And hello, I'm Neil. And Rob, I have to say, I am very very excited!

哈囉，我是 Neil。Rob，我必須說我現在非常非常興奮！

Why's that, Neil? Are you going on holiday?

為什麼？你要去渡假嗎？

Come on, Rob, You know why.

拜託，你知道為什麼的。

The 2018 World Cup is about to start in Russia. Four weeks of world-class football to watch.

2018 年世足賽即將在俄羅斯展開，可以看四個星期的世界級足球賽。

By world-class I mean 'some of the best in the world'.

我說的世界級是指一些「世界上最頂尖」的球隊。

Yes, yes, I know that. But to be honest, I'll just be taking a passing interest. I've got better things to do!

對，對，我知道，但說實話我只有一時的興趣，我有更重要的事情要做！

Better things to do? Well, I'm going to be glued to my TV to watch the 32 countries compete for the title of World Cup Champions.

更重要的事情要做？我要黏在我的電視上，觀看 32 個國家爭奪世界杯冠軍頭銜。

And if you love football…

不論你喜歡足球...

Or not…

或不喜歡...

We've got some useful vocabulary to learn.

我們有一些很實用的單字可以學起來。

But let's start with a question for you to answer, Neil, to see how much you really know.

但是，首先我要問你一個問題，Neil，看看你到底知道多少。

Now, the mascot for Russia 2018 is a wolf called Zabivaka.

聽好，2018 年俄羅斯世界盃足球賽的吉祥物是一隻叫做 Zabivaka 的狼。

What does his name mean in English?

它的名字翻成英文的意思是？

Is it…

是...

a) The winner b) The one who scores or c) Fair play.

a) 勝利者、b) 得分者，c) 公平的比賽。

Well, my Russian is a little rusty, so I'll go for a) The winner.

嗯，我的俄文有點生疏，所以我選 a) 勝利者。

OK. I'll reveal the answer later.

好，稍後我會宣佈答案。

OK, but now I have a question for you, Rob.

好的，但現在我有一個問題要問你，Rob。

Who won the last World Cup in Brazil in 2014?

上一屆 2014 年在巴西舉辦的世界杯冠軍是誰？

Come on! It was Germany, Neil.

這還不簡單！是德國啊，Neil。

And they beat Lionel Messi's Argentina in the final.

它在決賽擊敗了梅西的阿根廷隊。

Both teams are among the favourites again this time, but there'll be lots of countries who fancy their chances of lifting the World Cup trophy.

這兩支球隊都是這次的熱門隊伍，但也有很多國家自認可以贏得世界杯獎盃。

That means they think they are likely to succeed, even though they might not.

這意味著，即便他們奪冠的機會渺茫，但他們仍自認可以贏。

So you do know your football, Rob!

所以你真的懂足球，Rob！

Anyway, the final will take place in the revamped or much improved - Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow on July 15th 2018.

總之，決賽將在 2018 年 7 月 15 日於莫斯科重新翻修的盧日尼基體育場舉行。

Did I say I was very excited? Well, I'm not the only one.

我說過我很興奮嗎？ 那麼，我不是唯一的一個。

We asked some people what they think about the World Cup.

我們問了一些人他們對世界杯的看法。

And here are Keith and Jane describing their feelings…

以下是 Keith 和 Jane 他們的看法‧‧‧

It's a four-week festival of football, isn't it?

這是一個為期四週的足球節日，不是嗎？

And everyone kind of gets behind their country.

每個人都會挺他們自己的國家。

You also get to know about football teams in parts of the world you don't really think about very often,

你也可以認識平常鮮少注意到的世界各國的足球隊，

so it's that double-sided thing of the actual football itself, which is exciting, but also the stories that happen off the pitch as well.

所以這就是足球賽事的一體兩面，這是令人興奮的，而且那些球場外的花絮一樣精采。

I'm really excited. I can't wait for it to start.

我真的很興奮，我已經等不及它開始了。

One thing, there's gonna be great telly every night.

還有一件事，每晚都會有精彩的電視轉播。

It's great to see the underdogs that are going to come through and have a really sensational tournament.

可以看到那些弱隊奮戰到底，以及這麼動人的比賽真是太棒了。

I think it's the enthusiasm of the crowds and the love of football that people have.

我認為因熱情的觀眾和人們對足球的熱愛，才能使這個比賽如此受歡迎。

So two football fans there.

這裡有兩個足球迷。

Keith used some good alliteration – that's words beginning with the same letter – four-week festival of fun.

Keith 用了一些很棒的韻頭 – 意思是以同一個字母開頭的字 – 為期四周快樂的節日。

He talked about people getting behind their country – not literally going behind their team, but supporting them.

他談到支持他們的國家的觀眾 – 不是指字面上在後面的意思，而是指支持他們。

Who are you supporting, Rob?

Rob，你支持哪一隊？

Well, my home team is England, but I'm not confident they'll do well.

我的主隊是英格蘭隊，但我沒把握他們會贏。

That doesn't matter to Jane though. She said it's fun to see the underdogs do well.

但這對 Jane 而言並不重要，她說看到弱隊有精采的表現，就很高興了。

The underdog here means the team considered to be the weakest and the least likely to win.

Underdog 的意思是指最弱而且最不可能獲勝的球隊。

You could say Iceland are the underdogs in this tournament.

你可以說冰島隊是本次錦標賽的弱隊。

Maybe, Rob. So you can see why everyone is excited by the World Cup!

