the world cup
1. one of the first things that people studying english learn is that the game they call football is called soccer in north america. soccer has been popular for more than 100 years, and today it is probably the most popular sport in the world.
2. every four years, teams from all over the world compete in the famous world cup. the cup is a series of games in which teams from many countries play to see which one is the best. by one estimate, almost one billion people watched the 1982 championship game on television. people in asia had to get up in the middle of the night to see italy beat west germany on tv in a game played in spain.
3. the world cup began in montevideo, uruguay, in 1930. at the time, it did not seem like a true world competition since only thirteen teams decided toplay, and eight of them were from south america. the team from uruguay won.
4. in 1934 and 1938, the cup was held in europe. more than thirty teams played in each of these competitions, and italy won both of them. the larger number meant that some rules had to be changed. there were too many teams playing, so they had to have elimination matches first. some of the games were played in countries other than the host countries. this system is still used today, and only the sixteen teams left after elimination actually compete for the cup.
5. there were no world cup' championships in 1942 or 1946 because of world warⅡ. the cup itself was hidden during the war. this beautiful cup is about ten inches high and has the shape of nike, the greek goddess of victory, on it. it is named for a person who helped organize the world cup, jules rimet.
6. when the cup play started again in 1950, there was little enthusiasm. it was like 1928 all over again: only thirteen teams competed, the games were in brazil, and uruguay won. but the worldwide interest in soccer came back during the next four years. by the time west germany won in switzerland in 1954, millions of people wanted 'to go to the matches.
7. in 1958, when the games were held in sweden, interest was once again very high. fifty-three teams wanted to compete. many elimination matches were held in different parts of the world to get the number of teams down, and only the last sixteen teams went to sweden. this was the first time that the world saw pele his team, from brazil, won the cup for the first time that year, and pelt became the greatest soccer player of all time.
8. in the past thirty years, soccer has become the sport of the world. each world cup is more successful than the last. since 1966, probably one-quarter of the world has listened to or watched the championship game.
9. in the 1970s, pelt retired from the national team of brazil and became a~ professional player for a team in new york. soccer wasn't very popular in the united states at that time. few north americans knew about this fast-moving sport. there was no money to pay professional players, and there was little interest in soccer in the high schools and colleges. when pelt and other international stars began playing in various u. s. cities, people saw how interesting the game was and began to go to the matches. today there is a professional league called the north american soccer league (nasl). it is common for important games to have fifty to sixty thousand fans.
10. support from the fans is important to soccer. the fans cheer enthusiastically for their favorite players and teams, who respond by playing better than before. in most world cups the home team, or the team from the host country, usually plays better than most people expect. in 1966, 1974, and 1978, the home teams of england, west germany, and argentina all won the world cup.
11. it is common for people to close their stores and stop working during games. some people feel that their national soccer team represents their country's honor.
12. north american teams have never been as good as teams from other parts of the world, but this may change. many north american high schools and colleges now have teams, and student interest is high. fans in the united states enjoy sports which are hard and fast, and soccer is a fast sport which demands strong, hard play. u. s. interest in it will surely grow.
13. as all soccer fans know, the greatest teams don't always win. their fans' enthusiasm and their own desires sometimes help teams play better than normal. in the 1950 world cup, for example, most people thought that the team from england was the best in the world. the u. s. team surprised everyone by winning its match. that loss stopped england from winning the cup. this, of course, did not mean that the u. s. team was the best in the world. the united states lost to chile in its next game. then chilean lost to spain, and spain finished fourth in the final result. uruguay won the cup.
14. the world cup is called that because teams from every continent have played in it. however, since the cup began, all of the winning teams have been from europe or south america. teams from asia or africa always do well, but they haven't yet won. mexico played surprisingly well in the 1970 cup, which it hosted, but it wasn't among the final four teams.
15. the largest crowd ever to attend a soccer match was at the world cup final in rio de janeiro, brazil, on july 16, 1950. 199,854 fans watches uruguay defeat brazil by score of 2-1.
16. the following incidents show how serious some people are about soccer. during the 1960s, a player for a team from derby, england, was fined two dollars for smiling at a referee during a match. in another incident in greece, a referee feared an angry crowd after a match, so he dressed himself as a catholic priest and tried to escape to athens by ship. the fans found out where he was and threw fruit at him before his ship sailed.
