托福阅读机经背景材料：世界杯上最搞笑时刻

　　The World Cup has the power to conjure up so many different emotions in people. Should you be asked to list them off， humour would probably be quite far down that list. Yet， World Cups in the past have thrown up some of the funniest moments you're ever likely to see in sporting events. Jules Rimet himself set the tone back in 1930 when he marked the official start to the inaugural tournament by setting fire to his own hat! So for some light entertainment here is a list of ten of the funniest World Cup moments.

　　1.The Battle of Santiago (1962)

　　In the words of BBC TV presenter David Coleman， “Good evening. The game you are about to see is the most stupid， appalling， disgusting and disgraceful exhibition of football， possibly in the history of the game.” Except he forgot to include the word “funniest” into that description. Some of the craziest tackles you'll ever see， including left-hooks and kung-fu kicks， took place in this game! So serious did the violence get that the referee had to get the help of police and the army onto the pitch to help calm matters.

　　2. Zaire's Wall (1974)

　　A wall is formed by the Zaire players on the edge of their box. They are ready to defend a free-kick that's in a dangerous position. Brazil are still deciding on who is going to take it. The ref puts the whistle to his lips and blows signalling to the Brazilians to take it when they're ready. No one told Ilungu Mwepu though. He rushes from the wall and blasts the ball upfield. He thinks he's the hero who has outwitted the mighty Brazil. With a shake of his head the ref blows the whistle again， books Mwepu and orders a retake. You would have thought he would have learned the rules before participating in the biggest football tournament. Hilarious.

　　3. Peru's Goalkeeper (1978)

　　Peruvian goalkeeper Ramon Quiroga was not nicknamed ‘El Loco' for nothing. Earning himself a reputation for doing some crazy things he proved it to the world in the ‘78 World Cup. In the match against Poland he rushed off his line several times to tackle their players or clear the ball. In one incident he raced into the Polish half， fouled one of their players and earned himself a yellow card. You'd be lucky to see anything like that happen again in today's game.

　　4. Scotland Expectations (1978)

　　Scotland's official World Cup song set the bar of expectations and raised the hopes of all Scots. The chorus in “Ally's Army” claims Scotland will win the World Cup and are the greatest football team…I mean， they had some decent players in Kenny Dalglish， Joe Jordan and Lou Macari but seriously. The song was funny enough but Scotland went to the ‘78 World Cup， lost 3-1 to Peru and drew 1-1 with Iran. Despite beating Holland 3-2 in their final group match it wasn't enough and they were eliminated at the first hurdle. Och no laddy…