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。
6 q" O$ N8 T6 w; l  O- E; l3 H: ~
: E% ^: j' Y% [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！

- v& H1 u: j6 j  P  V' p: |- j* S2 XM： No problem! I am really happy you could come. Yeah, I love coming to the Garden to watch basketball games.

  L( ~# D2 y5 E0 [" }: S# jL: 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？
1 O2 s4 [; C/ }2 {: ^
. R: L9 l# x, H4 \M：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。
, r' s1 h. _0 Z& Z$ }
M：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.
! r. c0 s4 s' w# J$ U5 D3 R* c  |
% ~; }) v0 r, I* m+ b# |( P5 sL：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？
% o/ U# i, O: {' ^& Z) S0 q
M: Yes! And choke has many uses. How else do you think it can be used?
9 ]2 D3 B/ m5 U/ z' X! z3 M" n
1 c. K9 v4 G& e1 cL: Choke 可以用在很多地方。考试考糟了，可以用choke 这个字吧？
& ]" ^0 W% l6 e. A! I2 K7 n9 J
: Q: ^$ j* i8 kM: Yes! In fact, I choked on a test last week.

5 w( S! V. A5 xL：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？
$ _* q; {- W! ^# H/ v/ g: u! |
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.

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？

# V- P( {0 r5 x# D& s. PM：Oh, that doesn't matter. Let's go to our seats！

* L1 N/ _; [  n9 S! eL: 好，好， 去找位置吧！

(Michael和李华找到了自己的座位)
. e- c- @  j8 Z* v5 }
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。
& j! k2 M4 q$ z1 A. `2 ?+ y
M：I think that New York is going to win. Maybe they won't choke after all.
  u2 K5 q( r% J6 J6 P" j5 S8 K
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。
& H2 ~* Z2 i& u* j- K
M：Washington is going to win. Michael Jordan will make the last shot. He is money.

1 L2 i6 j0 Y8 g" f9 e  ZL: 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% |: B5 h$ v) G- UM：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：Yes, you could say Yao Ming is money too.

6 e6 y  x5 J) t+ ~6 H8 XL: 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?

2 _% D' C: t; b/ ~/ e, QM：Yup. He's money. You can also call things money. For example, this pizza we are eating is money.

  B/ A4 R& y' |1 Z7 a5 m2 B3 nL: 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?
8 X$ a% x+ B! A$ M$ Z9 |% r/ F
L: 我们常去的咖啡馆当然非常好，我一有空就想去。

9 j. z' ^# ?: y0 k8 r3 k# aM: Michael Jordan won the game! I told you he is money!

5 ^. U% P+ C8 j4 x% G8 _2 r4 bL: 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。

* `, B# V; s' Q* Y# \4 L* |& Q& rMichael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。
  P. e, a8 S. N$ T. C! ~以下为音频：