英語趣味課堂：可以舉辦世界杯的城市-World Cup City

Paul: So Todd, we're talking about football and recently there was the World Cup bidding process that occurred and the English campaign lost to the Russians and the American campaign lost to Qatar. How do you feel about that?

Todd: Yeah, it was a bit tough. I thought actually that the US was deserving. I think the vote was relatively close. The US actually was a really good candidate because it has the stadiums, it has the infrastructure, it has the transportation networks, it has a really large multi-cultural population so there's people from every country in the world. It has the media set-up. It really had everything so I was actually surprised it didn't get it. But then after reading about the bid that won, Qatar, I was understanding. They seemed to have a really good pitch. These were not going to be for another twelve years and the stadiums that they were proposing are going to be really high tech and just marvels of architecture and the stadiums that we have now are going to be twelve years old by the time the World Cup would come around so that makes a lot of sense. Plus I've always wondered what a World Cup would be like if you had it in one central location and Qatar is relatively small so people won't have to travel that much, so I think that's kind of a benefit I think. A lot of my friends have been to the World Cup and they say that actually having the games so spread out is kind of a hassle.

Paul: Right.

Todd: So that might be good. But actually to be honest what really surprised me was that Australia didn't get it. I thought Australia was the best choice. I thought Australia was a better choice than the US and Qatar. They've never had it in that region before, they have all the stadiums recently built for the Olympics in two thousand. They love football or soccer, they are always competitive in the World Cup, a very festive atmosphere, very multi-cultural like the US, so I thought they were the perfect candidate but they came in third. I think they were voted out first, I don't even remember.

Paul: Yeah, I was surprised by that as well. I thought Australia would be a really good choice.

Todd: So of the three, so if it was the US, Qatar and Australia, who would have you chosen?

Paul: I would have chosen Australia because it's never been there before. I think they would make a real kind of, you saw the Olympics there and it was a real success and I think having been to Australia, they don't really have a very good transportation network because it's so big and the cities are so far away from each other. I think it would have really helped to develop that side of Australia. Like you said, the festive kind of spirit of Australian culture I think would have made for a really memorable World Cup.

Todd: Yeah, I agree. Although, on the other hand, I think most of the world doesn't know very much about Qatar and we can look at what China recently did in the Olympics, there was a lot of skepticism about how they would handle the Olympics and they did a phenomenal job. So I guess everybody just has to keep an open mind and hope for yet another great World Cup.

學(xué)習(xí)內(nèi)容：

Learn Vocabulary from the lesson

deserving

I thought actually that the US was deserving.

Someone or something that is deserving should receive our help and support. Notice the following:

I thought he was deserving of assistance.

No one thought it was deserving of an Academy Award.

pitch

They seemed to have a really good sales pitch.

A pitch is similar in meaning to a presentation. Notice the following:

That was a great sales pitch.

The workshop was really just a sales pitch for the company's products.

hassle

Having the games so spread out is kind of a hassle.

Something that is a hassle is annoying or inconvenient to do. Notice the following:

It's a hassle to get here during rush hour.

I don't like the hassle of carrying my books around after class.

festive

They have a very festive atmosphere.

Something festive is fun and lively. Notice the following:

It was a less than festive event.

Wow, that was a festive party last night, wasn't it?

skepticism

There was a lot of skepticism about how they would handle the Olympics.

Skepticism is similar in meaning to doubt. It's most often negative. Notice the following:

His explanation was met with skepticism.

His explanation was met with doubt.