万花筒 2012-11-04&11-06 纽约马拉松赛因飓风被迫取消

 They thought it could bring people together. 

The New York City Marathon due to be held this weekend might have given folks something to cheer about in the wake of Sandy.

But hosting a marathon in which runners would make their way through devastated¹ neighborhoods, and the diversion² of precious resources had residents and local politicians outraged³. 

The City of New York right now is talking about getting water out of the Battery Tunnel and preparing for a marathon. We're pulling bodies out of water. You see the disconnect here?

So in an 11th hour decision, Mayor Bloomberg called off the race. 

Deputy⁴ Mayor Howard Wolfson: there were people who found the marathon, the very idea of it  to be painful. And, as I said, that's not what the marathon is, that's not what it's about. This is a unifying⁵ event. It's not a divisive event. If it's a divisive event, it's not the marathon and it's better to do it next year when it's back to being the marathon again.

The decision's a disappointment to runners from around the world who've been training for months for the big day. 

I thought it was a good idea for them to keep it going , maybe the city needed a lift ,  but I guess they have better reasons, I'm sure they have better reasons, better places for the police, firemen and ambulance to be used somewhere else.

We best get on the ale then, because I've been on the wagon⁶ for three weeks, staying off the ale, so at least we can go and have a drink tonight then.

This is the first time in it's 40 year history that the event has been canceled.

1 devastated   

v.彻底破坏( devastate的过去式和过去分词)；摧毁；毁灭；在感情上（精神上、财务上等）压垮adj.毁坏的；极为震惊的

参考例句：

• The bomb devastated much of the old part of the city. 这颗炸弹炸毁了旧城的一大片地方。
• His family is absolutely devastated. 他的一家感到极为震惊。

2 diversion   

n.转移，转向，消遣，娱乐，临时绕行路

参考例句：

• Golf is my father's favourite diversion.高尔夫球是我父亲最喜欢的娱乐。
• The magician's talk created a diversion of attention.魔术师的讲话分散了人们的注意力。

3 outraged   

a.震惊的，义愤填膺的

参考例句：

• Members of Parliament were outraged by the news of the assassination. 议会议员们被这暗杀的消息激怒了。
• He was outraged by their behavior. 他们的行为使他感到愤慨。

4 deputy   

n.代理人，代表，副职；adj.代理的，副的

参考例句：

• John will act as a deputy for me during my absence.我离开期间，约翰将代理我的职务。
• She is the deputy headmistress of the school.她是那所学校的代理校长。

5 unifying   

使联合( unify的现在分词 )； 使相同； 使一致； 统一

参考例句：

• In addition, there were certain religious bonds of a unifying kind. 此外，他们还有某种具有一种统一性质的宗教上的结合。
• There is a unifying theme, and that is the theme of information flow within biological systems. 我们可以用一个总的命题，把生物学系统内的信息流来作为这一研究主题。

6 wagon   

n.四轮马车，手推车，面包车；无盖运货列车

参考例句：

• We have to fork the hay into the wagon.我们得把干草用叉子挑进马车里去。
• The muddy road bemired the wagon.马车陷入了泥泞的道路。