Hello. This is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English. I’m Neil.

大家好。这里是 BBC 学习英语栏目的六分钟英语。我是内尔。

And I’m Beth.

我是贝丝。

Every four years the best players in the world gather for one month in the summer to take part in the biggest event in football – the World Cup.

每隔四年，全球最好的球员都会在夏天齐聚一堂，参加为期一个月的足球界最大的赛事——世界杯。

But this year, for the first time ever, the competition is taking place in winter.

但今年，比赛有史以来第一次在冬天举行。

Why? Because the 2022 World Cup is happening in Qatar.

为什么呢？因为2022年世界杯将在卡塔尔举办。

Over a million fans from all over the world are expected to visit Qatar for the World Cup which starts on the 20th of November.

世界各地100多万球迷将前往卡塔尔观看世界杯。比赛将于11月20日开幕。

Because temperatures in Qatar exceed 45 degrees in the summer, the competition was moved to the winter.

由于卡塔尔夏季气温超过45度，比赛改在冬季举行。

But the decision to hold the World Cup in the tiny, oil-rich Gulf state has been controversial.

但是，在这个石油资源丰富的小小海湾国家举办世界杯的决定一直备受争议。

One of the richest countries in the world, Qatar has no tradition of playing football and some have criticised the focus on money instead of sport.

卡塔尔是世界上最富有的国家之一，没有踢足球的传统，因此一些人批评卡塔尔一心为钱、不在乎体育。

And there are other criticisms too, about human rights and the treatment of the migrant construction workers,

还有人批评卡塔尔侵犯人权、虐待外来建筑工人。

who built the football stadiums, roads, transport systems and hotels without which the World Cup could not happen.

这些工人建造了足球场、道路、交通系统和酒店，没有这些，世界杯不可能举行。

In this programme we’ll be asking: is it right for Qatar to host the World Cup?

在本期节目中，我们将探究：卡塔尔主办世界杯合适吗？

And of course, we’ll be learning some new and useful vocabulary as well.

当然，我们还将学习一些新的词汇。

But before that I have a question for you Beth.

但在这之前我有个问题要问你，贝丝。

Which country has won the World Cup the most times?

哪个国家赢得世界杯的次数最多？

Is it a) Italy? b) Brazil? or, c) Germany?

是 a)意大利？ b) 巴西？还是 c) 德国？

I think it must be Brazil.

我想一定是巴西。

OK, I’ll reveal the answer at the end of the programme.

好的，在节目最后我会揭晓答案。

Advertising for the Qatar World Cup shows football fans staying in new hotels and watching matches in air-conditioned stadiums.

卡塔尔世界杯的广告显示，球迷们住在崭新的酒店里，在有空调的体育场内观看比赛。

But hidden behind this, the lives of the migrant workers from Nepal, India and other South Asian countries reveal a very different story.

但在这背后，来自尼泊尔、印度和其他南亚国家的移民工人的生活揭示了一个截然不同的故事。

The population of Qatar is tiny and 95% of the total workforce are foreigners working in extreme heat, housed in poor quality accommodation, and often underpaid.

卡塔尔的人口很少，95%的劳动力是外国人。他们要在极端炎热的环境中工作，住宿质量很差，而且工资往往很低。

Rothna Begum, a researcher for Human Rights Watch, explained their situation to BBC World Service programme, Business Daily.

人权观察组织的研究员罗特娜·贝克姆向BBC世界服务栏目的《商业日报》讲述了工人的情况。

We’re still recording and documenting migrant workers facing abuse and exploitation in Qatar.

我们仍在记录卡塔尔遭受虐待和剥削的移民工人。

They include workers reporting having paid exorbitant and illegal recruitment fees to secure work abroad on two-year contracts,

有些工人表示，他们为获得两年期海外工作合同支付了高昂的非法招聘费。

And then finding out they’re coming on three-month visas, which means that they're not able to make up or recoup the price that they've paid to actually get this job.

然后发现签证有效期只有三个月，这意味着，他们无法赚回当时支付的招聘费。

And may well be sent home in debt on top of everything else.

除此之外，他们还很可能身负重债被遣送回国。

Migrant workers face exploitation.

移民工人面临着剥削。

Exploitation means treating someone unfairly to get some advantage for yourself.

剥削意味着不公平地对待某人，为自己谋取一些利益。

Many of the World Cup workers were exploited by being paid less than agreed, being paid late, or not being paid at all.

许多世界杯工作人员被剥削，他们的工资低于约定水平，或者延迟支付，或者根本拿不到工资。

The construction jobs seemed a good opportunity for migrant workers to save money to send home to their families.

对于移民工人来说，建筑工作似乎是个好机会，可以寄钱回家。

Many paid exorbitant fees, fees which were much bigger than they should be, just to get a job in Qatar.

许多人为了在卡塔尔工作支付了高昂的费用。这些费用高得不合常理。

But despite being given two-year job contracts, some workers were only allowed to stay three months.

