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- U2 ?& Y% A
; v1 s; A! ^& }4 q+ W5 `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！
+ A. y. M5 Y3 ]* S, ?
+ I% v7 l! y; u& W: QM： No problem! I am really happy you could come. Yeah, I love coming to the Garden to watch basketball games.

9 j9 t4 l% P) i# |" p2 S7 ]( p) C' I; EL: 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.

/ }$ h. D& J: RL: 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。
9 h% ?3 s* |) Y' Z+ \  Q" H
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.

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？
' y+ I1 z# m7 J; v6 w7 Q* E
/ y, M; i7 G! s+ M) D3 LM: Yes! And choke has many uses. How else do you think it can be used?
, l! x' M& ?6 D# L  M+ _; C- {. f6 c3 |
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.

5 z) W+ d7 \  Z' C2 uL：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？
( c" {6 x6 i& G3 u( f! @
+ \, o9 d4 e3 Q! y+ g0 o' }) MM：It seems like you really understand this word! Yeah, but it doesn't matter with that girl because I don't like her anyway.

" p! r$ ^# X* ?( ~' P% L6 m* RL: 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？
4 \  k% H" T. r4 X2 X
M：Oh, that doesn't matter. Let's go to our seats！
4 g( h) g4 e- R
L: 好，好， 去找位置吧！
( @6 q4 D$ k' p2 {7 [8 d
& M1 ?7 Y8 O% v+ K(Michael和李华找到了自己的座位)
2 s! f# b5 q& Q# ^  s; i
9 N' c# L" l$ fL: 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。
; J" ]1 h( a  F. A/ r6 ~
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。

M：Washington is going to win. Michael Jordan will make the last shot. He is money.

( i# d, P+ Y4 L' YL: 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？

/ }  F! a% n9 OM：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。
  R% [. S0 d6 p+ Q' U0 T' s3 f
3 u9 x+ U. ^4 K1 u7 u* h9 k2 o' _M：Yes, you could say Yao Ming is money too.
" t* i3 i9 C5 @+ D. K; t% U
" d6 z9 T& [! L# F. W7 v/ }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?
4 l3 }0 [  L: z
M：Yup. He's money. You can also call things money. For example, this pizza we are eating is money.

1 @4 Z7 G2 E* }3 |9 B& w6 XL: 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" x, j% Y9 k9 F& p+ H+ L
M：Do you think the coffee shop we like to go to is money?
9 d% e, {6 T6 M# K' B! s* J7 }
L: 我们常去的咖啡馆当然非常好，我一有空就想去。

* U7 _$ `& D( @( U& }! \M: Michael Jordan won the game! I told you he is money!

% u5 _. \( ?0 LL: Michael Jordan赢得了比赛，他就是棒。
& |* ~3 t0 O( o4 M+ C2 C& K
M：Let's get going, though. I have to study for a test. I don't want to choke on the test again.
; q; w# P' R: }+ U% `2 U, H. q* G" v
" B: j+ Y: |! R; R1 u- ^/ iL: 好吧，你快回去准备考试吧，我知道你要再考糊，就麻烦了。

3 p2 `& M) h! c. N$ B( kMichael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：
6 M6 ^$ ~1 A" K& q/ z4 y