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！

M： No problem! I am really happy you could come. Yeah, I love coming to the Garden to watch basketball games.
3 l0 }' A$ I: x" r
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 W% e& X# ^, G& @M：Well, Li Hua, I think New York is going to lose. Knowing them, their going to choke.
- T; \- o0 x1 I; n
7 N- B! n$ S2 X7 E" `# |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。

6 D  a+ W; s3 n/ d2 z  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.

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？

M: Yes! And choke has many uses. How else do you think it can be used?
3 o2 U" T4 s) T! r) Q- A: D
L: Choke 可以用在很多地方。考试考糟了，可以用choke 这个字吧？
; B; c" z3 I1 H7 j; F, i
$ J% Z. Z' b" r* i' B! A0 W3 D* }M: Yes! In fact, I choked on a test last week.
/ e- |' L  I2 B; S
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.

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？
: n. X- {$ q: N5 y, K9 J" s4 X
' U4 A% g; |. @- S8 [' p7 vM：Oh, that doesn't matter. Let's go to our seats！
- o9 o$ Z" x3 n5 F
& L0 Q# d, a4 v6 FL: 好，好， 去找位置吧！
$ j: M. B; s; }# B0 N
$ `. S! a& k- I  V( n* S  N(Michael和李华找到了自己的座位)
" h9 f  o7 I' t6 b  O- {) }  ]
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。

( i0 K7 Z- t/ V. w4 m7 {  uM：I think that New York is going to win. Maybe they won't choke after all.
) k; {8 h" Y" p( I# D1 m: F
. d# N4 \1 _7 c2 i. |7 G+ RL：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？

M：No, by money, here I mean that he performs consistently at a high level.

4 y0 T$ y2 Q4 O/ O1 s; M3 `3 bL: 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。
% K& q' w6 l3 T+ u( I
) A3 q+ s5 c- ?+ ^" T' A5 [M：Yes, you could say Yao Ming is money too.
9 s( b) L( I6 _2 Q* E/ Y0 W
  ~( P: L' T) D8 C; g4 I$ N% O( \" wL: 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?
1 G7 F; ?/ {$ d3 [4 L
M：Yup. He's money. You can also call things money. For example, this pizza we are eating is money.

! K% o2 x7 J8 D4 ~0 A6 e% c, W- HL: 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.
: P  W  }4 \; B; j
  W1 K8 D: u9 V* oM：Do you think the coffee shop we like to go to is money?
" G) B; U. I, w5 v9 g( f
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 c8 a6 L6 T* O# h
L: Michael Jordan赢得了比赛，他就是棒。
# i0 V5 m. P! u5 ?& G1 S0 u% U
M：Let's get going, though. I have to study for a test. I don't want to choke on the test again.

4 n- C1 w5 F7 Z: ?( ^7 R4 ]L: 好吧，你快回去准备考试吧，我知道你要再考糊，就麻烦了。
  e- G3 A4 H9 o* _6 _. p5 b+ q
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：