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！
& ?# P2 \7 F" t9 z# I
* ~" Z& G4 P0 PM： No problem! I am really happy you could come. Yeah, I love coming to the Garden to watch basketball games.

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？
! M( N7 ^1 k0 w- u( Q+ ?
M：Well, Li Hua, I think New York is going to lose. Knowing them, their going to choke.

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。
. V1 ?5 n  ]; E/ `8 U! v4 G
2 w, j$ A8 [; x/ M% gM：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.
1 z# d# M2 [* q& v" P6 q4 y% {3 B
5 I# Z9 H% m2 E0 _- ]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？
; C5 d/ d9 r8 m% x
M: Yes! And choke has many uses. How else do you think it can be used?
" j2 g+ U1 ]) ]$ x+ N% J( N
; ^" Y: }; S& o+ l  W- n6 M1 S, vL: Choke 可以用在很多地方。考试考糟了，可以用choke 这个字吧？
4 h: G) p" Z6 p9 I5 n
+ A/ Y! c- U& f0 W& u: k' qM: Yes! In fact, I choked on a test last week.

* L; [7 t8 [  }2 ~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？

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.
" `- W! v( x1 A# b! S
- ^% u( _0 m- d; r! LL: 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？

( b& j5 ?2 n9 }' ^M：Oh, that doesn't matter. Let's go to our seats！
! r( I9 q2 a$ ^5 e$ w- e& u
. n1 p6 C* `* n0 Y5 [. \# ZL: 好，好， 去找位置吧！

$ _" c5 S$ k2 `+ I, a% `(Michael和李华找到了自己的座位)
% E8 G  D. w8 ~% H# r7 b
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。
4 W( |# Q1 Y0 ?
M：I think that New York is going to win. Maybe they won't choke after all.
# L# T& y  S1 l+ t6 D- Q/ I! D5 A
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.

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？
2 r  @* L& _6 z4 P4 d; B- R
M：No, by money, here I mean that he performs consistently at a high level.

" V8 I) z0 r9 N7 K* UL: 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。
) t0 k: i( o9 F% h
7 {0 f. _  ?& m$ R1 tM：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?
* }% V! D6 I: q# g1 @2 P
, _7 I& i% u4 X/ T; o' NM：Yup. He's money. You can also call things money. For example, this pizza we are eating is money.

* W) X; g, }5 V( Q: X% {/ ~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.

1 f+ B  A0 J( d* @. F* }M：Do you think the coffee shop we like to go to is money?
+ c) F+ _; z8 z! I
L: 我们常去的咖啡馆当然非常好，我一有空就想去。
- i* k0 P" D2 l* l6 |: F7 B
, g% B3 {9 q: HM: Michael Jordan won the game! I told you he is money!

, v1 |: Y) @2 A8 tL: Michael Jordan赢得了比赛，他就是棒。

5 t  k! Y# T0 I: ]- o0 s1 nM：Let's get going, though. I have to study for a test. I don't want to choke on the test again.
) N4 u+ n. g' v' m4 A9 q! [9 f
# N4 X1 v' `' RL: 好吧，你快回去准备考试吧，我知道你要再考糊，就麻烦了。

/ O% o' c# V! G% ^( B" f: a; r  aMichael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：