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。

L: 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！

M： No problem! I am really happy you could come. Yeah, I love coming to the Garden to watch basketball games.

/ a2 R. ]8 y% E; mL: 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？

5 V2 ~  D* k( M; \, m6 {M：Well, Li Hua, I think New York is going to lose. Knowing them, their going to choke.
: |# y& i3 x3 K! c( H
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。

. Z9 o9 k- V( ^4 E4 Q, W5 v3 `0 x( CM：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.
- ^/ K8 Z. b0 k1 V1 z0 \& @9 r
L：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？
- B1 y0 N9 W( H4 v8 _4 z$ v
M: Yes! And choke has many uses. How else do you think it can be used?
! V# \3 t' P- E; x7 j$ r- i  k/ |
: y0 c1 @9 z; V% {' P( ^! A! nL: Choke 可以用在很多地方。考试考糟了，可以用choke 这个字吧？
0 M! n$ h" y( d% J
# g8 I+ v* h3 }$ F4 L7 @, }M: Yes! In fact, I choked on a test last week.

* y/ e& W2 y, C5 [0 L3 a* k! tL：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？
- @! n& H0 [" B2 Z% x9 B
M：It seems like you really understand this word! Yeah, but it doesn't matter with that girl because I don't like her anyway.

% A# H4 ?& t, Q; p+ sL: 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？

M：Oh, that doesn't matter. Let's go to our seats！

L: 好，好， 去找位置吧！

( e9 _# i9 u* T, Q6 c(Michael和李华找到了自己的座位)

6 y$ T' P7 y" F0 a' pL: 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。

0 e. J) G+ S- {1 R8 cM：I think that New York is going to win. Maybe they won't choke after all.

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。

; q, W" r9 S1 k1 Y5 d1 u" X! `M：Washington is going to win. Michael Jordan will make the last shot. He is money.
0 C; T; J7 J# @
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.

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。
' M' t8 Z" b  w
  G, z' s5 i% |3 T9 RM：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?

% |6 Y2 }( O& b' n' MM：Yup. He's money. You can also call things money. For example, this pizza we are eating is money.

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.
# b/ C1 ?0 R1 [1 v; Z- ?: m9 u/ e
  L/ R' \, [6 [, V; aM：Do you think the coffee shop we like to go to is money?

6 F8 w: |1 t0 Z$ ^5 W7 PL: 我们常去的咖啡馆当然非常好，我一有空就想去。
+ l" D! v! q9 m9 z& o/ }4 J- ?
M: Michael Jordan won the game! I told you he is money!
8 v1 m! c4 _4 [
L: Michael Jordan赢得了比赛，他就是棒。

3 H  k! g& l' |M：Let's get going, though. I have to study for a test. I don't want to choke on the test again.

' u* \! W2 e' p8 L! R+ X; N) f! hL: 好吧，你快回去准备考试吧，我知道你要再考糊，就麻烦了。

Michael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。
以下为音频：
) L3 [5 u7 d& }+ j& _