write her first novel, 10 years to find a publisher, but she was rewarded this week when she won a top literary prize in London worth 50,000 dollars. Her book A Girl Is A Half-Formed Thing tells us the story of a young woman's relationship with her brother and the long shadow cast by his childhood brain tumor. It's set in Ireland in the time of religious oppression and sexual abuse. Here is an extract.

See here this party. It's a mad. I'd never been. I've only seen on top films.

Yeah, absolutely it was a huge surprise and you know, a great honor, and you know, not something that I was expecting.

And to win a prize with a book that you found such a difficulty in finding a publisher for.

Yeah, that's right. I mean, that's certainly felt like a vindication for me. You know, I wrote the book in 2004 in 6 months and then that it took me most of the next decade to find a publisher for it.

You say vindicated, what do you think the problem was that publishers had with the book?

Well, what they told me was that while they admired the writing, they found that the subject was interestingly dealt with, they didn't feel that the book fell into any kind of need, marketing niche.

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译文参考：

足球的世界管理机构国际足球联合会（FIFA）主席塞普·布拉特在圣保罗讲话时称，他期待即将到来的巴西世界杯大获成功。本台记者凯蒂·沃森从圣保罗发回了报道。

周四，圣保罗举行了一场新闻发布会，FIFA坚称本次世界杯将成功举办。

我们听取了所有报告。虽然我现在不好发表评论，但是从报告来看，我们和FIFA对世界杯都充满信心。

然而，FIFA的 一些高管们也不得不面对现实。在罢工期间，他们在来的路上遭遇了几个小时的堵车。圣保罗地铁系统工会负责人要求两位数增加工资、提高工作待遇。他们说这与 世界杯无关，涨工资是为了适应通货膨胀。周四下午，这家国有地铁公司正与工会负责人展开了谈判。政府压力很大。球迷到达圣保罗体育场的唯一途径就是公共交 通。公共交通瘫痪不仅会给游客带来不便，更会让政府蒙羞。凯蒂·沃森圣保罗报道。

埃米尔·麦克布莱德花只了6个月的时间完成她的第一部小说，然而却花了10年的时间找到出版商。但本周，她在伦敦摘得一个顶级文学奖的桂冠，并且获得奖金5万美元。她的书《女孩是半成品》为我们讲述了一个姑娘和她哥哥之间的故事，以及哥哥童年时期脑瘤产生的长期阴影。故事的发生地是爱尔兰，背景是宗教压迫和性虐待。下面是书中的一段文字。

看看这个聚会。太疯狂了。我从来没参加过。只在电影里看过。

是的，对我来说确实是一个惊喜，一个荣耀。没想到。

而且这本书找到一个出版商是这么难，却得奖了。

书会获奖，但你会发现找到出版商却是很难的。没错。就好像为我正名了。2004年，我花了6月写了这本书，但找出版商花了我将近10年。

你说这是正名，那你觉得出版商认为这本书有什么问题？

他们告诉我他们很欣赏这部作品，围绕主题的写作手法很巧妙，但他们认为市场不需要这本书。

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词汇学习：

1.digit n. 数字；手指或足趾；一指宽

Her telephone number differs from mine by one digit.

她的电话号码和我的只差一个数字。

2.literary adj. 文学的；书面的；精通文学的

My father often contributes to a literary journal.

我的父亲常在一个文学刊物上投稿。

3.cast vt. 投，抛；计算；浇铸；投射（光、影、视线等） n. 投掷，抛；铸件，[古生] 铸型；演员阵容；脱落物 vi. 投，抛垂钓鱼钩；计算，把几个数字加起来

The high bell tower cast a long shadow on the grass.

高高的钟楼在草地上投下长长的影子。

4.niche n. 壁龛；合适的职业；[亦称作 niche market]【商业】有利可图的市场(或形势等) vt. 放入壁龛

He eventually found his niche in sports journalism.

最后他在体育新闻界找到了理想的工作。

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长难句解析：

1.The state-owned underground company was locked in negotiations with Union leaders on Thursday afternoon.

be locked in 相持；被锁住；对变化不敏感的

The two teams are locked in a duel for first place.

两个队为争夺第一名打得难解难分。

The two armies are locked in a face-off.

两军对峙。

2.They deny it has anything to do with the World Cup and everything to do with needing higher salaries to keep pace with the inflation.

keep pace with 并驾齐驱，保持同步

We must keep pace with the new development of modern scientific research.

我们必须跟上现代科学研究的新发展。

But, if output does not keep pace with demand, prices increase.

但如果生产跟不上需求，物价就上涨。