Arsenal Football Club

London Life
Arsenal¹ Football Club

BBC Learning English – London Life
May 24, 2006

Yvonne:  I'm Yvonne Archer² and this is London Life. 

Now here’s a clue about today’s

topic.  Can you guess what it is?

INSERT

supporters and fans, clubs and teams, matches and games,

ground and pitch

Yvonne:  Yes, football, football, football!  London

is in the midst³ of a football frenzy⁴! Of course, there’s

all the build-up to the World Cup, but in the meantime,

Arsenal, a North London club actually made it to the

European Champions League final… and that’s something

that a London club has never done before.  So even the fans

without tickets were loving it!

Jo:

“I’m feeling massively⁵ excited, massively nervous for my

team.  I can’t actually believe it, that’s how I feel, I

can’t actually believe it.  Up the Arsenal!”

Yvonne:  That was what Jo Ellis-Holland had to say

before the big game.  She’s enjoyed going to football

matches for many years, but only chose a team of her own to

support about four years ago.  So why Arsenal?  Let’s find

out…

Jo:

I live near the Arsenal ground, so when I decided⁶ to pick

my own team, it was a natural choice.”

Yvonne:  Like me, Jo lives near the Arsenal ground,

the team’s stadium, so it was ‘a natural choice’ – and

of course, Jo didn’t have to travel very far watch the

games.
 

“It was a natural choice.”

Yvonne:  Now Jo turned out to be one of Arsenal’s

luckiest fans because she made it to Paris for the

Champions League final.  Before she left, we talked about

her plans, but she spoke⁷ very quickly because she was so

excited.  So here’s the challenge: try to catch the main

details of Jo’s ‘itinerary⁸’ for the day.  In
particular, listen out for how was she going to get to

Paris?  How was she going to travel around when she got

there?  And what three things was Jo going to do during

that day?

Jo:

“The itinerary is the people that I’m going with will be

met at the airport the other side by a mini-coach which is

going to drive us around Paris and show us all the sites –

which is wonderful for me because I’ve never even been to

France, let alone Paris before.  Then we’re going to lunch

in a fabulous⁹ restaurant, so no wearing our Arsenal shirts

in there for the dress code.  And then back into the mini-

coach, have another little drive around Paris.  Finish off

seeing all the sites we haven’t seen and then drive us to

the Stade du France to see the match - and hopefully win!!

“Yvonne:  How did you get on?  Well, Jo planned to

fly to Paris and travel around the city by mini-coach –

that’s a small type of private bus.  She was going to go

sight- seeing, to lunch and of course, to watch Arsenal

football club play against Barcelona!   Here’s a chance to

catch those main points again:

Jo:

We’ll be met at the airport the other side by a mini-coach

which is going to drive us around Paris and show us all the

sites.  Then we’re going to lunch and then finish off

seeing all the sites we haven’t seen and then drive us to

the Star du France to see the match.  And hopefully win!!

“
 We’re a 93 year old club.  We’ve been to the semi finals

but we’ve never actually got to this

stage - to the actual Champions League Finals.  So win or

lose, I’m going to enjoy the day, enjoy the entire 

experience and treasure it for the rest of my life.

Yvonne:  Well, that was then - and this is now!

BBC Radio 5 Live – headline

The headlines: A night of drama, dodgy refereeing¹⁰ and

defeat for Arsenal in the Champions

League Final.  But, they leave Paris with their heads held

high.

Yvonne:  I was in a local pub near the Arsenal

watching all the action, but as our chance of a win began

to slip away, so did I.  I walked home through the rain

past grown men who were crying and thought, yes, we made a

valiant¹¹ effort, but no- one will remember who came 2nd in

the 2006 Champions League - except us Arsenal fans.

1 arsenal   

n.兵工厂，军械库

参考例句：

• Even the workers at the arsenal have got a secret organization.兵工厂工人暗中也有组织。
• We must be the great arsenal of democracy.我们必须成为民主的大军火库。

2 archer   

n.射手，弓箭手

参考例句：

• The archer strung his bow and aimed an arrow at the target.弓箭手拉紧弓弦将箭瞄准靶子。
• The archer's shot was a perfect bull's-eye.射手的那一箭正中靶心。

3 midst   

n.中部，中间，当中

参考例句：

• The hut is in the midst of the forest.小屋在森林深处。
• There is a thief in our midst.我们当中有小偷。

4 frenzy   

n.疯狂，狂热，极度的激动

参考例句：

• He was able to work the young students up into a frenzy.他能激起青年学生的狂热。
• They were singing in a frenzy of joy.他们欣喜若狂地高声歌唱。

5 massively   

adv. 大量地，大规模地

参考例句：

• With the development of network game,Massively Multiplayer Online Games(MMOG) requires ever-higher levels of the servers. 随着网络游戏的迅猛发展，大型多人在线网络游戏(Massively Multiplayer Online Games,MMOG)对服务器的要求越来越高。
• He gingerly touched his right ankle; it was swelling massively. 他小心翼翼地碰了碰右踝，肿得很厉害。

6 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

7 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

8 itinerary   

n.行程表，旅行路线；旅行计划

参考例句：

• The two sides have agreed on the itinerary of the visit.双方商定了访问日程。
• The next place on our itinerary was Silistra.我们行程的下一站是锡利斯特拉。

9 fabulous   

adj.极好的；极为巨大的；寓言中的，传说中的

参考例句：

• We had a fabulous time at the party.我们在晚会上玩得很痛快。
• This is a fabulous sum of money.这是一笔巨款。

10 refereeing   

[计]仲裁，审稿工作，稿件评审

参考例句：

• I've spent too much time in my career refereeing staff/line disputes. 办事人员和第一线人员常常发生争执，我为解决这种争执花费了许多时间。 来自辞典例句
• Unfair refereeing in yesterday's match made the news again. 昨天的比赛中又爆出了“黑哨”丑闻！ 来自互联网

11 valiant   

adj.勇敢的，英勇的；n.勇士，勇敢的人

参考例句：

• He had the fame of being very valiant.他的勇敢是出名的。
• Despite valiant efforts by the finance minister,inflation rose to 36%.尽管财政部部长采取了一系列果决措施，通货膨胀率还是涨到了36%。