新奇事件簿 泰国足球世界杯

Thailand has seen its fair share of upheaval¹ and turmoil² in the past few years. In an attempt to quell³ public unrest over the next month, the ruling military junta⁴ has ordered national broadcasters to air all games of the soccer World Cup for free. Many Thais are under curfew but the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) believes they will be happy if they can watch World Cup games for free. This will please poorer Thais who could not afford the special digital box needed to view the games. The NCPO arranged that all matches would be televised for free on the army-owned stations. It is not such good news for the satellite channel RS, which paid over $20 million for the broadcasting rights.

泰国在过去几年里一直处于因分配公平而造成的动荡和混乱之中。为了平息公众在下个月的动荡，军政府已下令全国广播公司免费直播足球世界杯的所有比赛。许多泰国人受到宵禁,但国家和平与秩序委员会认为人们会因为可以免费观看足球世界杯比赛而感到开心。这是为了让那些贫穷的人开心，因为他们没钱买特殊的数字电视盒子。NCPO已经安排所有军属电视台免费直播。这对于卫星频道RS来说并不是好消息，因为他们要为转播权支付2000多万美元。

NCPO leader Prayuth Chan-ocha said the move is to "return happiness to the Thai people". It is part of the junta's "happiness campaign" aimed at winning hearts and minds following last month's coup⁵. The campaign has also seen free concerts and free haircuts for the poor. The junta is also promising⁶ to subsidise farmers, cap the costs of basic foods and start major infrastructure⁷ projects. Many soccer-mad Thais will have to watch the free games at home as there is a late-night curfew in most of the country. Thailand's national team is ranked 149th in the world rankings and has never qualified⁸ for the World Cup Finals. The tournament began on June the 12th and will finish on July the 13th.

NCPO领导人帕拉育表示,此举是为了“让幸福回到泰国人民身边”。这是军政府在上个月的政变之后，为赢得民心而开展的“快乐运动”的一部分。这项活动也包括让贫穷的民众免费欣赏音乐会、享受免费理发。军政府还承诺补贴农民,弥补基本食品的成本，并开始主要的基础设施项目。因为大多数国家都有宵禁，所以许多疯狂的足球迷不得不在家里免费观看足球比赛。泰国国家队在世界排名第149位，泰国一直没有资格参加世界杯决赛。比赛开始于6月12日,将于7月13日完成。

1 upheaval   

n.胀起，(地壳)的隆起；剧变，动乱

参考例句：

• It was faced with the greatest social upheaval since World War Ⅱ.它面临第二次世界大战以来最大的社会动乱。
• The country has been thrown into an upheaval.这个国家已经陷入动乱之中。

2 turmoil   

n.骚乱，混乱，动乱

参考例句：

• His mind was in such a turmoil that he couldn't get to sleep.内心的纷扰使他无法入睡。
• The robbery put the village in a turmoil.抢劫使全村陷入混乱。

3 quell   

v.压制，平息，减轻

参考例句：

• Soldiers were sent in to quell the riots.士兵们被派去平息骚乱。
• The armed force had to be called out to quell violence.不得不出动军队来镇压暴力行动。

4 junta   

n.团体；政务审议会

参考例句：

• The junta reacted violently to the perceived threat to its authority.军政府感到自身权力受威胁而进行了激烈反击。
• A military junta took control of the country.一个军政权控制了国家。

5 coup   

n.政变；突然而成功的行动

参考例句：

• The monarch was ousted by a military coup.那君主被军事政变者废黜了。
• That government was overthrown in a military coup three years ago.那个政府在3年前的军事政变中被推翻。

6 promising   

adj.有希望的，有前途的

参考例句：

• The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
• We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。

7 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

8 qualified   

adj.合格的，有资格的，胜任的，有限制的

参考例句：

• He is qualified as a complete man of letters.他有资格当真正的文学家。
• We must note that we still lack qualified specialists.我们必须看到我们还缺乏有资质的专家。