VOA慢速英语2015 国际足联女足世界杯进入第二阶段

AS IT IS 2015-06-20 FIFA Women's World Cup Enters Second Stage 国际足联女足世界杯进入第二阶段

The investigation¹ of international football’s leadership continues. So too is play at the FIFAWomen’s World Cup Canada 2015. Sixteen teams remain in the competition. The Women’s WorldCup began on June 6.  There were teams from 24 countries at the very beginning. That is thelargest number of teams ever represented in a Women’s World Cup.

FIFA is the governing group for professional football, or soccer, as it is called in the United States.Current and former FIFA officials are currently² under investigation. This week, Swiss officialsannounced they are investigating possible money laundering³ incidents connected to the planningof the 2018 and 2022 FIFA Men’s World Cups.

So, which teams are expected to reach the finals of the 2015 Women’s World Cup? Peoplefollowing the sport say predicting those teams will be difficult. But they say the top three teams of the competition are Germany, Japan and the United States. Both the United States and Germanyhave each won two Women’s World Cups. And one of those two countries has eliminated⁴, orousted, the other in three of the six World Cups.

In the first Women’s World Cup, held in 1991, the U.S. team defeated Germany 5-2 in a semifinalmatch. In the 1999 World Cup, the U.S. defeated Germany in a quarterfinal match. But Germanywould return in 2003 to defeat the United States 3-0 in the semifinal match.

Some experts believe the winner this year may be the team from Japan. Japan defeated the UnitedStates in the finals of the 2011 Women’s World Cup.

Football matches for the round of 16 start Saturday, June 20. The finals will take place on Sunday,July 5 at BC Place Stadium in Vancouver.

Words in this Story

money laundering – n. the process of using banks or businesses to hide where money that isgained illegally really comes from

eliminated – v. defeated

semifinal – n. either one of two games to decide which people or teams will go on to the final partof a competition

1 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

2 currently   

adv.通常地，普遍地，当前

参考例句：

• Currently it is not possible to reconcile this conflicting evidence.当前还未有可能去解释这一矛盾的例证。
• Our contracts are currently under review.我们的合同正在复查。

3 laundering   

n.洗涤（衣等），洗烫（衣等）；洗（钱）v.洗（衣服等），洗烫（衣服等）( launder的现在分词 )；洗（黑钱）（把非法收入改头换面，变为貌似合法的收入）

参考例句：

• Separate the white clothes from the dark clothes before laundering. 洗衣前应当把浅色衣服和深色衣服分开。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He was charged with laundering money. 他被指控洗钱。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 eliminated   

v.排除( eliminate的过去式和过去分词 )；消除；除掉；干掉

参考例句：

• He was eliminated in the first round of voting. 他在第一轮投票中被淘汰。
• Her misspelling of that word eliminated her from the contest. 因为她把那个单词写错了，所以不能参加比赛。 来自《简明英汉词典》