TE||The joy of football
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导读
2018俄罗斯世界杯主题曲
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听力|精读|翻译|词组
The joy of football
足球的乐趣
英文部分选自经济学人Leaders版块
For all its faults, the World Cup in Russia is worth celebrating
缺点固然存在，但俄罗斯世界杯仍值得欢庆。
And The Economist has ideas about how countries should go about winning it
针对各国应如何取胜，本刊有话要说。
“FOOTBALL is a simple game,” explained Gary Lineker, formerly the captain of England’s team. “Twenty-two men chase a ball for 90 minutes and at the end, the Germans always win.” Billions of fans will nonetheless pour their hopes into the World Cup, which begins in Russia on June 14th. Many people will join in even if their countries have not made it to the competition. Bangladeshis follow the World Cup fervently, ignoring killjoy officials who have tried to stop them flying flags. The flags of Argentina and Brazil, that is—Bangladesh’s national team is ranked 197th out of 207 in the world and has never qualified for the World Cup.
英国足球队前任队长加里·莱因克尔曾说：“足球是一场简单的游戏。22个人追着一个球奔跑90分钟，最后总是德国人赢。”即将在6月14日开战的俄罗斯世界杯，倾注了数十亿球迷们的热切期望。很多国家并没有参赛资格，但他们的球迷也会参与其中。孟加拉国规定不许球迷们挥旗，但为世界杯狂的人们挥舞着阿根廷和巴西的国旗，无视这煞风景的规定。挥这两国的旗是因为，孟加拉国在全球207个国家中排名197位，从未获得世界杯参赛资格。
The Economist is looking forward to the competition, too. Not because we think the country that hosts our head office has much of a chance of winning it—we are too rational for that. But because, first, improbable athleticism, drama and heroism can elevate the game to the level of art (see article). And, second, because we see in the World Cup the fulfilment of some of our most cherished values.
本刊也热烈期待着这场盛会。不是因为看好英国能最终夺冠，在这一点上我们很理智。而是因为其一，难得一见的竞技水平，戏剧性事件和英雄气概，都能提高比赛的艺术观赏度。其二，很多我们最珍视的价值观，都能在世界杯中得到体现。
Admittedly, much about the tournament is distasteful. Its governing body, FIFA, has a woeful history of cronyism and corruption. This year’s competition will be a fillip for Vladimir Putin’s kleptocratic regime. (In March, after Russia tried to murder an exile and his daughter in the city of Salisbury, England briefly considered withdrawing from the World Cup, but then decided to express its disapproval by—horrors!—instructing Princes William and Harry to boycott the tournament.)
诚然，这届比赛有很多方面令人反感。国际足联作为其管理机构，一直有任人唯亲和腐败的惯例。今年的世界杯将是对普京腐败政权的考验。今年3月，俄罗斯试图在索尔兹伯里（津巴布韦首都）谋杀一名逃亡分子及其女儿，英格兰曾一度表示要退出本届世界杯，但随后决定表达自己对恐怖主义的不满，并要求威廉王子和哈里王子抵制这届比赛。
Yet the competition itself, as opposed to the murky process of deciding where it is played, showcases progress. Teams really are better than they used to be. It also rewards good government. Autocratic regimes such as China and Russia can ruthlessly drill track-and-field athletes—indeed, the Olympic games sometimes resemble an authoritarian pageant. But dictatorships are rubbish at football, which requires more creativity and flair. The contrast between the former East and West Germany is striking. The East trained massively muscled shot-putters; the West, sublime shot-makers. Only four countries rated “not free” by Freedom House, a charity, have qualified for this year’s World Cup, and none is likely to get far. The last country with an autocratic government to win the tournament was Argentina in 1978. The women’s contest has only ever been won by democracies (America, Germany, Japan and Norway), though China once made it to the final.
然而，相比于确定举办国过程的含糊不清，比赛本身是在进步。球队真的比以前更好。世界杯也奖励好政府。在中国和俄罗斯等专制政权下，田径运动员可以被无情地训练。事实上奥运会有时像一场独裁盛会。但独裁统治在足球这就不吃香，足球需要更多的创造力和天赋。前东德与西德之间的对比是惊人的。东德训练出了肌肉发达的铅球运动员，西德则调教出水平一流的射门干将。只有四个被***（Freedom House）评为“不自由”的国家，已获得资格参加今年的世界杯，而且都是来打酱油的。上一个赢得世界杯的专制国家是阿根廷，那是在1978年。。女足世界杯的胜者都是民主国家（美国，德国，日本和挪威），尽管中国也曾有一次闯入决赛。
注：Freedom House is a U.S.-based 501(c)(3) U.S. government-funded non-governmental organization (NGO) that conducts research and advocacy on democracy, political freedom, and human rights.Freedom House was founded in October 1941, and Wendell Willkie and Eleanor Roosevelt served as its first honorary chairpersons. It describes itself as a "clear voice for democracy and freedom around the world", although critics have stated that the organization is biased towards US interests. The organization was 66% funded by grants from the U.S. government in 2006, a number which has increased to 86% in 2016.The organization's annual Freedom in the World report, which assesses each country's degree of political freedoms and civil liberties, is frequently cited by political scientists, journalists, and policymakers. Freedom of the Press and Freedom of the Net,which monitor censorship, intimidation and violence against journalists, and public access to information, are among its other signature reports.
