橄榄球源自英国，是一项传统的运动，在传入美国后部分规则发生了改变。源自苏格兰的七人制橄榄球（Rugby Sevens）在2016年里约奥运会上被列为正式比赛项目。板球运动也同样起源于英国，早在十八世纪就盛行全国，曾一度被视为“贵族和绅士的运动”。你对这两种英式传统运动的了解有多少？你能说出以下六道题的正确答案吗？

 

1. Both Rugby and cricket involve catching¹, holding and moving the ball with your hands. But what does the idiom 'You dropped the ball' mean?

 

a) You made a mistake.

 

b) You did well.

 

c) You were lazy.

 

d) You were clumsy.

 

2. The three sticks which are used in cricket as the bowler's target are called 'the stumps²'. If the ball hits the stumps, then the batsman is out of the game. In every day English you might hear the phrase 'I'm stumped³'. But what does it mean?

 

a) I'm still and motionless.

 

b) I'm happy to stand and I don't need to sit, thank you.

 

c) I'm stuck or confused with a problem.

 

d) I'm being targeted by people for something I have done wrong.

 

3. In rugby, a dummy⁴ pass is when a player pretends to pass the ball to a teammate, but then carries on running. This tricks the defence into marking the teammate and opens up an unopposed gap for the player with the ball to run into. If someone said they were doing a 'dummy run' of an event, what would they mean?

 

a) They are not taking the event seriously.

 

b) They are doing a trial of the event to prepare for the real one.

 

c) They are going to cancel the event.

 

d) They are saying that the event is not a good idea.

 

4. In cricket, a score of six is awarded whenever the batsman knocks the ball through the air over the pitch boundary. From this action we get the idiom 'It knocked me for six', but what does it mean?

 

a) It greatly surprised and shocked me.

 

b) It hit me really hard and hurt me.

 

c) It made me incredibly happy.

 

d) It made me extremely angry.

 

5. In Rugby, as with many sports, the referee⁵ signals the start and end of play with a whistle. From these situations we get the expression 'blow the whistle on somebody'. But what does it mean?

 

a) make somebody begin to do an action – signal the start of something

 

b) telephone the police to arrest someone

 

c) make someone jump from fear by making a loud noise when they don't expect it

 

d) report illegal or immoral⁶ activities from within an organisation⁷ to the public

 

6. In cricket, if the ball is caught by a fielder after it has been hit by the batsman, the batsman is 'out'. From this we get the idiom 'I caught you out'. But what does it mean?

 

a) I convinced you to leave a place earlier than you wanted to.

 

b) I switched off your electronic device (such as a phone or computer) unexpectedly.

 

c) I accidentally saw you outside your home.

 

d) I noticed that you made a mistake.

 

答案

1) a, 2) c, 3) b, 4) a, 5) d, 6) d.

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