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。
8 x8 x/ P1 W0 h. E' [2 E2 H" y
+ n0 `3 i& w, l* p* j/ Z4 m$ HL: 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！

' {8 z: h8 L& Z/ a2 `$ P; SM： No problem! I am really happy you could come. Yeah, I love coming to the Garden to watch basketball games.

6 A6 O' H. U1 ?- k4 YL: 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？
: F- ^! E/ v' a- f
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。

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.

: G0 T+ G0 Z% J* b  P7 ?( dL：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？
7 N7 K' l# ~/ P
' G$ H- j: W, G/ W' m. Y( f  \% jM: Yes! And choke has many uses. How else do you think it can be used?

3 H. X, a& d0 j! H8 q+ DL: Choke 可以用在很多地方。考试考糟了，可以用choke 这个字吧？

: \  n* q# n, T: X1 I' v3 ]M: Yes! In fact, I choked on a test last week.
2 S' i0 c8 G6 e/ {! v3 x
! }  n% J1 X2 c5 A3 o/ F8 xL：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.

1 ?$ u2 R- x& l+ P$ _* Z0 Z& 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？
% u) V% h5 r# c9 f
M：Oh, that doesn't matter. Let's go to our seats！

L: 好，好， 去找位置吧！

(Michael和李华找到了自己的座位)
3 M, Q$ F; D( y6 S8 H
, t  p% a  Y6 E/ G0 `7 DL: 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。

M：I think that New York is going to win. Maybe they won't choke after all.
1 y: ]. b% @# n0 v8 _; b' b& M
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。

, A2 T) H& N# FM：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？

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.
& y) F- l: ]  N
8 ]% l4 m! J; DL: 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?

M：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.
. m+ Z  l- `' I- R* ~* U
! l6 E0 J, D# P- D( b1 vM：Do you think the coffee shop we like to go to is money?
9 T9 }8 x; }6 H9 @1 C
L: 我们常去的咖啡馆当然非常好，我一有空就想去。
3 g1 A$ Y" q& h
3 `( @! r) @. B  L5 J2 {M: Michael Jordan won the game! I told you he is money!
7 P9 h4 R9 d1 e0 S$ Q/ N
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.

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：