六級閱讀訓(xùn)練02

　　Depending on which player you ask, the "Fevernova" ball that sports equipment maker Adidas says provides the ultimate soccer experience is Uncontrollable, too big or just simply "stupid". The ball also has its fans, like England's David Beckham. but so far they seem to have been outnumbered by critics.

　　Adidas says the ball. splashed with gold coloring. is quite simply the best around-25 percent more accurate than the ball used at France 98 thanks to meticulous testing by scientists in Germany.

　　The tongue-twisting nature of its contents confirms that the World Cup ball has come a long way from the leather-and-laces variety that was common as recently as the 1960s.

　　The Fevernova's secret. Adidas says. is its radically improved Syntactic foam and unique knitted Raschel fabric.

　　Given that this is supposed to make the ball faster and provide the freekick specialists like Beckham with more power, it may not be surprising that goalkeepers like Buffon are unhappy. Spain goalkeeper Pedro Contreras said the bail acts "strangely", while Danish keeper Thomas Sorensen admitted gloomily that it would probably result in more spectacular goals. "As a goalkeeper, you have to live with the fact that the makers create balls for the benefit of strikers." he said before leaving Copenhagen for South Korea.

　　But outfield players have also weighed in with criticism, many saying the ball is too light and therefore hard to control. "It’s big and it's too light," Japan's Jiji news agency quoted Brazilian forward Edilson as saying earlier this month. while striker Rivaldo said it soared too far when kicked.

　　Journalists at the main press centre in Yokohama have been given the chance to try out the Fevernova from the penalty spot, with the aim of hitting special targets in the goal. So far. few have been able to score more than five out of ten, although this may have little to do with the quality of the ball.

　　Putz. admits that the ball is on the light side of FIFA's 420 to 445 gram weight requirement. but says it is no bigger than previous balls.

　　The controversy over the ball also has an off-pitch dimension. Industry insiders say it may be no coincidence that players from Brazil. sponsored by Adidas rival Nike, have been among the ball's most vociferous critics.

　　The same might go for the praise dished out for the ball by Beckham. one of the main players used to promote Adidas equipment.

　　【參考譯文】

　　[1]人們說“飛火流星”這種足球無法控制、太大或者“太笨”，而“飛火流星”的制造商阿迪達(dá)斯公司卻說它提供了一種最棒的足球體驗，人們的說法得取決于他們問的是哪一個運動員。“飛火流星”也有其推崇者，像英格蘭隊的大衛(wèi)·見克漢姆，但迄今看來是貶多于褒。

　　阿迪達(dá)斯公司聲稱，金光閃閃的“飛火流星”是足球中的極品——比98年法國世界杯用球的精準(zhǔn)度提高了25%，這都是因為在德國的科學(xué)家對其進行了極其精細(xì)的測試。

　　直到20世紀(jì)60年代，世界杯專用足球不論怎樣變化通常都是以皮革和線縫制的, [2]而現(xiàn)在“飛火流星”的制作材料那拗口的特性證實了足球制作工藝的發(fā)展走過了很長的路。

　　阿迪達(dá)斯公司聲稱，“飛火流星”的秘密在于使用了性能極大改善的復(fù)合泡沫塑料和獨一無二的拉歇爾經(jīng)編針織物。

　　既然足球的設(shè)計目的是提高其運行速度，使像貝克漢姆這樣的任意球高手踢出的球更有力，那么像布馮那樣的守門員們會感到不快就不足為奇了。[3]西班牙門將佩德羅·孔特拉斯說這種球的運行“古怪”，而丹麥?zhǔn)亻T員托馬斯·索倫森則沮喪地承認(rèn)，結(jié)果可能會有更多壯觀的進球。他在離開哥本哈根到韓國之前說：“作為一個守門員，你必須面對這樣一個事實，那就是制造商都是為前鋒設(shè)計足球的。”

　　但一些外場球員也加入批評之列，許多人認(rèn)為這種球太輕難于控制。日本時事通訊社引述巴西前鋒埃迪爾森在本月初所說的話：“它太大又太輕”，而前鋒里瓦爾多則說這種球踢起來飛得太遠(yuǎn)了。

　　在橫濱主新聞中心的記者們也有機會試踢“飛火流星”，他們可以在罰球點瞄準(zhǔn)球門的指定目標(biāo)踢球。不過迄今還很少有人踢lO次能命中5次以上，盡管這個結(jié)果可能和足球的質(zhì)量沒有多大關(guān)系。

　　[4]普策承認(rèn)“飛火流星”的重量在國際足聯(lián)規(guī)定的420到445克之間偏輕，但他說其體積完全沒有以往的足球大。

　　對“飛火流星”的爭議有些跑調(diào)的地方。一些業(yè)內(nèi)人士認(rèn)為，由阿迪達(dá)斯的商業(yè)對頭耐克公司贊助的巴西隊屬于對“飛火流星”最激烈的批評者之列可能一點也不是巧合。

　　[5]曾經(jīng)為阿迪達(dá)斯運動用品促銷的主力球員之一的貝克漢姆對“飛火流星”大加贊賞，也就不足為奇了。

　　【試題】

　　1. How does Adidas describe the "Fevernova”ba11?

　　A) The experience provided by the ball is the best so far.

