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！
% E1 {% R' P. g2 B; f8 T' V
M： No problem! I am really happy you could come. Yeah, I love coming to the Garden to watch basketball games.
/ a! Q9 }5 B+ ?$ @2 x( g2 F+ z7 U' ~
' c9 B! L$ B4 `) [2 `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？
! U  V* [+ T, m! W! U9 D
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。

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.
+ ^" r2 {" O% X0 s3 t
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？

3 W5 r# \3 y0 h; z* X+ {M: Yes! And choke has many uses. How else do you think it can be used?
# j* r5 K6 S0 N1 B' o: K
" x# l1 ^2 _; b( p; o& d4 iL: Choke 可以用在很多地方。考试考糟了，可以用choke 这个字吧？
& b2 K* a6 g0 v( Y& a: l5 S9 e
2 T5 W; G8 ]3 @* ~/ [- H1 e3 wM: 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：It seems like you really understand this word! Yeah, but it doesn't matter with that girl because I don't like her anyway.
, h2 S" |) C' f; ^3 f' I
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？

M：Oh, that doesn't matter. Let's go to our seats！
/ }- c- e, d8 ~' ]1 ^, V5 t* V
L: 好，好， 去找位置吧！
$ H/ R, @: G5 [) ]7 l8 G
: o1 G- K" C- X(Michael和李华找到了自己的座位)
* i5 H3 a2 \, r+ h$ g: ~# v' f
. z) M% F- B" _4 @& lL: 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/ T3 E1 Z* S  C" ~- \- NM：I think that New York is going to win. Maybe they won't choke after all.

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。

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？

& ~) T7 \$ X7 m" N: {8 R$ WM：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。
! y7 V1 w/ Q0 e' d6 e0 F0 z
6 `& h6 q, V' J3 H9 ?8 q$ W5 ^' rM：Yes, you could say Yao Ming is money too.

/ n# f# C5 p4 k  dL: 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?
8 s! p: j6 E+ [! k% Q% X
M：Yup. He's money. You can also call things money. For example, this pizza we are eating is money.
7 U. s0 ~8 y" W; L
- b: v  x7 ^) ?, f# i& J0 \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。

8 H& o% t: P; c8 ^% k5 BM: Michael Jordan won the game! I told you he is money!

& `/ s( A- p) q" M3 t* d+ RL: Michael Jordan赢得了比赛，他就是棒。
1 c9 p7 T! w  d5 m: c
0 Z% }0 o  X! W& |# d# r( bM：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。

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：
1 T' Q1 U( J; J' h