Unless you have been living on the planet Zorg for the last few months, you can’t have failed to notice that the 2014 World Cup (also known as Brazil 2014) is almost upon us. In fact as I write this post, we are just a week away from the start on 12 June.
除非上几个月你在Zorg星球上生活，否则你一定会注意到2014世界杯（即巴西2014）的到来。事实上，在写这篇文章时，我们离6月12号还有一周的时间。

We’ve already had a few friendly matches. England beat Peru last Friday 3-0 (nil) and as I write this, England are playing Ecuador in another friendly. The score is 2-1 to England at the moment (we are in the 67th minute).
我们已经看了一些友谊赛。上周五英格兰队对秘鲁队3—0。在我写这个的时候，英格兰队正在跟厄瓜多尔队打友谊赛，此时英格兰队已经2—1领先了（球赛进行到第67分钟）。

Are youimpressed by my knowledge? I know, I am super impressed, too. I would like to point out that I know practically NOTHING about football. I can just about understand the scoring system, what a penalty shoot out is and what the goalkeeper is supposed to do. No matter how many times my husband has tried to explain the off side rules to me, I cannot seem to grasp them. Life’s just too short…..
是不是对我的足球知识量赞不绝口啊？我就知道，我也觉得超级让人有印象。我想说明的是实际上我对足球完全没有了解，我只知道的足球知识也就是：一点点记分方法，罚点球决胜负是啥，还有守门员应该做什么。无论我老公如何努力的和我解释越位规则，我就是记不住。生命可是短暂的（记不了那么多）。。。。。。

For those of you who really want to have some football vocabulary in English, here’s a useful infographic designed by Kaplan International.
对那些真正想了解足球词汇的人，这里有一张由卡普兰国际英语设计的非常有用的信息图。

So as the world gradually builds itself into a frenzy and focuses its attention on Brazil, I shall have to find other ways to amuse myself or follow the crowd. When England plays all the pubs will be jam-packed full of people glued to the large screens, drinking copious amounts of beer, swearing at the screens and shouting out their expert advice on how the game should be played.
随着世界逐渐投入到对世界杯的狂热而且举世瞩目巴西，我不得不寻找一些方式来自娱自乐或者跟随大部队进入疯狂。当有英格兰队进入比赛时，所有的酒吧会挤满人群，他们聚集在电视屏幕前就像被粘住一样，喝着大量的啤酒，在电视机前边咒骂边愤愤的吼出他们的专家意见，喊这个比赛该怎么打。

Whilst the pubs will be heaving with people, the streets will be eerily quiet as will the shops and supermarkets. That will be the ideal time for me to catch up on some “me time” and get some good retail therapy done. That’s of course if the matches are being played during the day.
此时酒店人满为患，而街道、商店和超级市场却安静的出奇。这对于我而言绝对是个绝好时机去抓住自己时间，去买点好东西来慰劳自己。当然前提是白天都有比赛。

For the evening matches, I am hoping that my husband goes to the pub with his friends or goes round to his parents or siblings and watches the game there. That way I will have sole command of the remote control! Imagine what I could do with such power!!
对于晚上的比赛，我希望我老公能和朋友们一起去酒吧、去他父母那里或者是兄弟们那里看比赛。这样我就独享电视机的遥控器权利啦！想想看，一下有这么大的权利我会做些什么！

My real dilemma will come if England and Italy reach the important stages like the quarter or semi finals or,wonder of wonders, even the finals. At that stage I will really need to think hard about where my loyalties lie – England or Italy. I think it’ll be easier to simply toss a coin.
当意大利和英格兰进入关键局比如四分之一决赛或者半决赛，或者奇迹中的奇迹进入决赛时，那让我左右为难的时刻就到来了。到那个时候，我要好好想想自己应该忠于哪一只队-英格兰还是意大利. 我想可能抛硬币决定会简单很多。

Are any of you like me? I call myself a football widow. What will you be doing to survive the World Cup?
你们中有人和我情况类似吗？我称自己为“足球寡妇”。在世界杯期间你将会怎么做呢？

If you’re football mad and think that learning English through the ‘beautiful game’ would be the best thing ever, take a look at these resources:
如果你是足球狂热者，觉得在比赛中学习英语是件非常棒的事情，可以看一下下面的学习资源：

Languagecaster -This wonderful site is managed by two English Language Teachers who are staunch football supporters. Their lessons are delivered through podcasts where they introduce football cliches, expressions, football quizzes and World Cup vocabulary.
Languagecaster -这个非常棒的网站由两位英语老师管理，这两位老师是足球的忠实支持者。他们的课程通过播客来传送，他们在播客里面介绍关于足球的一些惯用表达，表达搭配，足球知识小问答以及世界杯词汇。

Premier Skills English –Brought to you by the British Council and Barclays Premier League. You can play vocabulary games and practise your reading with stories on and off the pitch. You can also watch videos with exercises and do listening activities and grammar exercises.
Premier Skills English-它由英国文化协会和英超联赛提供。你能够通过球场上或幕后的故事来玩词汇游戏并锻炼你的阅读能力。你还能够边运动边看视频，练习听力和语法。

However, don’t think that football is only about competition and rivalry. It is also a fantastic way of bringing language learners together as seen in a friendly football competition that was organised by Kaplan International recently at West Ham United’s stadium. In total 150 students from 25 nationalities took part in the event. You can see highlights of the event here.
然而，不要认为足球就仅仅是竞争和对抗。它同时也是一种非常了不起的方式让学习语言的人们聚集在一起，最近卡普兰国际组织就组织大家在西汉姆联队体育场一起看足球友谊赛。有来自25个国家共计150名学生观赛。

Well, that’s it folks. I hope you enjoy the 2014 World Cup and may the best team win!
好吧，就到这。我希望你们尽情享受2014世界杯，也希望最棒的球队取得胜利！