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！

9 Y' V. ~8 X% [  c4 FM： No problem! I am really happy you could come. Yeah, I love coming to the Garden to watch basketball games.
4 A" ?& D; F0 P5 X$ I, w# H5 O
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？

M：Well, Li Hua, I think New York is going to lose. Knowing them, their going to choke.
7 Q+ G- s4 }3 r7 [
' C8 q& t1 W$ g: f+ y& HL: 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。
( \+ C- @. D" m% I) d4 v. w: E% c. n
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.
! D6 @# l4 {* }/ V4 }
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?
1 s; ~  c# H& n2 @
4 w6 U6 d, W/ z  k+ w7 J" ~- i$ O8 ~& _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.

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？
; b9 F8 Y- ~7 a
, o4 O, _  g0 k+ f& e  k  P7 DM：It seems like you really understand this word! Yeah, but it doesn't matter with that girl because I don't like her anyway.

3 t/ S% F9 `& L- IL: 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！
" |& w& ~; G: X0 M
L: 好，好， 去找位置吧！
* z: ~, Q/ Y" u! E0 k5 q4 r- V9 B
! N5 z/ @5 H: _3 N2 [1 y+ i(Michael和李华找到了自己的座位)
) \3 x+ t% |) w: I8 F
+ j6 Y( L# }2 P; T4 ^9 ]; KL: 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。

1 {6 e' V$ y; A) ~, `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。
- m6 w4 C* ^0 N) Y/ [
M：Washington is going to win. Michael Jordan will make the last shot. He is money.
% e" {7 ~+ g! G
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。

1 X$ w* s. O4 u* Q, HM：Yes, you could say Yao Ming is money too.
% L6 X# A( X9 y, U  O3 f5 i
+ W4 X5 @3 W0 [! @$ R  yL: 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?
. q3 x* e+ f" }
1 \2 s9 ?* S) _  D7 j6 n/ BM：Yup. He's money. You can also call things money. For example, this pizza we are eating is money.
5 x0 _! S5 V) F% M. ?) x% s
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.

6 ]; L) D  [$ k  U. C4 ~: IM：Do you think the coffee shop we like to go to is money?
- T9 w$ `5 W7 A) m" F
# Q- F9 p- r. S* \$ h. T2 yL: 我们常去的咖啡馆当然非常好，我一有空就想去。

! A5 u6 H- w/ [+ \; o& v( UM: Michael Jordan won the game! I told you he is money!
5 W3 u  _  d" [8 z' T
5 y4 v3 C; }% g+ ~. x, U) FL: Michael Jordan赢得了比赛，他就是棒。
! H( U8 J6 T5 M; r. j
M：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：