　　B) The ball is almost impossible to control because of its large size.

　　C) The ball has gone through a long way of development.

　　D) The experience provided by the ball is most welcome by strikers.

　　2. What does the author think about the Syntactic foam and unique Raschel fabric chat are used to make the ball?

　　A) The materials have long been used in history.

　　B) The materials do not sound Familiar.

　　C) The materials are new and advanced.

　　D) The materials improve che precision of the ball.

　　3. The goalkeepers tend to admit reluctantly that_____________.

　　A) the ball is too strange to control

　　B) the ball is so light that it goes too fast

　　C) the ball may make the game more thrilling

　　D) the ball may help to enhance the strikers' skills

　　4. Which of the following js true according to Putz?

　　A) The ball is lighter than but of the same size as the previous ones.

　　B) The ball should have been heavier to meet the required weight.

　　C) The ball should have been bigger than the previous ones.

　　D) The ball is light but still meets the weight requirement.

　　5. According to industry insiders. Beckham's comment on the ball_____________.

　　A) is justified in his daily training

　　B) is out of commercial purpose

　　C) goes as radical as the Brazilian players'

　　D) is similar to that by the Brazilian players

　　【答案詳解】

　　1.阿迪達(dá)斯如何形容“飛火流星”球?

　　A) 這個球所帶來的體驗是迄今為止最好的。

　　B) 這個球基本上不可能控制，因為體積太大了。

　　C) 這個球已經(jīng)經(jīng)過了很長時間的開發(fā)。

　　D) 這個球所帶來的體驗最為前鋒所歡迎。

　　[A]首段首句中的ultimate experience表明Adidas公司認(rèn)為“飛火流星”是至今最完美的足球，因此選項A為本題答案。

　　2. 作者怎么看用來制造這個球的復(fù)合泡沫塑料以及獨特的拉歇爾經(jīng)編針織物?

　　A) 在歷史上這種材料已經(jīng)使用了很長時間。

　　B) 這種材料聽上去很陌生。

　　C) 這種材料是新型的先進的。

　　D) 這種材料提高了球的精準(zhǔn)度。

　　[B]第3段開頭的tongue-twisting表明人們對于制作“飛火流星”的材料及其功能都并不熟悉，因此選項B為本題答案。第3段表明“飛火流星”的材料經(jīng)過很長時間才研制出來，并非長久以來一直在使用，由此可見。選項A不正確;第4段是Adidas公司的看法，并非作者的看法，因此選項C不符合題意;根據(jù)第2段可判斷選項D也是Adidas公司的看法。而并非作者的看法。

　　3.守門員會不情愿地承認(rèn)，______________。

　　A) 這個球很奇怪，很難控制 B)這個球很輕，速度太快

　　C) 這個球會讓整場比賽更加精彩 D)這個球可以提高前鋒的技藝

　　[C]本題題干中的reluctantly是關(guān)鍵詞，指出本題要求查找的是“飛火流星”具有的優(yōu)點，而這個優(yōu)點是守門員們不想面對或承認(rèn)的。選項C與第5段第2句中的gloomily that it would probably result in more spectacular goals 內(nèi)容相近，符合題意.為本題答案。

　　4.根據(jù)Putz所說，下列哪一種說法是正確的?

　　A) 相比以前同樣大小的球，這種球更加輕。

　　B) 這種球本應(yīng)該更重一些，才能達(dá)到要求的重量。

　　C) 這種球本應(yīng)該比以往的球更大一些。

　　D) 這種球很輕，但是仍能達(dá)到要求的重量。

　　[D]本題要求正確理解第8段中的on the light side of FIFA's 420 to 445 gram weight requirement，該句應(yīng)理解為“飛火流星”重量偏輕，但仍屬于要求范圍內(nèi)，選項D是正確的理解，為本題答案。

　　5. 根據(jù)業(yè)內(nèi)人士所稱，貝克漢姆對這種球的評價_________________.

　　A) 是根據(jù)他平時的訓(xùn)練所作出的 B)是出于商業(yè)目的的考慮

　　C) 跟巴西球員的評價一樣激烈 D) 與巴西球員的評價類似

　　[B]概括最后兩段可以得知，業(yè)內(nèi)人士認(rèn)為對“飛火流星”的批評和稱贊都與贊助公司有關(guān)，也就是說，這些評價都出于商業(yè)目的，由此可推斷選項B為本題答案。選項A中的training在原文根本沒有提及;末段開頭的The same might go 表明的是Beckham和巴西球員對“飛火流星”做出的評價源于相似的目的，而非表明他們的評價內(nèi)容相似，程度相同，因此選項C和D都不正確。