【英语时差8,16】街头群伙足球

 The Ba’ Imagine a game of football played not with 11 but hundreds of players on each side; contested not on a soft field of grass but on cold, hard flagstone streets; and where there are no rules and no referee¹ to control the surging mass of bodies. Though it might sound like something from the Middle Ages, in fact just such a game of mob football is played every year in Scotland. Known as The Ba’, the game is played each Christmas Day and New Year’s Day through the narrow, winding² streets of the town of Kirkwall in the Orkney Islands off the north coast of Scotland. To onlookers³ it can be impossible to tell where the ball is amongst the huge scrum of players who risk of cracking ribs⁴ and breaking limbs to try and score a match-winning goal. The men and boys of Kirkwall are divided into two teams of ‘Uppies’ and ‘Doonies’ depending on which part of the town they come from. There are no goalposts or goalkeepers, and the two sides compete to score a goal by transporting the Ba’, which is a cork-filled, leather ball, to the other end of town. Games can last for hours as the heaving ruck of players struggle to gain ground in either direction, though the ball can suddenly burst out of the pack and into a small side street. The game has its roots in more violent forms of street football which have taken place in towns across Britain since Roman times, though these days injuries are surprisingly uncommon⁵.

1 referee   

n.裁判员．仲裁人，代表人，鉴定人

参考例句：

• The team was left raging at the referee's decision.队员们对裁判员的裁决感到非常气愤。
• The referee blew a whistle at the end of the game.裁判在比赛结束时吹响了哨子。

2 winding   

n.绕，缠，绕组，线圈

参考例句：

• A winding lane led down towards the river.一条弯弯曲曲的小路通向河边。
• The winding trail caused us to lose our orientation.迂回曲折的小道使我们迷失了方向。

3 onlookers   

n.旁观者，观看者( onlooker的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• A crowd of onlookers gathered at the scene of the crash. 在撞车地点聚集了一大群围观者。
• The onlookers stood at a respectful distance. 旁观者站在一定的距离之外，以示尊敬。

4 ribs   

n.肋骨( rib的名词复数 )；（船或屋顶等的）肋拱；肋骨状的东西；（织物的）凸条花纹

参考例句：

• He suffered cracked ribs and bruising. 他断了肋骨还有挫伤。
• Make a small incision below the ribs. 在肋骨下方切开一个小口。

5 uncommon   

adj.罕见的，非凡的，不平常的

参考例句：

• Such attitudes were not at all uncommon thirty years ago.这些看法在30年前很常见。
• Phil has uncommon intelligence.菲尔智力超群。