英语趣闻：世界杯足球为何每届都不一样？

俄罗斯世界杯四强已锁定，德国、巴西、西班牙的出局也是让很多球迷感觉凉凉了，但是作为四年一度的足球盛会，其热度仍是居高不下，小编也很是好奇，今年会是哪支球队能赢下这座奖杯。

关于球赛呢，小编作为一个业余业余加业余的伪球迷就不献丑掰扯了，但是对于本届世界杯上的设计亮点，小编还是有些信息可以跟大家共享的，这次来看看每届世界杯都不一样的足球吧。

The typical soccer ball looks like this. Black and white with a bunch of these panels. But that's not what the World Cup balls look like. So, what's going on?

典型足球由黑白两色的嵌板构成。然而，世界杯的足球可不长这样，而且每次都有变化。原来，其中某些变化效果不佳——在解决某些问题的同时，引发了更多新问题。

First things first, you want a soccer ball to be as spherical as possible. In the old days, we had balls that had the bucky ball shape, the Epcot Center shape, 20 hexagons, the 12 pentagons. And that was a very good approximation to a sphere. But starting in 2006 with the World Cup in Germany...there were more creative ways to make a sphere.

首先，你希望足球尽可能接近球体。以前，我们有过巴基球、艾波卡特中心、20个六边形、12个五角形等形状的足球，这些形状非常接近球体。但从2006年的德国世界杯开始，人们有了更多制造球体的创新方法。

New technology enables Adidas to start designing the balls with fewer panels. Which created a serious problem. Because fewer panels means fewer seams. And, more importantly, a smoother surface.

阿迪达斯利用新技术，设计出嵌板数量较少的足球，这带来了一个严重问题。嵌板数量较少意味着缝合线较少，意味着足球表面更光滑。

If the ball gets too smooth, the air resistance goes up. It's like kicking a beach ball." And that's exactly what happened with the 2006 Teamgeist ball. Players complained the ball didn't go where they expected it to. 

足球太光滑的话，空气阻力会上升，就像踢一个沙滩球似的。这就是2006年世界杯的“团队之星”（足球名称）的问题。当时，球员抱怨足球踢不到它应该到的地方。

So, in 2010, Adidas compensated by adding some texture to roughen up the surface. However, Jabulani was a spectacular failure because it was not rough enough. When the ball would be kicked at certain speeds, you'd notice it would slow down dramatically part way through the flight.

于是，在2010年，阿迪达斯通过增加纹理，让足球表面变得粗糙些。然而，“普天同庆”款足球是个严重的失败品，因为它还不够粗糙。当以特定速度踢球时，它在飞行过程中会半道突然迅速减速。

As for 2018, the total seam length is actually 30% longer than the Brazuca! So now you run the risk of the ball being a little too rough. Adidas compensated for this by also making the seems shallower. And a study that Goff led showed that the Telstar 18 performs similarly to Brazuca. But it still has a bit more drag, and might not travel as far on high-speed kicks.

至于今年嘛。“电视之星18”的缝合线总长度比“桑巴荣耀”还长30%！这样一来，足球可能变得略过粗糙。为解决此问题，阿迪达斯把缝合线弄得浅了一些。一项研究表明，“电视之星18”和“桑巴荣耀”的性能差不多。不过，它的阻力仍然稍有些大，在高速踢球时可能没办法跑太远。

Regardless, all of this begs the question: If the goal is to produce a ball that's similar to what athletes practice with for years, then why does the World Cup ball keep changing? 

说来说去，这些全都回避了一个重要问题：如果它的目标是制造出和运动员练习多年的足球相似的足球，那么世界杯为何又要每年推出新款足球呢？

There's a new ball released for every World Cup and I think the primary reason is money. The 2018 World Cup ball costs over $100. And these balls fly off the shelves! That's a pretty big investment, considering you can get a regular ball for under $20. 

其实，重点完全不在于球员或球赛本身。它之所以每年都要推出一款新的足球，主要原因可能是钱。世界杯足球非常畅销。今年这款足球售价超过100美元，而普通足球仅需不到20美元。

以上是今天的英语口语学习内容。当然，世界杯足球的制造工艺胜过普通足球。它是热粘合足球，能够防止进水、增大重量。不过，它究竟值这个价钱吗？大家自行判断吧！