President of football's world governing body FIFASepp Blatter has said that he expected the upcomingWorld Cup in Brazil to be a success. He was speakingin 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 tellyou, 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 hourstrying to get across the city during the strike. Union leaders on Sao Paulo's metro system haveasked for a double digit pay rise and better conditions. They deny it has anything to do with theWorld 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 onThursday afternoon. And the government is under a huge amount of pressure. The onlyviable way for fans to reach Sao Paulo Stadium is on public transport. If that fails, it won't justbe 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 shewas rewarded this week when she won a top literary prize in London worth 50,000 dollars. Herbook A Girl Is A Half-Formed Thing tells us the story of a young woman's relationship with herbrother and the long shadow cast by his childhood brain tumor. It's set in Ireland in the timeof 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, notsomething 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 thebook in 2004 in 6 months and then that it took me most of the next decade to find a publisherfor 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 subjectwas interestingly dealt with, they didn't feel that the book fell into any kind of need, marketingniche.

　　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。