历史上的今天-Today in History 2010-09-26

 “And I think in the final analysis, it depends upon what we do here.”

September 26th, 1960Millions of Americans tune¹ in to watch presidential candidates debateon television for the first time. Squaring off in Chicago, Massachusetts Senator John F. Kennedy, the democratic candidate, “I think we are going to have to do a better job if we are going to meet the responsibilities which time in advance have placed upon us.”

And the Republican candidate, Vice² President Richard Nixon, “Because we are in a deadly competition, a competition not only with the men in the Kremlin, but the men in Peking.” Viewers give Kennedy tan, fit, rested, the edge over an exhausted³ Nixon, whose poor makeup⁴ job fails to ease his five o'clock shadow. Kennedy narrowly wins in November, a sign of TV's growing influence on politics. 1980Cuba's government abruptly⁵ closes Mariel harbor, ending a massive wave of refugees to the United States five months after it began. Known as the “freedom flotilla”, the refugees traveled in small boats from Fidel Castro's Cuba to Florida, overwhelming US authorities. 1898Composer George Gershwin, whose iconic tunes⁶ include “Rhapsody in Blue” and “I've Got Rhythm”, is born in Brooklyn, New York. 1888T.S. Eliot, regarded as one of the great poets of the 20th century with his work The Waste Land, is born in Saint Louis. Eliot won renewed fame when composer Andrew Lloyd Webber used the poet's words as the basis for his hit musical, Cats.

1981Serena Williams, a star player in women's tennis, just like her older sister Venus, is born in Saginaw, Michigan. And 1957In New York, the musical West Side Story, a Romeo-and-Juliet tale with a Big Apple background, opens on Broadway. Today in History, September 26th, Tim Maguire, the Associated Press.

1 tune   

n.调子；和谐，协调；v.调音，调节，调整

参考例句：

• He'd written a tune,and played it to us on the piano.他写了一段曲子，并在钢琴上弹给我们听。
• The boy beat out a tune on a tin can.那男孩在易拉罐上敲出一首曲子。

2 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

3 exhausted   

adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的

参考例句：

• It was a long haul home and we arrived exhausted.搬运回家的这段路程特别长，到家时我们已筋疲力尽。
• Jenny was exhausted by the hustle of city life.珍妮被城市生活的忙乱弄得筋疲力尽。

4 makeup   

n.组织；性格；化装品

参考例句：

• Those who failed the exam take a makeup exam.这次考试不及格的人必须参加补考。
• Do you think her beauty could makeup for her stupidity?你认为她的美丽能弥补她的愚蠢吗？

5 abruptly   

adv.突然地，出其不意地

参考例句：

• He gestured abruptly for Virginia to get in the car.他粗鲁地示意弗吉尼亚上车。
• I was abruptly notified that a half-hour speech was expected of me.我突然被通知要讲半个小时的话。

6 tunes   

n.曲调，曲子( tune的名词复数 )v.调音( tune的第三人称单数 )；调整；（给收音机、电视等）调谐；使协调

参考例句：

• a potpourri of tunes 乐曲集锦
• When things get a bit too much, she simply tunes out temporarily. 碰到事情太棘手时，她干脆暂时撒手不管。 来自《简明英汉词典》