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。
# i3 L" g6 X6 P
, Y( V; {+ q0 D' {3 b9 o& RL: 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！
! T5 }( \, U5 k1 |% P
M： No problem! I am really happy you could come. Yeah, I love coming to the Garden to watch basketball games.

/ C) a% M  x8 VL: 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？
) N0 T3 s* B9 N; N
M：Well, Li Hua, I think New York is going to lose. Knowing them, their going to choke.
  O# G6 }; E9 \1 E
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。
' V3 ~# S; C9 }2 Q; n, R3 e
3 P  q" P# X1 H7 hM：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.

% O& l% C+ A7 RL：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- c( X2 z- B3 h6 h6 {M: Yes! And choke has many uses. How else do you think it can be used?

: r* _- c$ I1 U; p2 f( o8 lL: 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？
* m  r8 @* `6 Z6 N3 c
6 Z3 M: r1 C0 C- G" pM：It seems like you really understand this word! Yeah, but it doesn't matter with that girl because I don't like her anyway.
, z8 p' \: }1 c. \4 E
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？
6 V% ^" U8 ~: U- M, d
M：Oh, that doesn't matter. Let's go to our seats！

5 J( m: j5 ~6 pL: 好，好， 去找位置吧！
; M! E" \9 h, Y$ d8 o% B! Q: w2 O7 l
  _* N8 Q$ |/ A1 x( E(Michael和李华找到了自己的座位)
2 e5 J. a; u9 R1 @9 C
# i" Q% a% W" i- L2 @8 z+ pL: 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。

: X0 B3 x3 g% p$ c  q% eM：I think that New York is going to win. Maybe they won't choke after all.

3 R0 B  ]2 }. F- |; f) {- @* w. C/ 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。
( D& _$ x. g9 `! b2 h
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？

M：No, by money, here I mean that he performs consistently at a high level.

, z3 |6 U% w' e; f3 T# A. yL: 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。

3 L1 I1 h( H2 k; ?5 Q- r' ~' OM：Yes, you could say Yao Ming is money too.
( H+ A( e- h% U* H
. B# M+ b8 u1 O0 X6 F' m( \8 p+ NL: 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.
& ]$ G/ u; w# p$ a3 D: A) N. h7 ~) C
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.
* V; J% k% a; u8 C* z
M：Do you think the coffee shop we like to go to is money?
7 H) p( |: U8 `7 \# u
* B6 _5 F+ u/ e; JL: 我们常去的咖啡馆当然非常好，我一有空就想去。

  D/ M# G. _: N' JM: Michael Jordan won the game! I told you he is money!

6 K. L) ?  x' lL: Michael Jordan赢得了比赛，他就是棒。
! o  j2 l8 G* ^0 z' }' Z
9 P  j+ y( o0 {1 c4 i8 z' \M：Let's get going, though. I have to study for a test. I don't want to choke on the test again.
8 Q% l5 F9 u% U% e; i
6 K- ]! s# ?7 `  b' f, j2 BL: 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。
, ?2 d- B5 w! [2 O% ~以下为音频：