Wimbledon Line Judge

BBC¹ Learning² EnglishWeekenderWimbledon Line JudgeCallum: Hello, I'm Callum Robertson and this is Weekender.
　　This weekend, as well asthe World Cup football there is another big sporting eventthat I'll be watching, and that's Wimbledon. Wimbledon isone of the four major tennis competitions in the year andis played on the grass of the south London All England LawnTennis Club.
　　The main court at Wimbledon is known³ as Centre Court andover the years players such as Bjorn Borg, John McEnroe,Martina Navratilova and Venus⁴ Williams have played and wonthere.
　　But it's not just the players that get to work on theCentre Court, there is also the umpire, who controls thematch and keeps the score, and the line judges. The linejudges are there to watch to see if balls land out of thecourt. They make important decisions which sometimes makethe players very angry but they don't get paid for this –they are volunteers.
　　Veronica Mwondela is one of these volunteers. We caughtup with her on the Centre Court to find out more aboutwhat's involved in being a line judge or lines' person.
　　First we asked her why she wanted to do the job.
　　VERONICAWhy did I want to become a lines' person? Well simplybecause I love tennis and I used to play a lot of tenniswhen I was younger. I quickly realised that I was nevergoing to make the grade to play on Centre Court and so Ithought the only way to get to Centre Court is to be alines person and I have got on Centre CourtCallum: Veronica used to play tennis but she said that shewas never going to make the grade. To make the grade. Thisexpression means⁵ to be good enough to do somethingsuccessfully. She realised that she wasn't good enough tobe a top professional⁶ player but could still get to centrecourt by being a line judge.
　　Veronica has made it to centre court as a line judge,officiating at a quarter- final on Centre Court. So apartfrom having good eyesight⁷ and knowing the laws of the gamewhat qualities do you think it takes to be a line umpire?
　　VERONICAThe qualities that you need as a line umpire, you need tohold your nerve⁸, sometimes it can be intimidatingespecially when a player is unhappy with your call and youneed to be confident about your call so you need to have aloud confident voice and if a player is unhappy youneed to hold your nerve. So it's all about confidencereally.
　　Callum: Being a line umpire is all about confidenceVeronica says. You have to have a loud confident voice, beconfident about your call and importantly, you also have to'hold your nerve'. To hold your nerve – to be strong andnot change your mind if a player disagrees with your call.
　　It can be intimidating⁹ at times, she says, you can feel alot of pressure – but you have to hold your nerve.
　　Walking out on to the centre court a Wimbledon is anexperience not many of us have had or are likely to have –so what's it like? How does if feel?
　　VERONICAYou know when you walk out on to centre court and thepeople begin to clap and you're waiting for the players tocome and that feeling you can never get used to it. CentreCourt Wimbledon is really special and every time you walkout on court it feels like a special time, I don't thinkI'll ever tire of walking out on to Centre Court. You dofeel nervous and you feel the excitement, you feel a littletension. It's only when the first ball is hit that youbegin to sortof get into it and also when you make your fist call,especially if it's a fault or out call because you've gotyour voice out there and then you get into the match.
　　Callum: Veronica describes it as a very special feeling,one she will never tire of, she'll never get bored of it –it's very special. There are nerves¹⁰ and excitement but oncethe first ball is hit and particularly once you've madeyour first call – when you shout that the ball was out ora the service was a fault, that's when you begin to 'getinto it', to feel involved and more relaxed.
　　Of course sometimes the players argue with the line judgeswhen they think they have made a mistake. Has Veronica evermade a mistake? This is what she said when we asked her.
　　VERONICA(Laughs) Of course I have, but I won't tell you which ones!
　　Callum: That's all from this edition of Weekender, I'm offhome now to watch some tennis.

1 BBC   

abbr.（=British Broadcasting Corporation）英国广播公司

参考例句：

• She works for the BBC.她为英国广播公司工作。
• The BBC was founded in 1922.英国广播公司建于1922年。

2 learning   

n.学问，学识，学习；动词learn的现在分词

参考例句：

• When you are learning to ride a bicycle,you often fall off.初学骑自行车时，常会从车上掉下来。
• Learning languages isn't just a matter of remembering words.学习语言不仅仅是记些单词的事。

3 known   

adj.大家知道的；知名的，已知的

参考例句：

• He is a known artist.他是一个知名的艺术家。
• He is known both as a painter and as a statesman.他是知名的画家及政治家。

4 Venus   

n.金星；维纳斯(罗马神话中爱与美的女神)

参考例句：

• Venus is of the same size as Earth.金星跟地球差不多一样大。
• Venus was a goddess worshiped by the Romans.维纳斯是罗马人所崇拜的女神。

5 means   

n.方法，手段，折中点，物质财富

参考例句：

• That man used artful means to find out secrets.那人使用狡猾的手段获取机密。
• We must get it done by some means or other.我们总得想办法把它干完。

6 professional   

adj.专业的；职业的；n.专业人员；职业运动员

参考例句：

• He is a professional tennis player.他是一名职业网球运动员。
• I need a professional to sort out my finances.我需要专业人士为我管理财务。

7 eyesight   

n.视力；视觉；眼力

参考例句：

• Her eyesight grew so bad that she could hardly see.她的视力变得很糟，几乎什么也看不见了。
• Everyone should pay attention to preserving his own eyesight.每人都应注意保护视力。

8 nerve   

n.神经；勇气，胆量，沉着，果断

参考例句：

• Did he have the nerve to say that?他竟有脸说这话吗？
• He never got up enough nerve to meet me.他从没有足够的胆量来见我。

9 intimidating   

vt.恐吓，威胁( intimidate的现在分词)

参考例句：

• They were accused of intimidating people into voting for them. 他们被控胁迫选民投他们的票。
• This kind of questioning can be very intimidating to children. 这种问话的方式可能让孩子们非常害怕。

10 nerves   

n.神经紧张 vt.鼓起勇气

参考例句：

• What he said at the meeting strung her nerves up. 他在会议上的发言使她的神经很紧张。
• At the end of a day's teaching, her nerves were absolutely shattered. 教了一天课，她精疲力竭。