“黑马(hēimă) Dark Horse” of the 2014 World Cup (Special Issue Ⅱ)

There are tears of joy and the not-so-happy kind in the 2014 World Cup because every match will have its winner and loser. As the 2014 World Cup charges on, there remain some teams on the brink of elimination. There are also teams who have already topped their group to advance to the second round. Of the 32 teams, only a few top contenders, including Brazil, Argentina, Spain and Germany, are really expected to have a shot of winning. However, like every kind of sporting match in the world, the 2014 World Cup will have a few of its own dark horses—“黑马(hēimǎ).”

“黑马(hēimǎ)” means “dark horse,” which is a phrase used to describe a person, a team or any sort of competitor that is not well known but surprises the viewers by pulling from behind and winning a competition. This word began as horse racing parlance for a race horse that is not known to gamblers and thus, is difficult to place betting odds on, but who finally and unexpectedly succeeds. Later, “黑马(hēimǎ)” began to be used in sporting event lingo and finally in other fields, such as political contexts, with media coverage reporting on new fledged candidates or parties unexpectedly taking the lead.

Example

Zhè chǎng lánqiú bǐsài de hēi mǎ shì shuí?
这      场      篮球  比赛  的   黑马   是    谁？  
Who is the dark horse in this basketball game?

Will there be a “黑马(hēimǎ)” in the 2014 World Cup? Of course. In fact, this year’s World Cup has more than one dark horse, such as Ghana, Belgium, and Columbia. However, the biggest “黑马(hēimǎ)” so far has to be Costa Rica.

Uruguay, England and Italy were matched up with Costa Rica in group D, the only group to contain more than one previous World Cup winner. However, despite being considered underdogs in a group containing three former World Cup winning teams, Costa Rica topped the group. With a 3-1 win over Uruguay, a 1-0 win over Italy and a 0-0 tie to England, Costa Rica is definitely the biggest “黑马(hēimǎ)” in this World Cup.

Examples:

Shuí shì 2014 nián shìjièbēi de hēimǎ?
谁    是   2014  年     世界杯   的  黑马？  
Who is the dark horse in the 2014 World Cup?

Gēsīdálíjiā shì běnjiè shìjièbēi zuìdà de hēimǎ.
哥斯达黎加 是   本届     世界杯   最大 的  黑马。  
Costa Rica is the biggest dark horse in this year’s World Cup.

1. What does “Columbia is the ‘黑马(hēimǎ)’ of the 2014 World Cup” mean?

A. Columbia is an unexpected winner.

B. Columbia will lose the game.

C. Columbia is a black-colored horse.

2. Brazil is always the World Cup favorite, so we cannot call Brazil a___.

A. 黑马(hēimǎ)

B. 热门球队(rèménqiúduì)

C. 强队(qiángduì)