Observers noted down the referees’ errors, of which there were 61 over the tournament. Converted to a standard match of 90 minutes, each referee made almost 23 mistakes, a remarkably high number7.
The researcher then studied the videotapes to analyze the matches in detail. Surprisingly,8 he found that 1errors were more likely when the referees were close to the incident. When the officials got it right, they were, on average, 17 meters away from the action. The average distance in the case of errors was 12 meters. The research shows2 the optimum (最佳的) distance is about 20 meters.
There also seemed to be3 an optimum speed. Correct decisions came when the referees were moving at a speed of about 2 meters per second. The average speed for errors 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 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.
10He also says that FIFA’s insistence that referees should retire at age 45 may be misguided. If keeping up with the action is not so important, their physical condition is less critical.
6. 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(B)
7. 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(C)
8. 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(A)
9. 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(C)
10. 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.(B)
答案：BCACB
文章分析：典型实验型文章，包含五大要素：目的、原理、方法、数据、结论。其中，实验原理过于专业几乎不考，实验方法、数据等细节性描写，属于次要信息很少考到，重点关注实验的目的与结论。
第6题针对mean to目的发问，对应文章开头目的性表达。
第7题针对number数据发问，注意数据本身不重要，数据前或后的结论才重要，a remarkably high number是三段唯一值得关注的有效信息，high而不是higher说明原文没有比较，是一个绝对高的数字，选项A(above)B(higher)D(as…as)都包含了比较，故排除。
第8题针对findings结论发问，按照出题顺序，对应在文章中间的四、五段，分别由found、show引导出12两个结论关于distance，同时由一个并列连词also引出3第三个结论关于speed。因为原文提及出optimum (最佳的)，因此既不能过近或过远也不能过快或过慢，故BC排除。
第10题针对conclusions结论发问，按顺序对应在最后，末段结论45退休misguided，故A排除。原文physical condition is less critical(critical：the most important)，故C排除。D中poor physical condition的poor含义过于宽泛，意味physical condition无所谓不重要，只要有经验就可以，而原文less critical虽非最重要，但绝对意义上仍然重要不能忽视，故D排除。