参考译文：足球世界杯
1．学习英语的人们最先学到的事情之一，就是他们称为足球的比赛，在 北美被称为英式足球。(北美称为足球的比赛，实际上是橄榄球。)足球已经 流行了100多年，时至今日它大概是世界上最流行的一种运动。
2．每四年，来自全世界的球队争夺一次著名的世界杯。世界杯赛是从许 多国家来的球队进行的一系列比赛，角逐谁是最好的球队。据估计，几乎有 十亿人通过电视观看了1982年的世界杯赛.亚洲的人们必须半夜起床，通过 电视观看在西班牙进行的意大利队战胜西德队的比赛。
3．1930年，足球世界杯始于乌拉圭的蒙得维的亚。那时，它似乎并不像 一个真正的世界比赛，因为仅仅有十三支球队决定参赛，而且其中的八个球 队来自南美。乌拉圭队胜出。
4．1934年和1938年的两届世界杯赛在欧洲举行。每届都有超过三十支球 队参赛，意大利赢得了那两届的奖杯。球队的数目增加意味着某些规则必须 改变。参赛球队太多，所以他们必须首先进行淘汰赛。一些比赛在主办国之 外的其它国家进行。这个制度一直沿用到今天，即淘汰赛之后，仅仅剩下十 六支球队角逐世界杯。
5．因为第二次世界大战，1942年和1946年没有举行世界杯锦标赛。战 争期间，世界杯自身亦不知下落。美丽的足球世界杯大约有十英寸高，安放 着一个外形酷似希腊胜利女神尼克的雕像。世界杯的名字，朱尔斯·瑞米特， 来源于一个最初帮助组织世界杯赛的人。
6．1950年，世界杯赛重新开始，但是人们不怎么狂热。如同1928年的 情况重现：(1950年)只有十三支球队参加比赛，比赛地点在巴西，乌拉圭 胜出。但是，在接下来的四年里，全世界对足球的兴趣重新回升。到1954年， 当西德在瑞士赢得(世界杯锦标赛)冠军时，上百万人想要去赛场。
7．1958年，比赛在瑞典举行，世界杯足球赛再次引起人们的浓厚兴趣。 五十三支球队参加比赛。在全世界的不同地方举行了多局淘汰赛以减少参加 决赛的球队，最后只保留十六支球队决战瑞典。这也是贝利第一次在全世界 亮相。贝利的队伍来自巴西，那年巴西第一次赢得世界杯，贝利从此成为世 界上最优秀足球运动员。
8．在过去三十年里，足球已经成为世界性运动。每次世界杯赛都比以往 更成功。1966年以后，每次世界杯赛，世界上都有大约四分之一的人收听或 观看过锦标赛。
9．1970年以后，贝利从巴西国家队退役，成为纽约一支足球队的专业运 动员。当时在美国，足球不是很流行。很少有美国人懂得这种快速移动的运 动。没有钱雇佣专业运动员，高中和大学对足球亦少有兴趣。当贝利和其他 国际球星开始在各个美国城市中比赛后，人们看到足球比赛是多么有趣，开 始走向赛场。今天，美国已经有了的被称为 “北美足球联盟(nasl)” 的足 球专业组织。重要的比赛通常有五到六万个球迷。
10．对足球来说，追随者的支持很重要。球迷为他们所喜爱的运动员和球 队狂热欢呼，运动员和球队往往会用更好的比赛回应。在大多数世界杯赛中， 主队或称来自主办国的球队的表现，通常超出大多数人的期待。在1966年、 1974年和1978年(的世界杯赛中)，主办国英国队、西德队、和阿根廷队， 都赢得了世界杯。
11，在比赛期间，人们关闭商店和停止工作是很普通的事。很多人认为他 们国家的足球队代表着他们国家的荣誉。
12．北美球队从未像世界其他地区的球队那样好，但是，这种情况可能会 改变。现在许多美国高中和大学都有足球队，学生们兴趣也很高。美国的体 育爱好者喜欢激烈和快速的运动，足球是一项既快速又激烈的运动。美国人 对它的兴趣一定会越来越强。
13．如同所有足球迷所知，最好的球队并不总是取胜。球迷的狂热和球队 自身求胜的渴望常常有助球队比赛时超常发挥。有一个例子，1950年世界杯 赛中，大多数人认为英格兰的球队是世界上最好的，但美国队赢了这场比赛， 令每个人大吃一惊。英格兰球队的这次失败，阻止了它向世界杯的冲击。，当 然，这一切并不意味着美国队是世界上最好的球队。在美国队的下场比赛中， 它输给了智利，然后，智利输给了西班牙，而西班牙最终取得第四名。乌拉 圭赢得了冠军。
14．世界杯之所以叫世界杯，是因为参加比赛的球队来自各个大陆。然而， 自从世界杯开赛以来，所有的胜利队都来自欧洲或南美洲。来自亚洲或非洲 的队总是表现得很好，但是，他们从未赢得冠军杯。在1970年的世界杯赛中， 墨西哥表现好得令人惊讶，墨西哥也是该届的主办国，但是它不属于最后决 赛的四个队。
15．1950年7月16日，在巴西的里约热内卢进行的世界杯决赛，是观看 群众最多的一次足球比赛，199,854名球迷观看了乌拉圭以2比1的比分击败 巴西的那场比赛。
16．下面这些小插曲能反映出人们多么看重足球比赛。大约在1960年， 一个来自英国德比球队的运动员，因为在一场比赛中向裁判员微笑而被罚款 两美元。另外一个发生在希腊的小插曲，一个裁判员在一场比赛之后，害怕 愤怒的观众，他把自己打扮成天主教牧师试图乘小船逃往雅典。球迷们找到了他，在他的船启航之前，扔了他一身烂水果。