2006年VOA标准英语-French Hope World Cup Trophy Brings Country Tog

By Lisa Bryant
Paris
08 July 2006

 
France's captain Zinedine Zidane (r) exchanges shirts with Portugal's captain Luis Figo after the World Cup semifinal soccer match  
  
The string of wins by France's national soccer team at the World Cup in Germany has galvanized the nation after a series of setbacks.  Many French dream about repeating the 1998 victory by the country's ethnical diverse team that appeared, at least  temporarily, to heal the country's ethnic² divisions.

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Another game, another win. This time Wednesday against Portugal in the semifinals at Munich. After a series of disappointing performances Les Bleus (The Blues) - the nickname for France's soccer team - is finally hitting its stride.

Half a million French spilled into the streets of Paris after the Munich victory. They set off firecrackers in small towns, and honked³ their car horns in joy. The same joy that exploded eight years ago when France last won the world cup.

That win sparked a sense of multiethnic solidarity⁴. People talked about black-blanc-beur - or black, white, ethnic Arab - that reflected the colors of France's soccer team. The current 23 national players are just as diverse, 17 of them are minorities. Several are Muslim.

Some French like Dalil Boubakeur, head of France's Representative Muslim Council, hope the team will do more than just win another World Cup.

Boubakeur says the World Cup has a psychological effect here, and possibly even an economic effect in restoring confidence of French businesses particularly in young Muslims. It may lower barriers in integrating them economically and give them their rightful place in French society.

On the streets of Paris some, like Senegalese Moussa Sy, agree.

Sy says he's lived in France for 40 years, so of course he's behind the French team. The French team is practically all foreign, ethnic Arab and black, hardly any whites.

In fact many minorities here - mostly blacks, ethnic Arabs and Chinese - have not found their place in French society. That was obvious last October and November, when riots by mostly ethnic Arab and African youths spread across the country.

But that has not been the only setback¹. France lost its bid to host the Olympics in 2012. Demonstrations⁵ against an unpopular new jobs law paralyzed the country.  Economic growth remains⁶ shaky.  And the country's center-right government is very unpopular and tainted⁷ by a political scandal.

Jean-Claude Kaufmann, a sociologist⁸ at the National Center for Scientific Research in Paris, says many French remain cautious about their latest victories.

Kaufmann says the French are still braced⁹ for a fall. France's latest victories will not bring back the joy of 1998, when many here believed they were a victorious¹⁰ nation.  He thinks the nation is sick. And the World Cup won't change things.

Some French agree. Like Farid Taha, 24, an ethnic Algerian.

Taha believes the current euphoria over France's World Cup successes won't last beyond a few weeks. After that it will be over. It's just a game, he says, it won't change anything.

History suggests Taha might be right. In 1998, many hoped the World Cup victory might unite the nation. At the time the country's ethnically¹¹ diverse team brought the country together in celebration. Star player Zinedine Zidane, an ethnic Algerian who scored the winning goal then, and during Wednesday's semifinals against Portugal, remains beloved.  But today Zidane ,34, is heading for retirement¹².

Just four years after the 1998 World Cup victory the far-right, anti-immigration National Front party placed second in presidential elections in France. Today, a March poll showed 30 percent of French consider themselves racist¹³ - a five percent increase from last year.

Skeptics like Mouloud Aounit, head of the antiracism group MRAP, doubt the current French soccer team can turn things around.

We had this experience in the last World Cup 1998, Aounit said, when French felt the black-blanc-beur could bring a new vitality¹⁴ to France.  It didn't.

1 setback   

n.退步，挫折，挫败

参考例句：

• Since that time there has never been any setback in his career.从那时起他在事业上一直没有遇到周折。
• She views every minor setback as a disaster.她把每个较小的挫折都看成重大灾难。

2 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

3 honked   

v.（使）发出雁叫似的声音，鸣（喇叭），按（喇叭）( honk的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• I drove up in front of the house and honked. 我将车开到屋子前面然后按喇叭。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• He honked his horn as he went past. 他经过时按响了汽车喇叭。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 solidarity   

n.团结；休戚相关

参考例句：

• They must preserve their solidarity.他们必须维护他们的团结。
• The solidarity among China's various nationalities is as firm as a rock.中国各族人民之间的团结坚如磐石。

5 demonstrations   

证明( demonstration的名词复数 )； 表明； 表达； 游行示威

参考例句：

• Lectures will be interspersed with practical demonstrations. 讲课中将不时插入实际示范。
• The new military government has banned strikes and demonstrations. 新的军人政府禁止罢工和示威活动。

6 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。

7 tainted   

adj.腐坏的；污染的；沾污的；感染的v.使变质( taint的过去式和过去分词 )；使污染；败坏；被污染，腐坏，败坏

参考例句：

• The administration was tainted with scandal. 丑闻使得政府声名狼藉。
• He was considered tainted by association with the corrupt regime. 他因与腐败政府有牵连而名誉受损。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 sociologist   

n.研究社会学的人，社会学家

参考例句：

• His mother was a sociologist,researching socialism.他的母亲是个社会学家，研究社会主义。
• Max Weber is a great and outstanding sociologist.马克斯·韦伯是一位伟大的、杰出的社会学家。

9 braced   

adj.拉牢的v.支住( brace的过去式和过去分词 )；撑牢；使自己站稳；振作起来

参考例句：

• They braced up the old house with balks of timber. 他们用梁木加固旧房子。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The house has a wooden frame which is braced with brick. 这幢房子是木结构的砖瓦房。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 victorious   

adj.胜利的，得胜的

参考例句：

• We are certain to be victorious.我们定会胜利。
• The victorious army returned in triumph.获胜的部队凯旋而归。

11 ethnically   

adv.人种上，民族上

参考例句：

• Ethnically, the Yuan Empire comprised most of modern China's ethnic groups. 元朝的民族成分包括现今中国绝大多数民族。 来自汉英非文学 - 白皮书
• Russia is ethnically relatively homogeneous. 俄罗斯是个民族成分相对单一的国家。 来自辞典例句

12 retirement   

n.退休，退职

参考例句：

• She wanted to enjoy her retirement without being beset by financial worries.她想享受退休生活而不必为金钱担忧。
• I have to put everything away for my retirement.我必须把一切都积蓄起来以便退休后用。

13 racist   

n.种族主义者，种族主义分子

参考例句：

• a series of racist attacks 一连串的种族袭击行为
• His speech presented racist ideas under the guise of nationalism. 他的讲话以民族主义为幌子宣扬种族主义思想。

14 vitality   

n.活力，生命力，效力

参考例句：

• He came back from his holiday bursting with vitality and good health.他度假归来之后，身强体壮，充满活力。
• He is an ambitious young man full of enthusiasm and vitality.他是个充满热情与活力的有远大抱负的青年。