【英语趣味课堂】谈论足球-Talking about Football

 Todd: So Paul I thought we would talk a little bit about football. Now both of our countries recently got left out in the cold for the future World Cup, so England lost to Russia for the two thousand eighteeen World Cup and the US lost out to Qatar for the two thousand and twenty two World Cup.

Paul: Yes.

 

Todd: So first let's talk about England. How did you feel about the result?

 

Paul: I've become a little bit kind of apathetic¹ towards my country and these international competitive arenas². The thing about the English is that they think that they're up there with the best but more often than not we get reminded that we're quite mediocre³. Maybe there was a time in the past where we were very dominant⁴ and kind of important as far as dictating⁵ how things ran but I think that period's ended. We had the face of Beckham, we had the Prime Minister come and was there and we had Prince William and some other high ranking faces, if you like, but from what I've read the campaign, the head of the FA, the Football Association, was completely, he was another one of a long line of people who were inadequate⁶ running the Football Association. There was the BBC who released a program about corruption⁷ within FIFA weeks before the poll, the vote, so it didn't really come as a surprise to me as much as it did some of my other fellow countrypeople.

 

Todd: So a lot of people back in England thought that for sure you would get it?

 

Paul: It seemed that way, yeah, a lot of, speaking to some of my friends back at home they were like yeah we're quids in, the World Cup is coming to England. I think the campaign was kind of based on the football history of England and the passion that we have for the game and the current high level of facilities that we can provide. But I guess there was a bit of a shock like there was a shock at the England team's performance at the last World Cup. If you watched the game versus⁸ Germany, it was embarrassing, we were outclassed and not many other countries have much sympathy for England in this situation.

 

Todd: One thing though about your country when it comes to football, you really do have a lot of pressure I would say from the media. I mean there's a lot of maybe unrealistic expectations put on the team's performance and maybe that kind of leads to its downfall.

 

Paul: Yeah. The media circus yeah is very intense and there's this kind of pattern that keeps repeating itself whereby people are heralded⁹ as being the saviour¹⁰ and the best in the world and then they make a mistake and then they're completely destroyed. It happened to David Beckham earlier in his career where he was heralded as being the future of England and he made a small mistake and got sent off in a big game and the media response to that was just embarrassing. They really tore him to pieces so we do have this problem with the media circus within England which kind of could be said to be responsible for generating this false sense of confidence. So yeah I agree with you on that point.

 

学习内容：

Learn Vocabulary from the lesson

left out in the cold

 

Now both of our countries recently got left out in the cold for the future World Cup.

 

Here, left out in the cold means eliminated from competition. Notice the following:

 

They were left out in the cold for hosting the 2020 Olympics.

I felt left out in the cold.

apathetic

 

I've become a little bit kind of apathetic towards my country

 

When we are apathetic, that means we have no interest or opinion in something that may be important to others. Notice the following:

 

I'm really apathetic about the tuition increase.

He's always so apathetic about everything!

heralded

 

People are heralded as being the saviour and the best in the world

 

Someone or something that is heralded is being widely talked about as in a positive way. Notice the following:

 

Michael Jackson was heralded as the king of pop.

David Beckham was briefly¹¹ heralded as the saviour of American soccer.

tear someone to pieces

 

They really tore him to pieces.

 

When we tear someone or something to pieces, that means we speak about in a very negative way. Notice the following:

 

The press tore him to pieces.

The movie was torn to pieces by critics.

media circus

 

We do have this problem with the media circus within England.

 

An event that triggers a lot of activity by the press - TV, radio, newspapers, magazines, etc., is said to cause a media circus. Notice the following:

 

The royal wedding caused a media circus.

The media circus was almost more entertaining than the event.

1 apathetic   

adj.冷漠的，无动于衷的

参考例句：

• I realised I was becoming increasingly depressed and apathetic.我意识到自己越来越消沉、越来越冷漠了。
• You won't succeed if you are apathetic.要是你冷淡，你就不能成功。

2 arenas   

表演场地( arena的名词复数 )； 竞技场； 活动或斗争的场所或场面； 圆形运动场

参考例句：

• Demolition derbies are large-scale automobile rodeos that take place in big arenas. 撞车比赛指的是在很大的竞技场上举行的大型汽车驾驶技术表演。
• Are there areas of privacy in the most public of arenas? 在绝大部分公开的场合中存在需要保护隐私的领域吗？

3 mediocre   

adj.平常的，普通的

参考例句：

• The student tried hard,but his work is mediocre. 该生学习刻苦，但学业平庸。
• Only lazybones and mediocre persons could hanker after the days of messing together.只有懒汉庸才才会留恋那大锅饭的年代。

4 dominant   

adj.支配的，统治的；占优势的；显性的；n.主因，要素，主要的人(或物)；显性基因

参考例句：

• The British were formerly dominant in India.英国人从前统治印度。
• She was a dominant figure in the French film industry.她在法国电影界是个举足轻重的人物。

5 dictating   

v.大声讲或读( dictate的现在分词 )；口授；支配；摆布

参考例句：

• The manager was dictating a letter to the secretary. 经理在向秘书口授信稿。 来自辞典例句
• Her face is impassive as she listens to Miller dictating the warrant for her arrest. 她毫无表情地在听米勒口述拘留她的证书。 来自辞典例句

6 inadequate   

adj.(for,to)不充足的，不适当的

参考例句：

• The supply is inadequate to meet the demand.供不应求。
• She was inadequate to the demands that were made on her.她还无力满足对她提出的各项要求。

7 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

8 versus   

prep.以…为对手，对；与…相比之下

参考例句：

• The big match tonight is England versus Spain.今晚的大赛是英格兰对西班牙。
• The most exciting game was Harvard versus Yale.最富紧张刺激的球赛是哈佛队对耶鲁队。

9 heralded   

v.预示( herald的过去式和过去分词 )；宣布（好或重要）

参考例句：

• The singing of the birds heralded in the day. 鸟鸣报晓。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• A fanfare of trumpets heralded the arrival of the King. 嘹亮的小号声宣告了国王驾到。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 saviour   

n.拯救者，救星

参考例句：

• I saw myself as the saviour of my country.我幻想自己为国家的救星。
• The people clearly saw her as their saviour.人们显然把她看成了救星。

11 briefly   

adv.简单地，简短地

参考例句：

• I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。