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。

; U) u/ U$ ?% _7 lL: 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！
# E7 Z8 t5 O1 O* n  D# u2 b
M： No problem! I am really happy you could come. Yeah, I love coming to the Garden to watch basketball games.

( Z% T6 D/ w/ [7 N! CL: 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？

/ q) X3 o7 m7 wM：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。
+ E  [; G" J0 @! }
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.
% d7 |* b0 g, o* u7 ~) j7 r7 p/ v+ E6 J
' V7 }0 \5 f& k1 K  ]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？
2 O! ^' f  s/ M8 G/ _) q/ o, q; d
M: Yes! And choke has many uses. How else do you think it can be used?
7 z0 e3 f% ?' M( O" B! L
- ~+ U; A* j2 ^  gL: 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.

0 Z" ~8 t1 E1 rL：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？

& l  ~& P0 V& m4 F0 xM：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？

+ Z* `: \( Z+ P3 K: B6 N1 {M：Oh, that doesn't matter. Let's go to our seats！

L: 好，好， 去找位置吧！
3 b# E1 O4 G( l3 W3 k/ _
2 q1 g% E' N6 I3 Y' I(Michael和李华找到了自己的座位)
# c4 y: b  t( m  }7 ~& {
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。
! k9 w% t+ L9 A/ {& t5 K
M：I think that New York is going to win. Maybe they won't choke after all.

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。
5 z' ?2 l! R* y: Z- Z
M：Washington is going to win. Michael Jordan will make the last shot. He is money.
. G8 D6 ^( T! V
7 Y( E3 o* L: pL: 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？
) O# D" v0 \$ G
M：No, by money, here I mean that he performs consistently at a high level.
% }1 q. [' X$ R; n* K* E/ }' N
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.

5 n8 {; x* g; Y# I4 |4 RL: 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.
6 ?4 f0 C- |8 e: B- [
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?
3 m8 k- c) \" ^3 ^; J3 o! S/ p
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!

) C, F, E# s7 h( LL: Michael Jordan赢得了比赛，他就是棒。
/ n# g, _1 M. L0 q6 @
& i9 Y! k  e5 F% k7 t# CM：Let's get going, though. I have to study for a test. I don't want to choke on the test again.
: Y, r* }& o/ n( @  f7 l0 s" a
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：
' f, q& I: y% i+ k2 y3 E9 y