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.

) b7 b% b* K4 V+ J; ~L: 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？

0 q+ T: G/ V- e; o$ L9 NM：Well, Li Hua, I think New York is going to lose. Knowing them, their going to choke.
) a0 n$ a- t/ ?; K) C  N& W9 s0 t- z
( j' p3 w5 A& d0 UL: 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。

' ?8 D0 e  u0 ^: a+ zM：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.
$ t# t/ u5 ^9 U' J, K7 z+ ^
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？
% A, e- G; u/ R0 V9 F" H7 Z
M: Yes! And choke has many uses. How else do you think it can be used?

L: Choke 可以用在很多地方。考试考糟了，可以用choke 这个字吧？
2 D3 ~. v3 d. z" v6 t9 b& E3 {0 x
M: 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？

' d0 R2 G' G4 y" qM：It seems like you really understand this word! Yeah, but it doesn't matter with that girl because I don't like her anyway.
* f* n% e3 @! p! {* |9 b
0 K  _: g+ Z% ~1 zL: 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？

9 e& s6 _! ?# `; ZM：Oh, that doesn't matter. Let's go to our seats！

L: 好，好， 去找位置吧！

% Y3 ]; v4 w! X0 m(Michael和李华找到了自己的座位)

7 q9 X# H+ r4 ?& [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。
7 l( E( F9 @4 _, i" ~8 l
7 `) l; X4 k+ v$ IM：I think that New York is going to win. Maybe they won't choke after all.

& y/ e+ w+ Q: u. d0 k2 ^+ D, EL：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。

3 R8 `5 n: D' l4 sM：Washington is going to win. Michael Jordan will make the last shot. He is money.
! r& R2 J/ O: n& ^3 ?
% b4 D+ ~' r# h8 Z5 ]- VL: 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？
# ^, j0 j  k( H5 z
8 q' v  j2 a8 g( |2 y! i# a% kM：No, by money, here I mean that he performs consistently at a high level.
1 V4 Q% }# B9 E6 k( C
2 Q% r$ F6 w' k8 _8 rL: 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：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?

$ F0 J5 @) j' B  i$ ^M：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.

, C4 F  g3 T: t2 i; uM：Do you think the coffee shop we like to go to is money?
* {5 ^# w  z# {) J
L: 我们常去的咖啡馆当然非常好，我一有空就想去。

  O6 b1 K3 q% L8 z/ R# SM: Michael Jordan won the game! I told you he is money!
5 z7 P' S( s$ X' h$ _% U4 r
1 E2 ]6 z+ D$ t" {" TL: Michael Jordan赢得了比赛，他就是棒。
2 X9 o  s% y2 @( V& |! h
* J; O0 {1 r1 r- j$ E' sM：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。
9 k" x" ~* z1 ?
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。
1 L9 Z" v1 h+ i" g* }以下为音频：