Long after the 1998 World Cup was won, disappointed fans were still scolding the

Longafter the 1998 World Cup was won, disappointed fans were still scolding thedisputed refereeing decisions that took victory to their team. A researcher wassent to study the performance of some top referees.

Theresearcher organized an experimental tournament including four youth teams.Each match lasted an hour, divided into three periods of 20 minutes duringwhich different referees were in charge.

Observersnoted down the referees’ errors, of which there were 61 over the tournament.Converted to a standard match of 90 minutes, each referee made almost 23mistakes, a remarkable high number.

Theresearcher then studied the videotapes to analyze the matches in detail.Surprisingly, he found that errors were more likely when the referees wereclose to the incident. When the officials got it right, they were, onaverage, 17 meters away from the action. The average distance in the case oferrors was 12 meters. The research shows the optimum distance is about 20meters.

Therealso seemed to be an optimum speed. Correct decisions came when the refereeswere moving at a speed of about 2 meters per second. The average speed forerrors was 4 meters per second. If FIFA, football’s international ruling body,wants to improve the standard of refereeing at the next World Cup, it shouldencourage referees to keep their eyes on the action from a distance, ratherthan rushing to keep up with the ball, the researcher argues. He also says thatFIFA’s insistence that referees should retire at age 45 may be misguided. Ifkeeping up with the action is not so important, their physical condition isless critical.

1. Thenumber of refereeing errors in the experimental matches was    .

A.slightly above average

B. higherthan in the 1998 World Cup

C. quiteunexpected

D. ashigh as in a standard match

2. Thefindings of the experiment show that    .

A. errorsare more likely when a referee keeps close to the ball

B. thefarther the referee is from the incident, the fewer the errors

C. themore slowly the referee runs, the more likely will errors occur

D. errorsare less likely when a referee staying in one spot

3. Theword “officials”(Line 5, Para. 4) most probably refers to    .

A. theresearchers involved in the experiment

B. theinspectors of the football tournament

C. thereferees of the football tournament

D. theobservers at the site of the experiment

4. Whatis one of the possible conclusions of the experiment?

A. Theideal retirement age for an experienced football referee is 45.

B. Ageshould not be the chief consideration in choosing a football referee.

C. Afootball referee should be as young and energetic as possible.

D.An experienced football referee can do well even when in poor physicalcondition.

试题答案

答案：C;A;C;B