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。
9 j5 ]3 [7 ^4 B5 I
# ]9 K# \% p; X5 ]3 A4 ZL: 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！
  `7 H7 R3 y* @  u
M： No problem! I am really happy you could come. Yeah, I love coming to the Garden to watch basketball games.
4 E% [( \9 \; p5 M/ g+ ]; q
7 S5 E1 O* L! L, W5 Z# PL: 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？
* p) y6 Z! h# u7 `
* p3 {2 F: S0 g& j; dM：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。
! o4 ]& S, g: m0 {+ o
) L# n7 E3 ], M3 \  F$ S) qM：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.
8 d9 _7 Z; w% ]8 K* r  Y: a; Y& V
3 p" _- y+ d, I) Q4 qL：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？
' |& F# u3 j" Q8 o+ c' E6 \7 w/ k' I
9 O9 v7 {; y5 K7 f3 Z) OM: Yes! And choke has many uses. How else do you think it can be used?
2 e/ g9 e. ]; i9 `
$ h/ y$ w' n# {$ z0 kL: Choke 可以用在很多地方。考试考糟了，可以用choke 这个字吧？
3 q3 p, Q* X* Q/ U- _/ j  S
M: Yes! In fact, I choked on a test last week.

8 ^# s( ^; |' C7 oL：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？

9 T' R# ~+ F% c0 qM：It seems like you really understand this word! Yeah, but it doesn't matter with that girl because I don't like her anyway.

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？
( w. _& s! v6 {! F, J; k$ `: n
M：Oh, that doesn't matter. Let's go to our seats！
) O; L4 {3 Z) X- _  g
' x' M4 `" L, {7 _" F' [$ SL: 好，好， 去找位置吧！

! w' f% x8 L. U- |* r- U(Michael和李华找到了自己的座位)
) {4 y2 V2 z# X4 I  C: U' ~' K
( u% L. f$ t' w$ x' }5 j6 G% tL: 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。

/ g+ s- g' y+ R3 d& D) R& RM：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？
' r6 H7 b# w. Z9 V" d
M：No, by money, here I mean that he performs consistently at a high level.
: Z3 A. h) Z9 v) i8 q
$ X4 x: I# L8 sL: 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.
* a+ x7 u0 J/ w& Q7 n; q. a
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?

3 f% N) t: _6 F% YM：Yup. He's money. You can also call things money. For example, this pizza we are eating is money.
" E; H6 ]) X/ k* l7 i
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?

, C3 ?3 c& ?% P" T9 r) lL: 我们常去的咖啡馆当然非常好，我一有空就想去。
' `* K0 b: X5 \+ M- f) b  ]
M: Michael Jordan won the game! I told you he is money!
! A9 R" x; Z$ a" U
L: Michael Jordan赢得了比赛，他就是棒。

8 {! k  M" k' tM：Let's get going, though. I have to study for a test. I don't want to choke on the test again.

/ c: ~, y1 y+ r  f. i4 L! [; [5 LL: 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。
" |9 ^9 Q% X2 z# Z+ M% a' T  H以下为音频：