流行美语教程 Lesson 7: choke; money

Xbfeng

Michael和李华今天去看篮球比赛。球赛是在纽约大型室内体育馆[麦迪逊广场花园]举行，这场比赛是华盛顿的球队对纽约的球队。 Michael到中国去学过中文，他让李华跟他讲中文，以便练习听力。现在他们俩正在排队进入体育馆。今天他们在对话中会用choke和 money这两个词。

/ A: H/ w! R4 s. zL: 嗨，Michael，谢谢你买到这么好的票！我真高兴能到[麦迪逊广场]来看球。这可是有名的体育馆哟！
" b; N! |$ I% Y; t: a
M： No problem! I am really happy you could come. Yeah, I love coming to the Garden to watch basketball games.

& a" _+ s1 o) D& S- E9 VL: 你也喜欢来这里看篮球比赛啊，那太好了。今天是纽约队比华盛顿队，你看结局会怎样？
/ i! e2 x6 O9 d, f& Q( x5 m/ c/ O' g) ~
M：Well, Li Hua, I think New York is going to lose. Knowing them, their going to choke.
" C5 Y- M6 g' E! x) U
L: 你说纽约队会输？你还说什么 choke? 你是说他们吃饭时会噎着啦？这跟输球有什么关系，我不懂。
( K' x3 q) G1 F* v6 Z3 B& b
+ J# [& S4 e$ _; o4 \8 ^8 c' \. TM：No, no, no! They're not going to choke on their food! It's the same word with the same spelling, but it has a different meaning. Here, choke means to fail under pressure.

* X7 t# E% ?0 d: e0 oL：噢，我懂了。 你说的choke 是指纽约队会抵挡不住华盛顿球队的压力而输掉，对吗？

9 G. F' Z- G  U( u4 ?M: Yes! And choke has many uses. How else do you think it can be used?
3 Z, C/ @, |8 v6 {( @, Q+ w5 f
. {3 W, h+ k. j: w- @$ @% C& ]4 W% U1 UL: Choke 可以用在很多地方。考试考糟了，可以用choke 这个字吧？

; P2 Y1 ^) Q+ `* a0 P( g5 pM: Yes! In fact, I choked on a test last week.

L：你上星期考试考糊了？嘿，Michael，我还知道怎么用choke这个字。你不是老想请那个姑娘出去玩吗？你请她，她连电话都不回，这可真让你choked了，对不对？
1 h* r: v4 u9 d. M+ s1 z' ?
# q7 u! R3 g9 J% s) |; jM：It seems like you really understand this word! Yeah, but it doesn't matter with that girl because I don't like her anyway.
' Z4 |- H, ]; L1 C
L: 噢，你说得可真轻松，没关系，因为你不喜欢她。好，那你告诉我你喜欢哪个女孩呐？
- L  o& R6 O* f- M
M：Oh, that doesn't matter. Let's go to our seats！

L: 好，好， 去找位置吧！

(Michael和李华找到了自己的座位)

L: Michael，你看，纽约队看来不会输，他们赢了两个球，现在还剩十秒了。只要纽约队不失去球，他们就不会输。
+ L- R2 s! f  \, b* S  z$ K
5 @+ X  c) V7 t; N# q4 oM：I think that New York is going to win. Maybe they won't choke after all.
$ [& c5 B/ _: y) C
L：你也认为纽约队可能不会输？等等，你看，纽约队丢了球！这下他们完了！华盛顿队要求暂停，他们还有赢的机会。

M：Washington is going to win. Michael Jordan will make the last shot. He is money.

L: 你认为华盛顿球队会赢，Michael Jordan 会投进最后一个球。你说 "He is money "是说他会赚钱吗？

M：No, by money, here I mean that he performs consistently at a high level.

* E  d: ~) h) e, t% r) m% P, }L: 噢，这儿的money不是指钱，是指他打球一直保持在高水平上，一直打得很棒。
3 {6 e4 w' y- p) v  W
M：Yes, you could say Yao Ming is money too.

L: 姚明当然很棒，所以也可以说：Yao Ming is money。那我们班的 Steven，他考试总是考得很好，也能说，He is money?

8 N: P* ]% m9 ^1 m) T, _6 M$ RM：Yup. He's money. You can also call things money. For example, this pizza we are eating is money.
' C; k9 Y* P( B& ?6 j$ ]3 y
L: 原来凡是好的东西都可以说是money。我们正在吃的比萨饼是很好吃，所以也可以说是money.

M：Do you think the coffee shop we like to go to is money?
$ N) |# u( f3 I2 V
L: 我们常去的咖啡馆当然非常好，我一有空就想去。

M: Michael Jordan won the game! I told you he is money!

L: Michael Jordan赢得了比赛，他就是棒。

M：Let's get going, though. I have to study for a test. I don't want to choke on the test again.

L: 好吧，你快回去准备考试吧，我知道你要再考糊，就麻烦了。
' M1 Y0 U8 T& b
) E: D% H) a0 s8 |" E5 n" OMichael和李华今天在对话里用的两个词意思是相对的。 To choke是糟糕，失败的意思；而money是保持高水平，非常棒的意思。最好大家都不要choke，都成为money，那就太棒了。
! [& {5 h3 m5 e5 q; j以下为音频：
3 b1 |2 r8 h6 n* x8 |