http://www.freedomhouse.org/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_House
International football punishes inward-looking countries and rewards those with more cosmopolitan attitudes. When picking team managers, wise countries pass over their national heroes and appoint managers of any nationality who have proved themselves in western Europe’s tough football leagues. They also call upon their diasporas. African countries can field half-decent teams largely because so many of their players have refined their skills abroad. Rich-country teams also benefit from the talents of immigrants. Fully half of France’s victorious squad in 1998 were of migrant stock.
放眼世界，足球惩罚内向型国家，奖励态度更加国际化的国家。选择球队经理时，明智的国家不局限于任命民族英雄，而是会选择任何一个国籍的人，只要他曾在强队林立的西欧联赛中证明过自己的实力。这些国家也会呼吁侨民为故乡作战。非洲国家的球队多半说得过去，很大程度上因为很多球员都在国外精进了球技。富裕国家的球队也沾了移民的光。1998年世界杯冠军法国队，半数队员都是移民。
Why nations fail
为何很多国家无缘世界杯
Football can also teach countries how to spot and hone human capital. The best performers not only have systems for finding gifted children, but also ways of spotting late developers who failed to make the first cut. Their academies turn out intelligent, creative players rather than dribbling automatons. Then, if they are clever, they drop their best footballers into a competitive market. A simple model of countries’ aptitude for football, which weighs things like wealth and interest in the game, suggests that America ought to be doing better (see article). One possible reason for the failure of its men’s teams is that America’s professional soccer league is a cartel. Salaries are capped, and the lower-division teams in which domestic players might develop cannot be promoted.
足球也能教会国家如何去发现并且精进人才资源。足球强国的体系里，不仅能慧眼识天才，也能发掘大器晚成者，尽管可能他们最初表现得并不理想。他们的学校教出明智且具有创造力的运动员，而不是运球机器。接下来要是这些学校有头脑，就会将最好的足球运动员投入竞争市场。一个简易测验国家足球天赋的模型表明，美国应该能做得更好，这个模型衡量了在国家富裕程度和兴趣等因素。美国队失败的一个可能的原因是其专业足球联赛是一个卡特尔（垄断同盟）。薪资封顶，本国球员有所发展的初级队伍无法晋级。
注1.Make the cut：To meet or come up to a required standard (from golf where a player must do equal or better than a certain score to continue)
2.cartel is a group of apparently independent producers whose goal is to increase their collective profits by means of price fixing, limiting supply, or other restrictive practices. Cartels typically control selling prices, but some are organized to control the prices of purchased inputs. Antitrust laws attempt to deter or forbid cartels. A single entity that holds a monopoly by this definition cannot be a cartel, though it may be guilty of abusing said monopoly in other ways. Cartels usually occur in oligopolies, where there are a small number of sellers and usually involve homogeneous products. Bid rigging is a special type of cartel.
So liberal internationalists should enjoy the World Cup, despite the Putinophile propaganda that will no doubt disfigure it from time to time. Football, like life, is gloriously unpredictable. For what it is worth, our model suggests that one country is best-placed to dominate the beautiful game; indeed, it has performed slightly worse than it should have done over the years. That country is Germany.
所以自由国际主义者应该享受世界杯，尽管普京式的宣传无疑会时不时地破坏它。足球，和生活一样，是不可预测的。不管怎么说，我们的模型表明有一个国家是最有能力主宰这个美丽游戏的；事实上他的表现比过去几年要稍差些，那个国家就是德国。
注：Putinphile
Noun. A person who admires Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia. Views usually include accusing Ukrainians and Americans of being evil homosexual Nazis who want to commit genocide against the pure, heterosexual Russian race, and saying that Crimea is a part of Russia.
