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。

  I) p. i7 I1 }' y# IL: 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！

3 X- k0 I1 g3 z8 g$ D5 dM： No problem! I am really happy you could come. Yeah, I love coming to the Garden to watch basketball games.

; r  E- E, `) c. a. v+ tL: 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？
" J" P; L9 V; k4 n
/ e* C* d5 L, ?9 ^# r0 T1 sM：Well, Li Hua, I think New York is going to lose. Knowing them, their going to choke.

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。
0 Z& M$ j, R. s  k; P- f5 M
8 z/ X0 {1 K0 RM：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.

+ @7 w! ?3 U9 Q+ {- NL：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& V  q4 m+ g  a1 p
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？

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？
( k% m5 d! |  ^, d) P! K
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.

  s1 z" x2 R# r/ U9 E" XL: 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？
6 i$ R! U3 E5 \
' \/ S1 j2 \0 dM：Oh, that doesn't matter. Let's go to our seats！

6 {, p# V. w0 s  CL: 好，好， 去找位置吧！
* g* k: z# \4 n- L% i
3 ?7 Y; I$ q7 o(Michael和李华找到了自己的座位)

- ^9 P& J. Y4 d0 bL: 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。

3 e: x. m0 Z  u0 l% x4 C1 x' W9 }M：I think that New York is going to win. Maybe they won't choke after all.
0 I2 Z2 s4 }0 Y7 B  [& I
, j& j- L0 V3 M" zL：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.
, ^+ p" c+ E) Z' I/ s
4 J1 u, Q" N5 C2 sL: 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.

/ `6 B9 A; k4 t3 ^  q7 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.

; {; H, l/ v% aL: 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?
' t3 F( O  A2 ?
( G5 v1 Y/ {* F* S  b$ QM：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.

* u3 `, ~5 w6 I0 a; R2 nM：Do you think the coffee shop we like to go to is money?
  u5 {* z' h! C; l) L
; R$ E2 V! I7 }; h4 ^( [) u: ~0 _L: 我们常去的咖啡馆当然非常好，我一有空就想去。

. D8 w) n$ a3 v# }M: Michael Jordan won the game! I told you he is money!
- l+ n( S' e: ]3 W' q0 i
2 ^& s: P1 R) i% RL: 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。
. ?9 `, X3 c4 Q  j
, L  R* n9 o4 n/ ]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：