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。
4 |& \( x2 j# T+ R
" b6 z8 i3 a8 c: {4 ]8 oL: 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！

% _1 U8 K. e: HM： No problem! I am really happy you could come. Yeah, I love coming to the Garden to watch basketball games.
# u+ {. R0 `. i9 Q9 m8 g  j
) W$ }! S9 r, c2 [# XL: 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？

3 |! K3 ~4 k6 @M：Well, Li Hua, I think New York is going to lose. Knowing them, their going to choke.

: C, R  k7 t' A2 WL: 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。
5 X0 D1 B5 c8 }
- @2 g" o3 B0 v4 F0 L* z0 v( ?3 Z, f! 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.

# U3 u* z6 D$ eL：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？

/ @  j* X4 O& q  }. o% W& f/ fM: Yes! And choke has many uses. How else do you think it can be used?
' J" x* ]+ Y' z. A3 T% k
L: Choke 可以用在很多地方。考试考糟了，可以用choke 这个字吧？
) H& G/ R8 j* e) R
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/ _4 Z3 d" z
7 q) v  y$ m9 E2 BM：It seems like you really understand this word! Yeah, but it doesn't matter with that girl because I don't like her anyway.

, {- i' p3 q1 l8 k, v- C! P6 iL: 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？
' M8 R, _3 K- x+ E4 e- X
2 x4 V; \6 J1 x" s/ P' YM：Oh, that doesn't matter. Let's go to our seats！
, m5 `' T* t7 W  C
L: 好，好， 去找位置吧！
* A* c+ ]  R. D" e2 M
(Michael和李华找到了自己的座位)

% I' e* d4 h/ ~0 b$ g$ z$ H# wL: 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。
0 Q1 h' F/ w" m$ T
! ?2 W& h# ~; s- M3 j9 M6 ^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。
2 K' _+ Y( s1 a0 w/ q1 m0 x
0 W' K7 O( C: p* I$ `& `$ {' ZM：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？
& ~9 R" W: A' l/ k
! K# B( y( A! T& U0 ?0 uM：No, by money, here I mean that he performs consistently at a high level.
1 Z2 K5 h7 X0 `" \
3 Z5 H) J4 O$ pL: 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。

# p: @) f( [1 F% @+ UM：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?
5 s' a4 x2 `% U8 b/ T2 |' B
M：Yup. He's money. You can also call things money. For example, this pizza we are eating is money.
: v6 e9 P3 R; T: f3 d* P$ k
# j  P/ C7 ]% zL: 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.
6 N9 a1 z. w' ]" r* N2 V# J& v
M：Do you think the coffee shop we like to go to is money?

L: 我们常去的咖啡馆当然非常好，我一有空就想去。
; W: c' ]: t! P! Z
M: Michael Jordan won the game! I told you he is money!
  \6 T4 n/ F+ R7 _# g3 G$ H4 S
L: Michael Jordan赢得了比赛，他就是棒。
1 O0 t' q  I" ?
M：Let's get going, though. I have to study for a test. I don't want to choke on the test again.

- p6 S4 {2 c! c5 o2 c. h: ^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。
以下为音频：
# f% e8 i7 g0 g+ g, B& n