但是，尽管获得了两年的工作合同，一些工人的签证有效期只有三个月。

Because they couldn’t make enough money, many returned home in debt, owing money to someone that they will have to pay back.

因为赚的钱不够多，许多人欠债回家。“in debt”意为欠某人的钱，而且必须偿还。

What’s worse, many have died building the football stadiums, in accidents, or due to overwork and heat stress.

更糟糕的是，许多人在建造足球场的过程中丧生，他们死于事故，或过度劳累和高温。

So, with all this criticism, added to the billions of dollars Qatar spent preparing for the competition, was it worth it?

那么，卡塔尔备受指责，又花费了数十亿美元筹备比赛，这值得吗？

James Dawsey is an expert on the politics of football in the Middle East.

詹姆斯·道西是中东足球政治方面的专家。

Here he explains to BBC World Service’s, Business Daily, that for Qatar, hosting the World Cup is more about improving its international reputation than economics.

他在BBC世界服务栏目的《商业日报》中解释道，对卡塔尔来说，举办世界杯更多的是为了提高其国际声誉，而不是为了挣钱。

But this is not about economics for Qatar.

但卡塔尔不是从经济角度来看待这件事的。

Qatar is a small state.

卡塔尔是一个小国。

It is sandwiched between two regional behemoths: Saudi Arabia and Iran.

它被夹在两个地域大国之间——沙特阿拉伯和伊朗。

And so its whole policy is geared towards soft power, whether that's sports, whether that's the airport and the airline.

因此，无论是搞体育，还是建机场、建航空公司，它的政策都是为了提高软实力。

Qatar may be rich thanks to its oil, but it’s not a large country unlike neighbouring Saudi Arabia and Iran,

卡塔尔因其石油而富有，但它并不像邻国沙特阿拉伯和伊朗那样是一个大国，

countries which James Dawsey called behemoths – something which is extremely large and powerful.

詹姆斯·道西称这两个国家为“behemoth”，意为极其庞大、强大的事物。

Qatar is sandwiched between these larger counties.

卡塔尔就夹在这样的国家之间。

If you’re sandwiched between two things you’re in a narrow, tight space between them.

“be sandwiched between two things”，意为被夹在两个物体之间的狭小空间里。

Because Qatar isn’t as powerful as its bigger neighbours, it uses soft power – the way a country uses its economic and cultural influence to persuade other countries, instead of using military power.

因为卡塔尔不像其邻国那样强大，所以它看重软实力，就是一个国家利用其经济和文化影响力说服其他国家的能力，而不是其军事力量。

Hosting an important international event like the World Cup is a part of Qatar’s soft power strategy to be considered an important country on the world stage.

举办世界杯这样的重要国际赛事是卡塔尔软实力战略的一部分。卡塔尔希望成为世界上一个重要国家。

Whatever the rights and wrongs of the debate, this will be the first Arab nation to host the World Cup,

无论这场辩论中谁对谁错，卡塔尔将成为第一个举办世界杯的阿拉伯国家，

although it’s unlikely that the Qatari team will actually win, unlike a more famous footballing nation, Italy, who won the first World Cup they hosted in 1934.

尽管不像更著名的足球国家意大利（1934年意大利举办世界杯时第一次赢得了世界杯），卡塔尔队不太可能获胜。

And speaking of World Cup winners, what was the answer to your question, Neil?

说到世界杯冠军，内尔，你的问题的答案是什么？

Which country has won the most World Cups? I guessed it was Brazil…

哪个国家赢得世界杯的次数最多？我猜是巴西。

Which was….the correct answer of course!

回答正确！

With five title wins, Brazil is the most successful World Cup team followed closely by Italy and Germany with four titles each.

巴西队夺冠五次，是最成功的世界杯球队，紧随其后的是意大利队和德国队，各获得过四次冠军。

OK, let’s recap the vocabulary we’ve learned.

好了，让我们回顾一下本期词汇。

Starting with exploitation - treating someone unfairly in order to benefit yourself.

从“exploitation”开始，它意为，为了自己的利益而不公平地对待某人。

If the price of something is exorbitant, it’s much higher than it should be.

“exorbitant”，形容价格高得离谱。

A debt is an amount of money that you owe to someone else.

“debt”指的是你欠别人的钱。

A behemoth refers to something which is extremely large and powerful.

“behemoth”指的是极其巨大、强大的东西。

And if you’re sandwiched between two things, you’re in a in a tight, narrow space between them.

“be sandwiched between two things”，意为被夹在两个物体之间的一个狭小的空间里。

And finally, soft power describes strategies used by a country to increase its power through economic and cultural influences, instead of fighting wars.

最后，“soft power”是指一个国家通过发展经济和文化来增强自身实力的战略，而不是通过打仗。

Once again, our six minutes are up.

我们的六分钟又到了。

Goodbye for now! Bye!

下期再见！再见！