PBS高端访谈:进入女足世界杯淘汰赛,美国队会遇到更大挑战

 JUDY WOODRUFF: The U.S. women's soccer team has advanced to the next round of play with a win last night against Nigeria. Veteran player Abby Wambach scored the only goal in a 1-0 win.

Nancy Armour¹ is covering the Cup for USA Today, and she brings us up to date on the challenges the U.S. team faces. She was in the stadium in Vancouver last night, and she joins me now.

Nancy Armour, welcome.

How big a surprise and how big a deal was this win last night?

NANCY ARMOUR, USA Today: The win last night was huge, for a couple of different reasons. Number one is the confidence factor.

You want to get out of your group with a win. You want to get out on top. You want to be considered one of the teams that is doing the best. But there is a logistical aspect to this, too. Had the U.S. finished second, they would have been looking at playing clear across the country to Moncton, which is in New Brunswick, to play Brazil, which is one of the other contenders for the title.

Instead, they will play here in Edmonton. And they get an extra day of rest. Their game is not until Tuesday, whereas, if they had played in Moncton, they would have had to play Monday. So it was a very significant win for them.

JUDY WOODRUFF: So, you mentioned — we mentioned the only — the goal was scored by Abby Wambach. There's a lot of talk going around about her, particularly about her age, at the ripe old age of 35.

And yet you wrote today she's the greatest goal scorer to play the game.

NANCY ARMOUR: Well, she has more goals than anybody else in the game, male or female.

And it always seems, you know, when the U.S. absolutely, positively² needs a goal, she delivers. She did it in the World Cup four years ago, and she did it last night. She also had a couple other chances at scoring too, so I think we're kind of starting to see her come out of, if you wanted to call it a funk or a slump³ — I think we're starting to see her come out of that.

JUDY WOODRUFF: What challenges lie ahead for this U.S. team?

NANCY ARMOUR: Well, the biggest thing is that the game has — the parity⁴ in the game has gotten — has just grown incredibly.

You're seeing teams like Colombia, Cameroon, not the traditional powerhouses, that are doing well in this World Cup. And for the U.S., it is no longer about the fact that they have the better athletes, that they have more depth than anybody else. They have to play better. And there are no gimme games in this tournament anymore.

And that's the one thing. They are aware of it, but have got to really play like that, especially starting now, because once the knockout rounds start, you lose, you go home.

JUDY WOODRUFF: So what — who and what should fans be looking out for?

NANCY ARMOUR: Well, they will have the round of 16 game, which will probably be Colombia, next week, and then a semifinal — or quarterfinal game.

They probably won't get their biggest test until the semifinals, but that could be a big one. That could be Germany, which is considered the other favorite for the title.

JUDY WOODRUFF: There's also been talk about another player on the U.S. team, Hope Solo. How much of a controversy⁵ is that and how much bearing on how this team is doing?

NANCY ARMOUR: The team says that it's not affecting them at all, that this is something that they dealt with months ago, that they are not concerned about it.

But there is a lot of public sentiment, people wanting to know why she is on the team and why U.S. soccer didn't do anything about it. And as the Americans continue to advance, I think there are going to be more people who are going to be asking that same question and wondering, why she is still on the field. Why does the NFL have a set of rules and other teams, other leagues don't have the same kind of — aren't taking it with the same kind of seriousness?

JUDY WOODRUFF: And we should say there was an accusation⁶ of domestic abuse, and that remains⁷ to be resolved.

Nancy Armour, at this point, how much are the FIFA scandals looming⁸ over this women's World Cup?

NANCY ARMOUR: Well, it's kind of ironic⁹, because FIFA has always very dismissively treated the women's game. They're making the women play on turf during this World Cup, which would never happen for the men.

And yet — so this is the first big tournament since the FIFA scandals broke. And it's the one chance that FIFA has to kind of improve its reputation and or improve its image with a great tournament. So, like I said, it's a little bit ironic that it is coming from the women that FIFA has basically brushed aside for decades, saying, oh, you know, we don't take you as seriously as we do the men.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Well, I know you are watching, and we will be too.

Nancy Armour with USA Today, we thank you.

1 armour   

（=armor）n.盔甲；装甲部队

参考例句：

• His body was encased in shining armour.他全身披着明晃晃的甲胄。
• Bulletproof cars sheathed in armour.防弹车护有装甲。

2 positively   

adv.明确地，断然，坚决地；实在，确实

参考例句：

• She was positively glowing with happiness.她满脸幸福。
• The weather was positively poisonous.这天气着实讨厌。

3 slump   

n.暴跌，意气消沉，（土地）下沉；vi.猛然掉落，坍塌，大幅度下跌

参考例句：

• She is in a slump in her career.她处在事业的低谷。
• Economists are forecasting a slump.经济学家们预言将发生经济衰退。

4 parity   

n.平价，等价，比价，对等

参考例句：

• The two currencies have now reached parity.这两种货币现已达到同等价值。
• Women have yet to achieve wage or occupational parity in many fields.女性在很多领域还没能争取到薪金、职位方面的平等。

5 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。

6 accusation   

n.控告，指责，谴责

参考例句：

• I was furious at his making such an accusation.我对他的这种责备非常气愤。
• She knew that no one would believe her accusation.她知道没人会相信她的指控。

7 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

8 looming   

n.上现蜃景（光通过低层大气发生异常折射形成的一种海市蜃楼）v.隐约出现，阴森地逼近( loom的现在分词 )；隐约出现，阴森地逼近

参考例句：

• The foothills were looming ahead through the haze. 丘陵地带透过薄雾朦胧地出现在眼前。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Then they looked up. Looming above them was Mount Proteome. 接着他们往上看，在其上隐约看到的是蛋白质组山。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 回顾与展望

9 ironic   

adj.讽刺的，有讽刺意味的，出乎意料的

参考例句：

• That is a summary and ironic end.那是一个具有概括性和讽刺意味的结局。
• People used to call me Mr Popularity at high school,but they were being ironic.人们中学时常把我称作“万人迷先生”，但他们是在挖苦我。