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！

1 ~1 t& K& W" N. C% Z9 pM： No problem! I am really happy you could come. Yeah, I love coming to the Garden to watch basketball games.

  E, L' s! Y7 ~& [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？

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。
" ~, ?' K8 l8 c) N& ^
! `7 k) i! `5 N+ bM：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.
( s& l8 e& x3 g- R* s% f" v
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？
1 L" D8 E( \4 [/ F. N6 A
M: Yes! And choke has many uses. How else do you think it can be used?
. E5 @) ]$ ?0 I6 U8 x# J8 b; [/ X3 K
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.

  P6 j# \8 e' U2 y% F& H7 gL：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？

9 \0 p) _) F8 r' J2 P" yM：It seems like you really understand this word! Yeah, but it doesn't matter with that girl because I don't like her anyway.

, X$ n6 d8 i5 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？
2 R5 z) Z5 z  Q2 H6 [
M：Oh, that doesn't matter. Let's go to our seats！

L: 好，好， 去找位置吧！
4 t6 ]& K# ]# c8 y7 w7 M% d
3 j% i" C" _/ T5 U, q3 d. H3 U$ g6 w(Michael和李华找到了自己的座位)

" E* O  s9 U6 cL: 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。
- ?+ c& @- d: G
M：I think that New York is going to win. Maybe they won't choke after all.
* H. L- H" a5 G' l& L
% @  F( g: t8 g  q4 [* e# sL：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.
$ ]# I* T# A- e! q1 }
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？
3 L" R+ a) d6 L
, n5 m+ k) W) J$ t2 O$ j5 t+ uM：No, by money, here I mean that he performs consistently at a high level.
/ S3 Q: V7 T9 C+ S$ T, j* y
% X7 |! {1 N: n' l5 w2 K& xL: 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。
5 D# r  H- g% p) S. Y/ p
+ B- t5 [! V5 S- N' vM：Yes, you could say Yao Ming is money too.

/ S0 I6 e, v' c6 B1 BL: 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?

8 H) e1 H9 I" J! Q; tM：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：Do you think the coffee shop we like to go to is money?

0 p! j0 X4 H  y* W) [+ nL: 我们常去的咖啡馆当然非常好，我一有空就想去。

- b9 g" }; `. m& ^$ AM: Michael Jordan won the game! I told you he is money!
$ f" X9 g/ g3 f) u8 t
: X% g+ `" I/ r2 e( r, I! K" SL: Michael Jordan赢得了比赛，他就是棒。

$ m  e" W$ a+ [* L. tM：Let's get going, though. I have to study for a test. I don't want to choke on the test again.
4 V4 ?, a( z0 Z* h& _
4 j; b+ A8 m- PL: 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：