【英语听和读】开罗国际体育场

 Callum: Hello, I'm Callum Robertson and this is entertainment. On Friday 20th January

the 2006 African Cup of Nations football tournament kicked off at the Cairo
International Stadium in Egypt.
Two days before I was lucky enough to take a guided tour behind the scenes to
some places the public don't normally get to see. This programme is the
recording 1 that I made at the stadium. There are comprehension questions on the
website and a quiz so you can check your understanding.
The tour started off at the office of one of the stadium chiefs before our guide
took us around the stadium. Here's my report.
Callum: Now to start off we're in the company of a very important man, a VIP. First can
you tell us, what's your name?
Ahmed: My name is Ahmed Adbulkhaliq.
Callum: And what is your position, what's your job?
Ahmed: I'm responsible for following up and planning for the Cairo Stadiuum and
general manager of the main office.
Callum: This is a very very nice stadium, when was it built?
Ahmed: It was built in 1960 
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Callum: How many people can attend an event in the football stadium, what's the
capacity of the stadium?
Ahmed: 72,668, exactly
Callum: If I can ask you to predict the future. What teams do you think will be playing
in the final. Do you think Egypt will be in the final?
Ahmed: Only God knows, but I hope Egypt.
Callum: And what other teams do you think are favourites for the tournament?
Ahmed: Cote D'Ivoire, big team, Cameroon, Ghana and Egypt
Callum: How do you feel because this is your stadium and Africa Cup of Nations is in
your stadium in your city, how does that make you feel? Is it a very responsible
position for you?
Ahmed: I'm very happy because of improvements we have made here in the stadium.
Callum: You must be very proud
Ahmed: Sure, very very proud.
Callum: Well we start our tour at a very special place. We are at the Royal Box, or what
we would call the royal box in England. It's the place where very special
celebrities 3 and politicians sit when they are watching the game. And just
behind me now you can hear the noise as they are still completing it, is the
presidential box, as the president of Egypt, President Mohamed Hosni Mubarak 
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will be sitting just behind where I'm standing 2 to watch the opening game on
Friday.
Now it's a great position to watch the game from because from this position
you can see the whole pitch. We're directly in line with the half-way line and
standing across from a replica 4 of the Sphinx, one of the famous monuments
which is also here in Egypt, though this is just a replica, it's not the real thing.
But this is a great viewpoint. You can see the whole pitch, the whole crowd
and it's really going to be a fantastic experience to be here on Friday when the
game kicks off.
Callum: Well our tour has now taken us to the changing rooms and this is where the
players will be getting ready before the game, before they step out onto the
pitch and play for the honour of their country. And this is also where they'll
have their team talk. There's a whiteboard on the wall which has a football
pitch drawn 5 on it and that's where their manger or coach will go over the tactics 6
of the game. And it's a kind of a room as you might expect, there's a long row
of individual benches where each player can hang their kit 7 when they get
changed and there's a massage 8 table and showers and facilities as you could
expect but what you probably can't imagine is the tension that will be in this
room before a game, the nerves that the players will be feeling, before they
open the door and step out onto the pitch. Come with us now as we take that
step because here we go, we're going on to the pitch…
Callum: So as you walk from the changing rooms, underneath 9 the stands and out, the
pitch opens up in front of you and you step out from underneath the stands and
there are maybe 75,000 people cheering and screaming at you. What an
experience it must be for all these players when they step out and I can't
imagine what they'll be feeling, their nerves and excitement – and as and we 
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step onto the pitch, as I'm doing now,wow, I'm standing on the pitch where
they'll be playing the first match and the final of the 2006 Africa Cup of
Nations and it looks like quite a small pitch, I have to say but nevertheless I'm
sure the players who will be playing on it will think it's quite big enough.
Now as we approach, here we are standing at the centre circle where the first
game and last game will kick off.
Before we finish our tour I have to say a very big 'shukran' a very big thank
you to the man who gave us our tour – and your name?
Abdul: Abdul Atif Muktar
Callum: Thank you very much for your tour.
Abdul: Thank you and welcome to Egypt!
Callum: And do you think Egypt can win the Cup of Nations?
Abdul: Sure!
(Laughter)
Callum: Thank you!