翻译组：
Cece，女，消防工作者，CATTI三笔
Aileen，女，大四数学狗，经济学人粉丝
Xiaofeng，女，好奇心重的医疗民工，经济学人粉丝
校核组：
Neil, 男，外贸民工，经济学人铁粉
Wesley，男，自由职业，经济学人铁粉
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观点|评论|思考
本次观点由Yao独家奉献
Yao，男， 英专本科生，北大苗子
本文从最近备受瞩目的世界杯讲开，阐释了各国应该如何在世界杯中取得佳绩。这次世界杯可以说在筹备前夕就成了热点，不光比赛扣人心弦，背后的故事也耐人寻味。首先是，国际足联是否成功洗白，公众对此存疑。早在2010年11月29日晚 BBC（英国广播公司）播出了一期名为“国际足联肮脏秘密”的调查节目，指控3位国际足联高官曾接受巨额贿赂，另有一人涉嫌倒卖南非世界杯门票未遂。这3人都手握投票大权。在另一起《万花筒》节目中，一头白发的记者詹宁斯带着观众走进了他调查近10年的主题——国际足联腐败。因为几个月前得到了一份***，詹宁斯的调查有了重大突破。而南美足联主席里奥兹、巴西足协主席特谢拉、国际足联副主席哈亚图都成了詹宁斯指控受贿的对象。一份列出了175项、涉及约一亿美元支出的***显示3名国际足联执行委员会现任成员曾在1989和1999年间收取贿赂却是板上钉钉。这次节目的播出，不仅让英国无缘举办2018年世界杯，更让公众对国际足联的行径嗤之以鼻。
其次，多国在世界杯举办前曾考虑抵制。据每日邮报3月10日报道，俄前“双面间谍”斯克里帕尔父女险些被神经毒剂杀害一事，让英国政府对俄罗斯心有余悸。他们坚信普京就是此案的幕后黑手，并认为应当对普京政府进行制裁。而即将在6月14日开幕的俄罗斯世界杯，就是一次很好的选择。因为外界普遍认为，普京将利用世界杯，在国际舞台上大加展示俄罗斯的实力。报报道称，一旦得到证实，英国便会官方组织一次抵制俄罗斯世界杯的行动。届时，澳大利亚、波兰、日本等国也会加入行动，共同让普京“付出代价”。最后，世界杯重点还是在于比赛，虽然前夕风波不断，但好在世界杯顺利举办。所以，大家都站哪国呢（手动滑稽）！
Neil 摘要：俄罗斯世界杯即将开赛，虽有不足，依然值得球迷狂欢。很多国家无缘世界杯，简易模型指出其缘由：他们有些不够富有，有些不够自由，有些不够有趣。
Aileen摘要：经济学人从经济的角度来讨论世界杯的输赢。它首先指出世界对其的狂热，然后说明经济学人本身也是非常之向往它，‘非概然的运动，戏剧以及英雄主义可以把竞赛提升到艺术的高度’。它认为虽然联赛中有很多令人恼火的事情，但‘与决定比赛地点的模糊过程相反，竞赛本身展示了进步’。国际足球宣扬世界化而惩罚闭塞的国家。其最后指出一个国家在足球这个竞赛中可以体现的特质，并认为德国这个足球大国应该做得更好
Cece摘要：足球作为世界第一运动，没有体育项目能和它相提并论，足球项目的人气超高，所以，世界杯向来都是场场爆满，文中举例的孟加拉人民更是说明了人们对足球的热爱。但是，当足球比赛上升到世界水平时，人们开始珍惜的竞技精神吸引着每一个人，包括拼搏、友谊等等。所以，人们虽然期待看到谁能赢得比赛，但是更喜欢看到世界杯过程中的国家精神。
世界杯最开始时为了代表国家的友谊精神而每4年举办1次，但是时间长了，累积了很多历史问题。比如今年英国抵制本次世界杯的原因，就是由于近期英国和俄罗斯之间紧张的双边关系。事件起因是，俄罗斯前双面间谍斯谢尔盖·斯克里帕尔和女儿在英国索尔兹伯里被神经毒剂袭击。英国方面指责这是俄罗斯当局策划的暗杀，决定驱逐 3名俄罗斯的外交官。所以，赛品见国品，大约不是人们不爱足球，只是友谊的小船在风中飘摇。
Samantha摘要：借着足球想聊聊中国体育。特长生12年，专业运动员6年，整个青少年时代都和体育二字紧紧相连。中国的体育人才必须两个条件要优秀，一是身体，二是家境。当每一场比赛，每一分胜负都和之前送了多少礼塞了多少钱挂钩，谁会有闲心考虑更高更快更强的事？仿佛破窗理论，进圈之前对体育事业一腔热血的人，也会瞬间被染的七荤八素。没有走捷径，而是靠着高人指路、贵人相助、小人刺激、亲人支持，这些因素都凑到一起再加上自己争气，成了事儿的，当今中国体坛实在凤毛麟角。
中国的其他项目尚且如此，足球发展至今，更是成了一条让当局者发家致富的康庄大道。纳税人的钱可不能乱花。老提不忘初心，体育人的初心，就是在挑战人类梦想的前进之路上不断超越，可不是在歪曲道德和世界观的灰色边缘掩耳盗铃。
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愿景
小组