Before the first whistle

Original non-fiction-style practice text.

The tournament briefing lasted twelve minutes. The volunteers listened while the referee explained how to record scores and signal for assistance. At the end, he asked whether everyone understood. Nobody spoke. He thanked them for their attention and began handing out the score sheets.

Leena, the volunteer coordinator, asked him to wait. Several helpers had joined only that morning and did not know one another. She noticed two looking at a symbol on the sheet and then looking away when the referee approached. During a previous event, a confident helper had answered every question before anyone else had time to think. Silence at a briefing, Leena had learned, could mean several different things.

She divided the group into pairs and gave each an imaginary result to enter. One pair reversed the teams; another recorded a penalty as a point. A third completed the sheet correctly but could not show where to take it. None of these errors had appeared while people nodded through the explanation. The referee repeated the relevant instructions, and each pair tried a fresh example. The first whistle sounded four minutes later than planned. Leena entered the delay in her report without apologising for it.

Explain, using your own words, three reasons why Leena does not accept the volunteers’ silence as proof that they understand.