The researcher then studied the videotapes to analyze the matches in detail. Surprisingly, hefound that errors were more likely when the referees were close to the incident. When theofficials got it right, theywere, on average, 17 meters away from the action. The averagedistance in the case of errors was12 meters.The research shows the optimum(最佳的)distance isabout 20 meters.

　　There also seemed to be an optimum speed. Correct decisions came when the referees weremoving at a speed of about 2 meters per second. The average speed for errors was 4 metersper second.

　　If FIFA, football’s international ruling body, wants to improve the standard of refereeing at thenext World Cup, it should encourage referees to keep their eyes on the action from a distance,rather than rushing to keep up with the ball, the researcher argues.

　　He also says that FIFA’s insistence that referees should retire at age 45 may be misguided. Ifkeeping upwith the action is not so important, their physical condition is less critical.

　　練習題：

　　Choose correct answers to the question:

　　1. The experiment conducted by the researcher was meant to_______.

　　A. review the decisions of referees at the 1998 World Cup

　　B. analyze the causes of errors made by football referees

　　C. set a standard for football refereeing

　　D. reexamine the rules for football refereeing

　　2. The number of refereeing errors in the experimental matches was _______.

　　A. slightly above average

　　B. higher than in the 1998 World Cup

　　C. quite unexpected

　　D. as high as in a standard match

　　3. The findings of the experiment show that _______.

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

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

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

　　D. errors are less likely when a referee stays in one spot

　　4. The word “officials” (Line 2, Para.4) most probably refers to _______.

　　A. the researchers involved in the experiment

　　B. the inspectors of the football tournament

　　C. the referees of the football tournament

　　D. the observers at the site of the experiment

　　5. What is one of the possible conclusions of the experiment?

　　A. The ideal retirement age for an experienced football referee is 45.

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

　　C. A football referee should be as young and energetic as possible.

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

　　1.[B] 根據第1段可知，球迷對裁判的裁決不滿意，因此“A researcher was appointed to study theperformance of some top referees. 一名研究員被指定對一些高級裁判的場上執法情況進行研究”,再加上文中error一詞頻頻使用，可見，目的是分析裁判誤判的原因，即B。

　　2.[C] 第3段說“在90分鐘的標準賽中，每個裁判幾乎犯23個錯誤，這是一個remarkably high number”, C與之一致。

　　3.[A] 第4段第2句提到，令人驚訝的是，裁判離犯規地點越近，錯判的可能性就越大,A為原文的同義表達，故選A。B項的干擾性比較大，但由下一句可知，正確判斷的平均距離是離犯規處17米。故并非越遠，錯判就越少，故排除B。

　　4.[C] 根據第4段officials出現的上下文可以判斷是指referees，其實這也是全文主題詞.故選C。

　　5.[B] 最后一段提到，如果緊跟著球員跑來跑去顯得不那么重要的話，栽判的身體狀況也就不那么關鍵了。所以它的含義應為B “在選擇足球裁判時，年齡并不是首要考慮的因素"。