AP美联社一分钟新闻 2009-02-04

（单词翻译）

1. Tom Daschle withdrew as President Barack Obama's nominee¹ to be health and human services secretary. The move following questions over Daschle's handling of tax, dealt potential blows to both speedy health care reform and Obama's hopes for a smooth start in the White House. Nancy Killefer, nominee for the first ever chief performance officer for the federal government, also withdrew over tax concerns.

2. Obama nominated Republican Senator Judd Gregg to be his pick for commerce secretary. Gregg replaces New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson who withdrew his nomination² last month. If confirmed, Gregg will be the third Republican in the Democrats³' cabinet.

3. January was another terrible month for auto⁴ sales. Ford⁵ sales dropped 40% compared to a year ago. A Chrysler executive says sales industrywide probably dropped 35% in the first month of 2009.

4. Pittsburgh celebrated⁶ Super Bowl victory with a super parade through downtown. Pittsburgh has temporarily re-dubbed itself "Sixburgh" in honor of the record six Super Bowl wins.

WORDS IN THE NEWS

1. deal a blow (to sb/sth):

to cause harm to someone or something - used in news reports