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！

M： 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？
* ~9 B9 H' D  U0 w' t
1 P6 U2 m& w+ [5 A; C7 T& {M：Well, Li Hua, I think New York is going to lose. Knowing them, their going to choke.
& ?9 g6 b/ M( _
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。
) _2 N- T* _; K4 n
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.
& X3 n7 X! x3 T
0 x  u7 W* d- F+ a+ U4 mL：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？
. b( u6 t( ?2 n/ ^* `0 f
M: 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？
* Y5 O( V4 H# V
% ?% B- E+ b: @, C2 RM: Yes! In fact, I choked on a test last week.
, _7 j3 U5 [) d  [* @) Y/ b$ n
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？
1 g0 K8 g' z. f8 g- ~% E
! ]3 `7 x& Q8 N( K1 ~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.
3 z& L( _9 M# p
: T& g0 J$ @  n! ^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？
; `2 h# ?# U) z  I& U7 F" r
, ~+ u1 i8 y9 VM：Oh, that doesn't matter. Let's go to our seats！

7 T1 H0 j3 u) D2 w+ \L: 好，好， 去找位置吧！

(Michael和李华找到了自己的座位)
) N) w1 i9 o: d2 M
! o7 X: z3 }0 |. p- D; XL: 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。

9 H7 \; G- s+ P7 C) Y$ |M：I think that New York is going to win. Maybe they won't choke after all.

6 c! k! P5 [( q9 gL：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.

% @: s( K+ g4 G" i$ A8 I2 _( ^4 @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？
+ k8 h) L0 w3 m! F# ?# u
M：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?
& `- O* ?) w/ e, s* t1 g
M：Yup. He's money. You can also call things money. For example, this pizza we are eating is money.
* K. ^; q# _3 K2 p& ~- b5 u! r
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.
" T5 l6 |1 R( H% r$ H
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。

M: Michael Jordan won the game! I told you he is money!

L: Michael Jordan赢得了比赛，他就是棒。

M：Let's get going, though. I have to study for a test. I don't want to choke on the test again.

. J; p7 N" ^0 \% I/ I5 G+ WL: 好吧，你快回去准备考试吧，我知道你要再考糊，就麻烦了。

2 s* `% A7 u4 e% \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：
& }! s$ Q9 G( K' T" ~/ s