Longafterthe1998WorldCupwaswon,disappointedfanswerestillcursingthedisputedrefereeing(裁判)decisionsthatdeniedvictorytotheirteam.Aresearcherwasappointedtostudytheperformanceofsometopreferees.
Theresearcherorganizedanexperimentaltournament(锦标赛)involvingfouryouthteams.Eachmatchlastedanhour,dividedintothreeperiodsof20minutesduringwhichdifferentrefereeswereincharge.
Observersnoteddownthereferees’errors,ofwhichtherewere61overthetournament.Convertedtoastandardmatchof90minutes,eachrefereemadealmost23mistakes,aremarkablyhighnumber.
Theresearcherthenstudiedthevideotapestoanalyzethematchesindetail.Surprisingly,hefoundthaterrorsweremorelikelywhentherefereeswereclosetotheincident.Whentheofficialsgotitright,theywere,onaverage,17metersawayfromtheaction.Theaveragedistanceinthecaseoferrorswas12meters.Theresearchshowstheoptimum(最佳的)distanceisabout20meters.
Therealsoseemedtobeanoptimumspeed.Correctdecisionscamewhentherefereesweremovingataspeedofabout2meterspersecond.Theaveragespeedforerrorswas4meterspersecond.
IfFIFA,football’sinternationalrulingbody,wantstoimprovethestandardofrefereeingatthenextWorldCup,itshouldencouragerefereestokeeptheireyesontheactionfromadistance,ratherthanrushingtokeepupwiththeball,theresearcherargues.
HealsosaysthatFIFA’sinsistencethatrefereesshouldretireatage45maybemisguided.Ifkeepingupwiththeactionisnotsoimportant,theirphysicalconditionislesscritical.
练习题:
Choosecorrectanswerstothequestion:
1.Theexperimentconductedbytheresearcherwasmeantto_______.
A.reviewthedecisionsofrefereesatthe1998WorldCup
B.analyzethecausesoferrorsmadebyfootballreferees
C.setastandardforfootballrefereeing
D.reexaminetherulesforfootballrefereeing
2.Thenumberofrefereeingerrorsintheexperimentalmatcheswas_______.
B.higherthaninthe1998WorldCup
D.ashighasinastandardmatch
3.Thefindingsoftheexperimentshowthat_______.
A.errorsaremorelikelywhenarefereekeepsclosetotheball
B.thefarthertherefereeisfromtheincident,thefewertheerrors
C.themoreslowlytherefereeruns,themorelikelywillerrorsoccur
D.errorsarelesslikelywhenarefereestaysinonespot
4.Theword“officials”(Line2,Para.4)mostprobablyrefersto_______.
A.theresearchersinvolvedintheexperiment
B.theinspectorsofthefootballtournament
C.therefereesofthefootballtournament
D.theobserversatthesiteoftheexperiment
5.Whatisoneofthepossibleconclusionsoftheexperiment?
A.Theidealretirementageforanexperiencedfootballrefereeis45.
B.Ageshouldnotbethechiefconsiderationinchoosingafootballreferee.
C.Afootballrefereeshouldbeasyoungandenergeticaspossible.
D.Anexperiencedfootballrefereecandowellevenwheninpoorphysicalcondition.
1.[B]根据第1段可知,球迷对裁判的裁决不满意,因此“Aresearcherwasappointedtostudytheperformanceofsometopreferees.一名研究员被指定对一些高级裁判的场上执法情况进行研究”,再加上文中error一词頻频使用,可见,目的是分析裁判误判的原因,即B。
2.[C]第3段说“在90分钟的标准赛中,每个裁判几乎犯23个错误,这是一个remarkablyhighnumber”,C与之一致。
3.[A]第4段第2句提到,令人惊讶的是,裁判离犯规地点越近,错判的可能性就越大,A为原文的同义表达,故选A。B项的干扰性比较大,但由下一句可知,正确判断的平均距离是离犯规处17米。故并非越远,错判就越少,故排除B。
4.[C]根据第4段officials出现的上下文可以判断是指referees,其实这也是全文主题词.故选C。
5.[B]最后一段提到,如果紧跟着球员跑来跑去显得不那么重要的话,栽判的身体状况也就不那么关键了。所以它的含义应为B“在选择足球裁判时,年龄并不是首要考虑的因素"。