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。
/ X1 h  K3 [4 p3 s
: z6 p* ]8 B1 z6 }8 e2 {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！
7 X6 F( b! q! d- J3 `; a* J7 V5 \
. w0 f* e. S; P6 q% PM： No problem! I am really happy you could come. Yeah, I love coming to the Garden to watch basketball games.
. E" }4 @, w6 q
3 k; K' L. a/ }& A9 j( T- IL: 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？
7 ~9 c/ G3 y4 p& D$ g6 D% w
M：Well, Li Hua, I think New York is going to lose. Knowing them, their going to choke.
; c3 T/ d5 D, D* s2 D
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。
* ^( O* T* R8 O  X
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.

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？

M: Yes! And choke has many uses. How else do you think it can be used?
4 n) H' {7 v: M  C( O5 `
$ m& Q/ }8 C5 Q0 J+ W5 j; H+ mL: Choke 可以用在很多地方。考试考糟了，可以用choke 这个字吧？

  Y" n  U/ |& v5 NM: 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？

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.

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？

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

& |+ y( x: z% i! s5 L& TL: 好，好， 去找位置吧！

(Michael和李华找到了自己的座位)
) ~! ~5 B0 U6 w6 ^( c$ ^( f" B
" n! N6 t6 A! w8 K( v* N- wL: 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。
2 ?$ `& P5 U; i
M：I think that New York is going to win. Maybe they won't choke after all.
: F  i8 u/ C3 D) A4 E
- U, H1 n  s8 P4 `6 ~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。
( y$ R# {& Y6 P! d4 e
M：Washington is going to win. Michael Jordan will make the last shot. He is money.
- @# c1 c$ Q( O- g8 R3 M
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？

7 E" Y3 D) x) IM：No, by money, here I mean that he performs consistently at a high level.

# I& |  W" V' L) K& ~; M0 eL: 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.

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?

( C0 T8 {5 r5 R8 {M：Yup. He's money. You can also call things money. For example, this pizza we are eating is money.

# G5 V( S# d* N$ w  U6 p7 ]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.
( M4 Z  q# z7 D1 ~% j
  ~: Q* y7 v0 N0 d8 s) vM：Do you think the coffee shop we like to go to is money?
5 V; K% @2 m. y# t4 W8 `( R# c" ]
L: 我们常去的咖啡馆当然非常好，我一有空就想去。

+ ?$ l/ y! x5 Q  AM: Michael Jordan won the game! I told you he is money!
6 E  w4 }0 \& E. o- g
L: Michael Jordan赢得了比赛，他就是棒。
, I. S" {- T7 u6 H8 L) D
M：Let's get going, though. I have to study for a test. I don't want to choke on the test again.

& J7 q$ i' T( z- E' \, f" [' a' UL: 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：
( |$ S2 }7 K3 D7 X