Reading 1: World Cup final to take place this weekend世界盃足球賽 冠軍戰週末精彩開踢
TODAY’S WORDS
今日單字
今日單字
1. quadrennial adj. 四年一度的
2. World Cup phr. 世界盃
3. quarter-final phr. 八強賽、半準決賽
4. semi-final phr.四強賽、準決賽
5. soccer (American English), football (British English) 英式足球，足球
The excitement has peaked, and the quadrennial FIFA World Cup is drawing to a close. The quarter-finals took place last weekend, followed by the semi-finals this week. France and Croatia will now compete in the final, while Belgium and England will meet in the third place play-off. 四年一度的世界盃足球賽目前已接近尾聲，熱烈的賽事也將進入最高潮。八強在上週末開打，緊接著就是本週的四強大戰。最終法國和克羅埃西亞將爭奪冠軍寶座，比利時和英格蘭則將爭奪季軍。
Among the three soccer superstars for this World Cup, both Argentina’s Lionel Messi and Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo failed to advance to the quarter-finals, while Brazil’s Neymar has been ribbed for rolling on the field dramatically in several games after contact with opponents: Fans even dubbed his alleged theatrics “Neymar rolling.” 至於本屆世界盃的三大球星，阿根廷隊的梅西和葡萄牙隊的「C羅」羅納度稍早皆止步於八強門外。巴西隊的內馬爾則因在幾場比賽被對手踢倒後，戲劇化地躺在地上打滾，遭球迷嘲諷為「內馬爾滾」。
Meanwhile, Japan won applause for beating Colombia in its first game, becoming the first Asian team to beat a South American squad in 88 years of World Cup history. The final is scheduled in Moscow, Russia for 11pm Taiwan Time on Sunday. 此外，日本隊因首戰踢走哥倫比亞隊而贏得掌聲，成為在世界盃八十八年歷史上，首支戰勝南美洲球隊的亞洲勁旅。本屆世界盃的冠軍戰，將於台灣時間週日晚上十一點在俄國莫斯科開踢。
(Eddy Chang, Taipei Times台北時報張聖恩）
Reading 2: Egypt’s women football referees push for higher level 埃及女性足球裁判爭取更上一層樓
TODAY’S WORDS
今日單字
- referee：名詞，裁判。例句：The decision by the referee was accepted by all.（大家都接受了裁判的裁決。）
- officiate：動詞，擔任裁判；執行職務。例句：She was asked to officiate the wedding.（她被要求擔任婚禮主持人。）
- set one’s sight on：慣用片語，以…為目標。例句：We have set our sights on the world record.（我們以創下世界紀錄為目標。）
On the sidelines of a small football pitch at a university in Cairo, Hanan Hassan remembers starting out as a referee and the response she got from one female player’s mother.在開羅一所大學一座小足球場的邊線外，哈南．哈桑回想起剛當上裁判時，她從一名女選手母親那裡得到的回應。
"In a loud voice she yelled as she was looking towards me: ’God bless you my daughter and I hope that my own daughter becomes like you’," Hassan recalls, proudly.哈桑自豪地憶述：「她看向我大聲地說：『上天保佑妳，我的女兒，我希望我自己的女兒也像妳一樣』。」
For years, women referees in Egypt have officiated at lower-level football matches but now set their sights on the premier league.多年來，埃及的女性裁判承擔低層級足球比賽的裁判工作，但現在她們將眼光放在最重要的聯賽。 37-year-old Mona Atalla was part of the first group of female referees registered in Egypt in 1998 who were allowed to oversee all-women and junior male tournaments. Now she was finally allowed in April to officiate a match in the men’s second and third division leagues. 37歲的夢娜．阿塔拉是1998年在埃及登記的首批女性裁判之一，她們獲准監督全女性及青少年男子聯賽。她終於在今年4月獲准擔任成年男子第二級、第三級聯賽的裁判。
The decision by the Egyptian Football Association’s referee committee raised hopes that women referees will soon be holding the red and yellow cards in the top-tier premier league. 埃及足球協會裁判委員會做出這項決定，燃起女性裁判很快將在頂級聯賽掌紅、黃牌的希望。
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