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。

# j2 t4 D4 A8 ]( C' R3 ~1 P0 @" 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！

M： 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？
7 h# l: t4 {+ U- j# b
0 x+ C4 p' I( b8 W% @* lM：Well, Li Hua, I think New York is going to lose. Knowing them, their going to choke.

! o. q! r2 N9 }& w9 ?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。

& F0 K* Q. O: r2 r4 `4 UM：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.
* w( r* x+ V% j
) A8 Y3 p5 q& 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？
9 W& J$ F5 z" }1 ]% n
  r2 O/ R* Q4 `0 gM: Yes! And choke has many uses. How else do you think it can be used?

- s# @) m3 r' ^, K! O0 ^L: 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.

* k1 E  I8 o0 ^: h: nL：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？
: v. R/ Y# _' k3 i9 n: g
1 F$ U" F; G; D/ s1 vM：It seems like you really understand this word! Yeah, but it doesn't matter with that girl because I don't like her anyway.
$ a4 y. P5 s, `- ]/ x& o/ b9 t
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？
+ c3 k; z# m* \
, p! j5 S% F9 C" {M：Oh, that doesn't matter. Let's go to our seats！

L: 好，好， 去找位置吧！

(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。
! E. B, y$ O& V0 ?4 ~3 {
9 s( V6 f5 t3 B1 C7 ]( P2 MM：I think that New York is going to win. Maybe they won't choke after all.
2 S+ E  p- `1 J0 |
: E8 P2 B  W$ A: tL：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.
, r  E. J9 r& ]
/ }4 ~4 h8 H" VL: 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？

% O7 z+ ]; {& u5 ~  fM：No, by money, here I mean that he performs consistently at a high level.
: f" B$ U0 {! x" v! r& D
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。

) [2 p2 f+ Y3 r! X+ \M：Yes, you could say Yao Ming is money too.
% r" L3 V  R( g$ x
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.

# \+ _/ n; i/ X3 WL: 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.
: b" r) e0 K8 {0 F" s$ c
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!

4 a* Q% D- k" EL: Michael Jordan赢得了比赛，他就是棒。
, n# X: _. k' a& m
4 H4 ~( B9 ^. R! mM：Let's get going, though. I have to study for a test. I don't want to choke on the test again.
+ q) M3 w2 T; D1 B& ^6 G
L: 好吧，你快回去准备考试吧，我知道你要再考糊，就麻烦了。
' ?6 P! G! ^# G" |* J* C
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：