也許吧，Rob。所以你就可以知道為什麼每個人都對世界杯感到興奮！

Not everyone, Neil. For many people, they're not bothered by the tournament.

不是每個人，Neil。 對於很多人來說他們並不受這個比賽的影響。

We could say 'it's not their thing' and there are different reasons for it.

我們可以說「這不是他們所關心的事 」，而這有不同的原因。

Let's hear from some other people – Jeff and Inga…

讓我們聽聽其他人 – Jeff 和 Inga 怎麼說...

There's not a lot of sportsmanship in it now.

現在沒有麼運動員精神了，

I find that it's very corporate and there's a lot of what I would call cheating going on. People taking dives, people falling over because somebody looked at them the wrong way on the pitch.

我發現比賽變得很商業化，而且有很多我認為是作弊的行為，像是球員突然摔倒，在地上翻滾，是因為有人在球場用錯誤的眼光在關注他們 (觀眾喜歡看)。

Not really that excited. It's just too much hype about nothing really.

其實並沒有那麼令人興奮，根本只是太多炒作了。

The World Cup is a great event if you are into football, but I'm not so I can't be really bothered.

如果你喜歡足球，那麼世界盃是個棒的比賽，但我沒什麼興趣，所以對我沒啥影響。

There you go, Neil. Some sensible people there!

整理如下，Neil，還是有些懂事的人！

Jeff thinks football has changed and now lacks real sportsmanship – that's fair and honest behaviour.

像是 Jeff，他認為足球已經變樣了，現在缺少真正的運動員精神 – 就是公平誠實的行為。

He even claims some players cheat.

他甚至聲稱有些球員作弊。

I'm not sure about that, Rob. But maybe he's right about the tournament becoming very corporate,

我不確定誒，Rob。但也許他對比賽變得非常商業化的看法是對的，

which means it's sponsored by big companies who like to decide how the tournament run.

這意味著大公司贊助比賽，喜歡由他們來決定比賽以何種方式運作。

And Inga thinks there is too much hype.

而 Inga 則認為太多炒作。

This means there's a lot of talk and publicity to make people interested in something.

這意味著有很多話題和宣傳讓人們對某事感興趣。

Well, there is certainly a lot of talk about the World Cup, but we have to remember it's not everybody's cup of tea!

嗯，肯定有很多關於世界杯的討論，但我們必須記住，並不是每個人都喜歡這一味！

Well, it is my cup of tea, Rob.

嗯，但這是我的菜，Rob。

Now, can we have the answer to that question, please?

現在，可以告訴我們今天問題的答案嗎，拜託？

Yes. Earlier I said the mascot for Russia 2018 is a wolf called Zabivaka.

行。先前我說 2018 年俄羅斯世界盃足球賽的吉祥物是一隻叫做 Zabivaka 的狼。

What does his name mean in English?

這個名字的英文意思是？

Was it… a) The winner, b) The one who scores, or c) Fair play.

是 ‧‧‧ a) 勝利者、b) 得分者，還是 c) 公平的比賽。

And I said a) The winner because football is all about winning, isn't it?

我選 a) 勝利者，因為足球比賽就是要贏，不是嗎？

It's the taking part that is important Neil, and you took part in my quiz and got it wrong. The answer is b) The one who scores.

參與才是最重要的 Neil，而你參與了我的機智問答，但是答錯了。答案是 b) 得分者。

Now let's have a brief reminder of the vocabulary we've discussed today, starting with world-class.

現在讓我們快速回顧一下我們今天討論過的單字，從 world-class (世界級) 開始

That means 'some of the best in the world'. We should see some world-class football in Russia.

它的意思是「世界上一流的」。我們應該去俄羅斯看一些世界級的足球賽。

If we're watching it, Neil. Next we had fancy their chances.

我們才沒有要去看，Neil。下一個我們談到了 fancy their chances (自認會贏)。

If someone 'fancies their chances' they think they are likely to succeed, but they might not.

如果某人「fancies their chances」表示他們認為他們會成功，但事實上可能不會。

Let's move on to get behind.

接下來是 get behind (支持)。

If we get behind someone – like our national football team – we support them.

如果我們 get behind someone – 像是我們的國家足球隊 – 表示我們支持它。

Are you getting behind our national team, Neil?

你支持我們的國家隊嗎，Neil？

Nope, I'm supporting the underdog Iceland, Rob.

不，我支持 underdog (弱隊) 冰島隊，羅伯。

That's a word to describe the team or person least likely to win.

這個單字是形容最不可能獲勝的隊伍或人。

Next we discussed sportsmanship – that describes fair and honest behaviour.

下一個我們討論的是 sportsmanship (運動員精神) – 它是形容公平誠實的行為。

And finally we talked about hype, which means 'lots of talking and publicity to make people interested in something'.

最後我們談到 hype (炒作)，意思是「大量的話題和宣傳使人們對某事感興趣」。

Well, we've had enough hype about the World Cup today and we're out of time.

好吧，我們今天對世界杯的炒作已經夠了，而且我們沒有時間了。

Yes, but don't forget to join us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube for more Learning English fun.

沒錯，但別忘了加入我們的 Facebook、Twitter、Instagram 和 YouTube 來看更多的影片。

Thanks for joining us and goodbye.

謝謝收聽，再見。

Bye bye!

掰掰！