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.
0 K5 [& |0 Q+ X; h2 C. K( H
+ L) C. _1 j* p- i- |+ ]: i; nL: 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？

' _- ?, z4 {' gM：Well, Li Hua, I think New York is going to lose. Knowing them, their going to choke.
1 W1 @4 Q6 z: g* _7 H
0 J, [. m8 B) F% e; v4 a& UL: 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 G" K& I- T6 ]
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.
; P  c. C5 o8 k" s- |# o
6 z# Y* g  U! w3 u1 j- [; J  TL：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？

: H& N, k; H5 `3 \& K, C! UM: Yes! And choke has many uses. How else do you think it can be used?
0 M" O8 R1 d# [1 K4 s
2 T, f7 _3 ^" V6 k- PL: Choke 可以用在很多地方。考试考糟了，可以用choke 这个字吧？
3 ~7 g' K/ V  v( P9 C
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？

& ^. r" R4 L, t! y" XM：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？
2 o; a6 e  f, |3 F
, q1 c' L* C7 G5 VM：Oh, that doesn't matter. Let's go to our seats！

L: 好，好， 去找位置吧！
6 _2 b( F1 E! P
(Michael和李华找到了自己的座位)

5 k: J7 t3 C" o7 Y% \- K6 C; eL: 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; r) h8 K  @; `% l0 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？
3 ~) D. K7 i/ z& b  v$ N) B
M：No, by money, here I mean that he performs consistently at a high level.

  ?- V6 d2 N0 ML: 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。
) C) X; ~/ |1 g" M1 S0 D
M：Yes, you could say Yao Ming is money too.
4 L( g" [& L1 s7 E0 `
2 c1 a4 v) g1 E! I9 EL: 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?
& ^" t0 z" G+ ]! ]* O
  {( n5 r9 T* K6 K" N: S2 ZM：Yup. He's money. You can also call things money. For example, this pizza we are eating is money.
2 ]; }4 A& F# F$ k# c% J/ j
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?
# e1 y+ [9 U; ~" C; e1 h# f) J
L: 我们常去的咖啡馆当然非常好，我一有空就想去。
" S+ a" h7 q6 @. k
/ G$ T7 c" L: \; q2 U2 xM: Michael Jordan won the game! I told you he is money!

) N' H  i* J1 J4 b! IL: Michael Jordan赢得了比赛，他就是棒。

1 {: V0 w- ^; ?7 AM：Let's get going, though. I have to study for a test. I don't want to choke on the test again.
+ I' N. j# l' N) z; o0 D, \, f) C3 M
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。
+ d0 s9 L$ w0 v) e! N) ^以下为音频：
7 D' ]; x' f  n