流行美语教程 Lesson 7: choke; money

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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。

0 b$ b; |" y# l1 a3 [$ U! r# TL: 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！

2 o* d: Q: E" zM： No problem! I am really happy you could come. Yeah, I love coming to the Garden to watch basketball games.
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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？
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2 R; X; {0 w* b3 n: R8 e1 cM：Well, Li Hua, I think New York is going to lose. Knowing them, their going to choke.
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) F/ i3 t% {& H0 G" ?2 }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。

/ q$ J9 W* N1 z4 `( M; h& Q" Y( nM：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.
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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？

( k4 u6 x. v. k! U0 q. X8 g) }M: Yes! And choke has many uses. How else do you think it can be used?
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8 F9 I4 a) i: q8 ?( d) ]! P$ xL: Choke 可以用在很多地方。考试考糟了，可以用choke 这个字吧？
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M: Yes! In fact, I choked on a test last week.

4 `0 v- D9 ~) t1 yL：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？
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# ?5 e: _- @8 ~, k6 P& j3 d: gM：It seems like you really understand this word! Yeah, but it doesn't matter with that girl because I don't like her anyway.

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？
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M：Oh, that doesn't matter. Let's go to our seats！

L: 好，好， 去找位置吧！
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7 s& T' b# M, w# [1 a8 r(Michael和李华找到了自己的座位)
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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。

6 _: d. t6 v# r" i$ eM：I think that New York is going to win. Maybe they won't choke after all.
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. B6 _5 \) P8 ~5 w& z/ Z, cL：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？

M：No, by money, here I mean that he performs consistently at a high level.
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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。
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7 r0 C+ e/ j: [. k# O" g/ D% P1 m/ aM：Yes, you could say Yao Ming is money too.
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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?
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% n6 `* S$ E* }1 _; T+ b; oM：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.

8 W% k5 G8 U/ y1 L- O# g- rM：Do you think the coffee shop we like to go to is money?
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L: 我们常去的咖啡馆当然非常好，我一有空就想去。

% d8 Z) L) k6 D* v8 I! kM: Michael Jordan won the game! I told you he is money!
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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.

4 e  j, ]- |& o# {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。
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