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。
- X' X* @! K0 Q0 t4 A1 H8 d. e
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！
. ^/ F4 Z1 }7 T5 d
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？
/ c/ ~) I/ m; p7 [$ R( [' g! c1 N
M：Well, Li Hua, I think New York is going to lose. Knowing them, their going to choke.
3 O  j' j3 S6 Q' g1 k% g
6 x& _' g( R( o3 R  M7 n, s& nL: 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.
$ Y" v  N7 _$ r5 |; H5 x7 u. ]# A
) _5 p4 x. L, K' l/ OL：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？

; Q/ K; o9 S+ R" c8 O- v* m& BM: Yes! And choke has many uses. How else do you think it can be used?

) w4 d  q3 B- j0 o2 m9 dL: Choke 可以用在很多地方。考试考糟了，可以用choke 这个字吧？
8 {; ~: ^% f' v7 f$ n9 d
+ H3 x% t# Q: y3 T* P* hM: 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？
8 ]3 h8 f) N/ ]; N6 R
3 S2 q/ L  d- LM：It seems like you really understand this word! Yeah, but it doesn't matter with that girl because I don't like her anyway.
2 ]" C' p; ^! C. J: o+ V' g  s
1 D+ ^, v6 U! v! m$ NL: 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？
' B0 _% z9 k7 z+ f- I# M* j/ v0 Y
5 \/ E' M: G8 h! }  cM：Oh, that doesn't matter. Let's go to our seats！

- [' V( @5 i5 ]2 OL: 好，好， 去找位置吧！
" P- Q% ?, i: L- c& {9 \
. M3 o* c, x2 t! J(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。

M：I think that New York is going to win. Maybe they won't choke after all.

$ f7 M2 ^5 |7 p/ v3 TL：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。
/ ?1 f9 [9 ~  \" m; K% V) n# Y
! Q% R5 U5 C9 A( o5 \1 nM：Washington is going to win. Michael Jordan will make the last shot. He is money.
3 ]7 E+ q% L1 S3 U% n$ _6 U
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？
" x2 ^! u4 j4 r+ y/ I$ \
4 m0 Z& S5 A! pM：No, by money, here I mean that he performs consistently at a high level.
& k; [1 B; ^% L( k
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。
. k. r% b; @7 q/ J- v
/ p; w0 W  `5 l. EM：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?

M：Yup. He's money. You can also call things money. For example, this pizza we are eating is money.

8 P; C) i$ R& U$ l" NL: 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' L# z  P2 v6 J5 B4 Y* G
M：Do you think the coffee shop we like to go to is money?

! H# P( [% g0 `. ?- @7 hL: 我们常去的咖啡馆当然非常好，我一有空就想去。
$ P4 \3 }6 h! s; V" L  i# K1 u
M: Michael Jordan won the game! I told you he is money!

9 `- ^( Z  d9 m' \6 kL: Michael Jordan赢得了比赛，他就是棒。

$ u% A9 G9 D* N' D4 A8 eM：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。
3 i- M  c2 I& ~* n1 y
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。
0 e- R$ m3 [5 p以下为音频：
3 y  P7 W3 r* k* j" f$ ?' Y