Question

       England’s shameful defeat in the race to host the 2018 World Cup caused a bitter new “Cold War” with Russia last night.

       The & 15 million bid — accompanied by David Cameron, Prince William and David Beckham — didn’t even get past the first round.

       It secured just two of the 22 votes by committee members of football’s world governing body Fifa in a secret ballot (投票) — one of which was cast by England’s own FA Chairman Geoff Thompson.

       Among strong suspicions of shady backroom deals, the tournament went to Russia.

       Last night Downing Street did little to hide its anger and said Mr. Cameron had no plans to congratulate Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin personally “at the present time”.

       Shortly after Fifa president Sepp Blatter declared Russia the winner for 2018, he announced that Qatar, a tiny desert country which has never even qualified to play in the World Cup, would host the 2022 tournament, beating bids from Australia, the United States and a joint bid from Japan and South Korea.

       Fifa’s controversial decisions strengthened suspicions that the voting process was corrupt and that the sport’s world governing body had submitted to the energy-rich countries’ billions, meaning that England’s bid never stood a chance.

       A “bitterly disappointed” and visibly furious Mr. Cameron said England had the best technical bid and what he believed was the strongest commercial bid, adding: “It turns out that’s not enough.”

       Asked what more England could have done to secure the tournament, the Prime Minister replied: “I think that’s for others to say.”

       When Mr. Cameron met Russian President Dmitry Medvedev he had challenged him to a “good clean fight” but last night the Prime Minister’s official spokesman refused to say the voting process was either good or clean.

       Number 10 aides were furious with the outcome after Mr. Cameron had made two flying visits to Zurich where the vote was held and been up into the small hours yesterday like crazy lobbying for critical votes.

       So despite three days of intense lobbying in Zurich by the Three Lions, the England bid team feared they had been damaged by an accusation of corruption against Fifa members by BBC’s Panorama and The Sunday Times.

76.According to the passage, which of the following countries bid for the 2018 World Cup?

A、England                  B、Qatar               C、The United States                  D、Australia

77.The underlined word “Furious” is closest in meaning to “_______”.

A、angry                            B、worried            C、guilty                             D、confused

78.According to the passage, _______ voted for England during the secret ballot.

A、David Cameron                                   B、Geoff Thompson           

C、David Beckham                                   D、Sepp Blatter

79.By saying “It turns out that’s not enough.” Mr. Cameron really means ________.

A、England still has a long way to go to host the bid of the 2018 World Cup

B、England hasn’t been fully prepared for the bid of the 2018 World Cup

C、Russia has done far better than England to bid of the 2018 World Cup

D、there were dirty deals behind the decision

80.As can be concluded from the passage, one of the reasons for England’s failure might be _______.

       A、its lack of experience                          

B、its bad economic

C、its lack of energy                                

D、an accusation by BBC’s Panorama and The Sunday Times

Answer 1

76.A细节理解题。根据文章第一句可知，England 和Russia 竞争举办2018年的世界杯，其他国家参加了2022年的世界杯的申办。故选A项。

77.A词义猜测题。根据下文，Mr. Cameron 对英格兰申办失败的表现可知他很失望和愤怒，此处应选A项。

78.B细节理解题。根据文章第三段内容可知，在英格兰所获得了两票中有英国足协主席Geoff Thompson的一票。

79.D推理判断题。从Mr. Cameron前面说的话可知Mr. Cameron 对投票结果严重不满，认为这其中隐藏着某种肮脏的幕后交易。

80.D推理判断题。根据文章最后一段的内容可知英格兰失败的原因之一可能是BBC’s Panorama和 The Sunday Times的一项指控。故选D项。