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。
/ r3 Y  [1 D3 M( B
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！
6 |( E5 n( S4 n( B1 Z
M： No problem! I am really happy you could come. Yeah, I love coming to the Garden to watch basketball games.
! z0 q4 ~2 `" q- P
& R: g4 p' d" N9 F! o2 G$ ?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？
, Q: D! h0 {6 ?+ k! S8 X0 _
M：Well, Li Hua, I think New York is going to lose. Knowing them, their going to choke.
! C1 E; ]6 L' ]+ d. z( A- K2 w9 J  T! w
% v8 Y) G& y5 g" Z& v" g  nL: 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。
; Z. n; K! g7 I, i& ^6 A
9 n6 ]. t7 K! x9 i8 F8 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.

7 @5 o6 s- s: q6 |7 `" r+ v  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？

! d4 v) g8 S' P9 q$ [# AM: Yes! And choke has many uses. How else do you think it can be used?
3 k" H( d2 L! h8 D- G# B) `
L: Choke 可以用在很多地方。考试考糟了，可以用choke 这个字吧？

1 R0 {  |' ^0 k' B2 e* \; j, MM: Yes! In fact, I choked on a test last week.
, N3 ^! b3 j" b1 O( C! _$ ]. }+ L6 P
+ s0 f: c. P: E' z/ _* AL：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？

0 |, W! }% y( C# LM：It seems like you really understand this word! Yeah, but it doesn't matter with that girl because I don't like her anyway.

$ w& J$ m% n" y. X+ 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？
& g  a( j- ~2 _6 S( c+ U
/ E. ^: g: K4 \( yM：Oh, that doesn't matter. Let's go to our seats！

L: 好，好， 去找位置吧！
7 P* A5 O, F. @
(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。
1 x0 g) \& [$ Q! O7 n
, b2 o6 U" E% I1 @M：I think that New York is going to win. Maybe they won't choke after all.

5 P1 W  f+ X( z' }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。

4 j' v8 [* z  G3 K) i3 RM：Washington is going to win. Michael Jordan will make the last shot. He is money.
2 w/ N) O$ F; b* D6 v/ L6 s/ Y
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+ u1 p( C" G3 Y8 n  k5 ~9 o+ L8 g
4 P# h  z" N+ s( l- lM：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。

9 z* Q. V3 k/ f3 o8 C& ^# o" ^M：Yes, you could say Yao Ming is money too.

' u4 F3 F! r# f. l1 V' Q. g7 \7 TL: 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?
& F: u# w# p3 E7 n9 X
( r8 `3 C4 }# F7 {0 C+ l3 gM：Yup. He's money. You can also call things money. For example, this pizza we are eating is money.
* X; d! i: j! _$ E& X5 B! _
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?

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。
4 K" x. l" M1 Q! L
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。

5 \0 W" u4 ^  @5 r) kMichael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：