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。

$ ]) ]; \% l6 x, v) x+ M$ k% xL: 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！
5 F1 x1 n7 D# z; N  j
, T& p" C+ Q/ r' j( E; Q4 s% W# k3 {( iM： No problem! I am really happy you could come. Yeah, I love coming to the Garden to watch basketball games.

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？

M：Well, Li Hua, I think New York is going to lose. Knowing them, their going to choke.
$ S3 G( H$ f' b3 ^! G/ [
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。
! Z7 t2 U5 `% m- p2 {7 `+ J! O' E
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.

+ o  r( }1 \' K! j, G+ fL：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？

' @3 _; P7 @/ z4 j: XM: Yes! And choke has many uses. How else do you think it can be used?
( }8 Z& j" @' h" n5 ]  _9 r9 F
L: Choke 可以用在很多地方。考试考糟了，可以用choke 这个字吧？
2 c! x6 q$ ~( r6 {: H6 J
$ v5 t% E; P9 w& j5 _M: Yes! In fact, I choked on a test last week.
6 \3 R. V, p9 j& h
' H3 Y' {3 v% l! C/ r& Z. A6 @+ WL：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？

4 K4 h7 m5 z1 `" y2 k  e3 k" U. iM：It seems like you really understand this word! Yeah, but it doesn't matter with that girl because I don't like her anyway.
- b/ E5 ]( }' U0 ~7 |# p
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？

1 {, ~( q- A' t, xM：Oh, that doesn't matter. Let's go to our seats！
# k3 n1 u: C- D
# y9 v9 Y' g) P0 o9 H, P6 tL: 好，好， 去找位置吧！
1 W$ ]7 ^% P7 u- u/ q0 ^+ M( |# L
4 _/ d, k! z' ?1 e(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。

M：I think that New York is going to win. Maybe they won't choke after all.
0 H- q3 V7 ^  ~9 H  t( D
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。
1 m7 ~/ k' g( V$ j) J4 X! l! {' y
7 D* ~: q7 j: w/ CM：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.
; E9 E; D  D+ X: I  F
" w! ]2 T1 H2 W" ?( iL: 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.
8 m, M! O4 Y- s$ n9 r5 B
L: 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.
7 K- {! V$ i0 ?% s! ]" T
/ c2 x/ Y1 ^2 e# C. o% J3 sL: 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.
% a7 T1 C$ E* G! \% S/ A
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。

) ^: G, L+ Q- |0 H' iM：Let's get going, though. I have to study for a test. I don't want to choke on the test again.
+ S7 N' _* T7 Z* m- I
  ~/ h; o" Q+ b6 XL: 好吧，你快回去准备考试吧，我知道你要再考糊，就麻烦了。
9 q$ @4 o/ c$ h9 J
- J2 [! \6 Q# E/ `" s' p9 CMichael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：