英语听力精选进阶版 14204

BBC Learning English 

Words in the N ews   

24 April 2013 

Subbuteo  revival  

Transcript: 

Fingers at the ready! This was the football game of a generation.  

But fans of Subbuteo  gave it the  red card  when computer games arrived on 

the scene.    

Despite this, die-hard fans in Asia have continued to compete and are trying to 

revive this  low-tech game.   

At a recent tournament in Japan, fierce battles were played out on pitches made 

of soft cloth , between devotees who think this game still rules supreme¹. 

Vocabulary: 

gave it the red card   

a football term used here to mean to reject or to st op using 

die-hard 

determined², dedicated 

low-tech 

simple or unsophisticated  

devotees   

people who are very enthusiastic about a subject or activity 

rules supreme   

is the best and most important  

Exercise: 

Use one of the words or phrases below to complete each of these sentences from 

BBC news reports.   

Note that you may have to change the form of a word to complete the sentence 

correctly.  

red card  / die-hard / low-tech / devotees/  rules supreme 

1. Ultras, the __________ fans of al -Ahly, Egypt's most successful club, took to the 

streets of the capital to show satisfaction after 21 people were sentenced to death 

for their role in last February's football violence. 

2. Angst about government currencies has traditionally sent people flocking to gold, 

and for many _________ of the shiny stuff, gold remains³ the one and forever 

answer.  

3. Then there is Bologna's world famous ragu, the pasta sauce known in the UK as 

bolognese. This is a city where meat _____________.   

4. Depending on your point of view, Wonga is either an innovative⁴ player in the 

world of personal finance  - or should be shown a ________ for wooing people who 

have little chance of meeting repayments⁵ into loans with cripplingly high interest 

rates.  

5. Agriculture contributes a mere⁶ 3% to the island's gross domestic product (GDP), 

with the rest coming primarily from exports - which explains why farming remains 

relatively⁷  ____________ and many Taiwanese rice  farmers still wander barefoot 

through paddy rice fields.  

Answers: 

1. Ultras, the die-hard fans of al -Ahly, Egypt's most successful club, took to the 

streets of the capital to show satisfaction after 21 people were sentenced to death 

for their role in  last February's football violence.   

2. Angst about government currencies has traditionally sent people flocking to gold, 

and for many  devotees of the shiny stuff, gold remains the one and forever answer. 

3. Then there is Bologna's world famous ragu, the p asta sauce known in the UK as 

bolognese. This is a city where meat  rules supreme.   

4. Depending on your point of view, Wonga is either an innovative  player in the 

world of personal finance  - or should be shown a red card  for wooing people who 

have little chance of meeting repayments into loans with cripplingly high interest 

rates.  

5. Agriculture contributes a mere 3% to the island's gross domestic product (GDP), 

with the rest coming primarily from exports - which explains why farming remains 

relatively  low-tech and many Taiwanese rice farmers still wander barefoot through 

paddy rice fields. 

1 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

2 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

3 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。

4 innovative   

adj.革新的，新颖的，富有革新精神的

参考例句：

• Discover an innovative way of marketing.发现一个创新的营销方式。
• He was one of the most creative and innovative engineers of his generation.他是他那代人当中最富创造性与革新精神的工程师之一。

5 repayments   

偿还，报答，偿付的钱物( repayment的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The repayments of the loan are spread over 10 years. 贷款可在十年内分期偿还。
• The repayments of the loan are spread over 25 years. 这笔贷款分摊二十五年偿还。

6 mere   

adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过

参考例句：

• That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
• It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。

7 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。