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。

' r5 B5 U3 G7 F# q* `$ lL: 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！
* J  n. I$ w! N- r, f9 u2 B' Y
M： No problem! I am really happy you could come. Yeah, I love coming to the Garden to watch basketball games.
4 ]& L% g' Y2 W( A: q' G
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？

, A: m1 @. C2 n4 u9 EM：Well, Li Hua, I think New York is going to lose. Knowing them, their going to choke.
- ]' X2 E, f4 r6 Z: ^9 d
L: 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。
- ^& l, q& n" j" w
6 c1 ]2 ?6 d9 l7 n' T9 f0 k( K0 CM：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.

$ g/ B/ u8 h; K8 @$ @5 SL：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？

/ ]* X# `8 A3 k# ~; BM: 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？
$ }+ }( z+ f9 D
M: Yes! In fact, I choked on a test last week.

" w% H3 a# I/ B7 lL：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？
9 x! Z+ S+ v8 }( ?# y
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？
% ^$ ~, N. t/ q! L8 O, X
M：Oh, that doesn't matter. Let's go to our seats！

; c3 e0 y9 S2 @7 L2 C4 d! }1 CL: 好，好， 去找位置吧！
; s3 n; `4 V7 V4 i
(Michael和李华找到了自己的座位)
$ j  Y0 r* I, y( i
L: 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。

. H2 Z1 V; q! d* B- U1 z& X) QM：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。

  N  B5 C: Z) c+ H7 C  }: ?) LM：Washington is going to win. Michael Jordan will make the last shot. He is money.
5 ~8 L2 [5 J" L" M& p2 n2 a& K
8 @# D, E/ @' U- z$ E: \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？
5 \/ k: n' a  O4 ]  A0 c
* Z, d+ z. b9 W9 D0 ~9 xM：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。

M：Yes, you could say Yao Ming is money too.

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?

9 Z; \! V2 t, XM：Yup. He's money. You can also call things money. For example, this pizza we are eating is money.

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.
: e0 m6 J3 f3 ]& ^: n- S, \# L
' p7 [" D/ e1 ~. ~6 y- wM：Do you think the coffee shop we like to go to is money?
6 @4 W3 g/ z  {0 z( F
1 M/ B' E5 c; J+ B1 }6 i3 a- _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!

' G# O- D- X! t0 W- O5 aL: Michael Jordan赢得了比赛，他就是棒。

5 q4 x9 v. t; i6 nM：Let's get going, though. I have to study for a test. I don't want to choke on the test again.
2 P. S5 M6 U1 C0 {
L: 好吧，你快回去准备考试吧，我知道你要再考糊，就麻烦了。

" u5 s' Z+ e" o* {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：