流行美语教程 Lesson 7: choke; money

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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。

5 R3 ~7 p0 S- ]( }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！
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M： No problem! I am really happy you could come. Yeah, I love coming to the Garden to watch basketball games.
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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？

( j% J9 ~7 H3 r2 ^M：Well, Li Hua, I think New York is going to lose. Knowing them, their going to choke.

! Z$ D2 i8 _( \( i" u' p' J, x7 r# 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。
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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.
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+ G% |/ k% `: q5 O# r7 u5 t! EL：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？

% {: @1 ]+ @8 @  ^- W5 ~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？
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M: Yes! In fact, I choked on a test last week.

8 ~! O8 K# {) b" ~4 L- {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？
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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.
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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？
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" `! q0 W6 Y  l  p3 Q- X1 @M：Oh, that doesn't matter. Let's go to our seats！
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- G* V1 L4 T( L: ?$ rL: 好，好， 去找位置吧！
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& h, C* r, d, b2 ?, ~) S' w(Michael和李华找到了自己的座位)

% i9 X. v( f% a$ XL: 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.

9 H$ N2 V: ?! W' ~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。

1 `8 Q' F& k! L. w1 oM：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？
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M：No, by money, here I mean that he performs consistently at a high level.
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; Z# G2 R! G& {3 f) k2 ~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。
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# J7 s/ w, {& tM：Yes, you could say Yao Ming is money too.
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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?
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M：Yup. He's money. You can also call things money. For example, this pizza we are eating is money.
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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.
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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!

L: Michael Jordan赢得了比赛，他就是棒。

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。
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