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！
% C! n1 b2 {7 y
M： No problem! I am really happy you could come. Yeah, I love coming to the Garden to watch basketball games.
- L5 {5 s3 E- O  n
  |# s& U& c! Q* v- ^' ~. N$ YL: 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.

" F- s0 p" f# {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。
  g% Z% n4 K4 N0 T
0 Q# V0 t% d' c) V, yM：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.
" K$ x1 h1 K3 j
1 z" t9 Z* r. q; yL：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？

M: Yes! And choke has many uses. How else do you think it can be used?

L: Choke 可以用在很多地方。考试考糟了，可以用choke 这个字吧？
. [/ ?  T* [6 N; [( a- \! k( z* h0 C
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：It seems like you really understand this word! Yeah, but it doesn't matter with that girl because I don't like her anyway.
0 w  Z7 H- S' r9 }8 T0 n
# e$ e9 ]; g9 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？

- Z. l! K* [( c$ T' Y* {" jM：Oh, that doesn't matter. Let's go to our seats！
5 r1 o8 y' S3 J  n+ f* {2 u. T
L: 好，好， 去找位置吧！
" [+ T6 @5 r% Y& R2 l5 o* V
(Michael和李华找到了自己的座位)
! p9 H7 r/ j& @
7 T+ y1 N0 Z8 H& |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.

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。

+ A2 P& W. `, g2 n  aM：Washington is going to win. Michael Jordan will make the last shot. He is money.

1 U& K  D, x8 [! x) ?- b) i2 [* `0 ~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.

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。

M：Yes, you could say Yao Ming is money too.
# {8 I, x7 w, c( A! D- w: s$ `6 `
9 ~2 D3 ~( `7 c0 W3 G3 b# F% ^, hL: 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?

# l" P# F& j" ?+ l, t5 `% G2 x+ tM：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.

7 j+ _/ h% D: c; e" L. W% GM：Do you think the coffee shop we like to go to is money?
$ ~. [7 ~' [1 F1 ~6 y( s9 Q
4 f  V/ o, O8 w$ b$ D% }* n% M" x' WL: 我们常去的咖啡馆当然非常好，我一有空就想去。
$ z0 d" [* p  N3 K
' ^2 h: W+ T% Z$ @3 V; `; YM: Michael Jordan won the game! I told you he is money!
1 l2 E( N& }. ~- O  o+ u2 e# j# e6 a
L: Michael Jordan赢得了比赛，他就是棒。

6 w) x; x( U% y; k+ nM：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。
" u: z3 T$ A: d- {; R& w以下为音频：
/ E9 i& k+ S' u5 u