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！
1 w2 m# _2 V. K. ]# f
+ ]/ Y, ]! M6 Z! S. XM： No problem! I am really happy you could come. Yeah, I love coming to the Garden to watch basketball games.

# S9 ^' k) c1 dL: 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 k1 k) E* q- w& yM：Well, Li Hua, I think New York is going to lose. Knowing them, their going to choke.
  X+ W' n2 W" F7 O1 c  ?( A
2 x. T& ]% U  A7 p; R3 p. ?1 mL: 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。

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.

1 [8 n  v7 c& j( _  ?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？

$ u8 H/ T; V& z) s% v1 p+ J1 a* LM: Yes! And choke has many uses. How else do you think it can be used?
6 L* p0 t# W2 j+ i
; x1 V& F+ i# `5 c! t" R" \* [2 cL: Choke 可以用在很多地方。考试考糟了，可以用choke 这个字吧？
) p- g7 _  a5 z6 a" C( u. S) k" O
M: Yes! In fact, I choked on a test last week.
" m( S: M7 X" U, X& B0 a; b1 Q
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？
( `, G- L* h5 |, @3 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.

& i& M! d" x- W0 z& U! 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？
# d2 R7 K  q0 L+ P+ g
M：Oh, that doesn't matter. Let's go to our seats！

L: 好，好， 去找位置吧！
/ E& w/ i' T/ n. X- ]" q
- h$ p& E6 f+ l) r$ [; p) |(Michael和李华找到了自己的座位)

1 q! }) G+ L: D6 AL: 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 H# P1 S" Z2 @* v- o2 Q
) [: H1 E! N3 ^- L, }M：I think that New York is going to win. Maybe they won't choke after all.

4 D8 k$ ~3 v+ o1 ]7 A/ T9 uL：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。
; c+ a6 C6 l+ {! c& E9 Y, Z
M：Washington is going to win. Michael Jordan will make the last shot. He is money.

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？

7 P" c) \3 s- m/ m4 {% b; fM：No, by money, here I mean that he performs consistently at a high level.

/ J6 h- p- c, d  S0 p& o  q! aL: 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。
5 S1 x/ a$ T0 M( W2 @
" @) d! h; S0 f9 `M：Yes, you could say Yao Ming is money too.
% u/ O4 L1 g; d9 C
6 E; H  M5 S5 w$ [1 _1 G5 G% _8 jL: 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?

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.
) K3 D" ~- |- B
M：Do you think the coffee shop we like to go to is money?
% F8 a0 t, |" a1 l9 q
L: 我们常去的咖啡馆当然非常好，我一有空就想去。

- \) U% E2 E; KM: Michael Jordan won the game! I told you he is money!
$ K, Y, \4 k( [/ B+ \
L: 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.

" W5 Q% p: ]0 R" m/ r9 `L: 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：
8 b+ \! D4 @+ V, W2 T