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。
2 v6 |; [, X+ C1 p" S- i, Y5 K
3 t  N% _% e1 M+ C% w( zL: 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！

; s8 J! W& f2 _% t& a4 F) z) D% x, wM： No problem! I am really happy you could come. Yeah, I love coming to the Garden to watch basketball games.

( E  m: y# n1 LL: 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？
8 Z- q$ X2 l$ [) h
9 h' E0 ?" ~$ }3 Q% z6 ?5 D  q' b# yM：Well, Li Hua, I think New York is going to lose. Knowing them, their going to choke.
3 r; q  I+ G3 m( c% P8 k* r
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。

& k8 u6 O% }- E! r7 A' ?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.

* C. t: f9 @( i5 a' O, \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？
! c8 |; Y4 O" K7 o
M: Yes! And choke has many uses. How else do you think it can be used?
0 O. H9 Q2 H7 R/ I7 w
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.

3 k& `6 v7 e( E+ SL：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？

' o- `' O8 X5 z% ^; d4 F9 {) zM：It seems like you really understand this word! Yeah, but it doesn't matter with that girl because I don't like her anyway.
$ ]+ ~  r  l& Y, x
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？

. v5 a: q1 t+ L6 P$ s4 MM：Oh, that doesn't matter. Let's go to our seats！
; H3 c0 w9 g* ]3 w: j
L: 好，好， 去找位置吧！

(Michael和李华找到了自己的座位)

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。

+ i! D( q  i7 f* eM：I think that New York is going to win. Maybe they won't choke after all.
5 a0 B, w& Y5 B+ a2 H& k
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。
3 a: ~! _5 D) y- B- I) u( Y, h3 L
M：Washington is going to win. Michael Jordan will make the last shot. He is money.
* J3 j3 W5 U  N
- C# i5 m2 b7 s! B0 Y; IL: 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？
! `" p! ?6 k' H, k0 n
M：No, by money, here I mean that he performs consistently at a high level.

( T5 d/ v- c& FL: 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。

% }/ ~* H: M* P8 MM：Yes, you could say Yao Ming is money too.
5 o, W# q5 `: _4 E
( V8 {3 m& a- h# ]. aL: 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?
1 ]/ ]3 z  r. e% u" ?
M：Yup. He's money. You can also call things money. For example, this pizza we are eating is money.

8 F! m+ K; W. p# j* K  O  B! A7 UL: 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.

M：Do you think the coffee shop we like to go to is money?
/ E  X6 B* N& P0 A
L: 我们常去的咖啡馆当然非常好，我一有空就想去。
3 S2 ^6 D; {! z' W; v1 a, B5 G0 ]
M: Michael Jordan won the game! I told you he is money!
2 ^. M6 J$ z& K/ u2 ]
, n  U+ N/ g4 Y; r0 OL: Michael Jordan赢得了比赛，他就是棒。
, S# c4 T$ F7 X: g
M：Let's get going, though. I have to study for a test. I don't want to choke on the test again.
* r  ^: A( o# T
L: 好吧，你快回去准备考试吧，我知道你要再考糊，就麻烦了。
1 J2 r. o0 k# j
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。
1 z% ?* X8 l/ d以下为音频：
' e. K4 Y) Q; g: j  |4 ?5 x* ]