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。

7 ~( V' u1 ~3 IL: 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.
/ M3 D7 A' L  L5 O  ~( I* Q. j& M4 p
& C3 S6 V9 h9 Q* H- W. RL: 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？
; F0 Z, H! w+ S# [
M：Well, Li Hua, I think New York is going to lose. Knowing them, their going to choke.
6 k* L! ^! `) {- w
. B2 S, ]+ L' E2 aL: 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 c# J2 N/ i" j1 e2 V: M
0 J6 `; ]& d6 F) ^9 M/ b+ }& bM：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？
  z2 G3 B/ u9 m' _* Y
- N$ k1 F+ Q7 G; ^( z" N- iM: Yes! And choke has many uses. How else do you think it can be used?
9 U) [* E: i, r; I' b* F: {
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.

8 H4 R) w3 X6 pL：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？
2 H9 B# f# C, }' f6 X0 I
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？

M：Oh, that doesn't matter. Let's go to our seats！
" z! ^& k+ l2 w6 R, S( h- O
L: 好，好， 去找位置吧！
7 G' g5 \0 T: u5 F* F& E7 O% T
6 Y0 M$ f% e% ~( V# D+ d(Michael和李华找到了自己的座位)
, N5 Y2 G, u# }+ F. Y
. T  \. T+ x8 o; u; R8 YL: 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。
, t' G4 D1 h9 b& J$ _- O2 g7 }. u
M：I think that New York is going to win. Maybe they won't choke after all.
4 c- V9 k2 {' K0 F9 M
, w, e: Q/ Y7 A1 mL：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。

& h2 ^. U* n6 r3 H( C. zM：Washington is going to win. Michael Jordan will make the last shot. He is money.
$ X2 y+ G. N) x. n; O
: q: V! |6 j8 K. }! S+ ]0 E$ k; CL: 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？
( G( @1 K& t2 j. m$ Y2 _3 f) h- K
M：No, by money, here I mean that he performs consistently at a high level.

8 s* E; @3 s# SL: 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。

" E3 [1 N" U0 `- G' d( p: IM：Yes, you could say Yao Ming is money too.
5 S# n0 ]: o/ x8 A
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.
. L% u+ _; x+ q" f" ~
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.
7 w; ^2 {& f! ^- O* H# R
' o+ `9 `, L: a" CM：Do you think the coffee shop we like to go to is money?
8 i4 R; D# i' a% x0 B9 _* [$ \" m
( C' `1 x/ P$ ~3 S0 ^) d) PL: 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!
' ^- j; O& B# x" E! `
, s+ [- s4 ^1 G; BL: Michael Jordan赢得了比赛，他就是棒。
3 _& R" f0 p. [1 e6 @
: |# \  ^) h+ kM：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。

+ b+ v% b+ z# V: b( m% IMichael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：