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。

( k7 K( l4 E9 VL: 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！
! \* v1 ?/ E# w3 @5 D! N" [/ ]
M： No problem! I am really happy you could come. Yeah, I love coming to the Garden to watch basketball games.
# r3 x& P" `- d" l1 t1 r7 J
6 \! s: p& |2 n& {$ vL: 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？
1 ]  |( B! \: G% ~- \
0 |/ E! M8 w  N8 j; V( D  J, SM：Well, Li Hua, I think New York is going to lose. Knowing them, their going to choke.

( G5 W& F+ _# \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。
4 J7 J- F" ~  d4 B+ E
8 }7 D' ?' k4 o8 }, W6 w5 PM：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.
2 S* E8 H, ]0 q
9 Y6 a% i2 A9 O6 bL：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?

( S! c7 P3 C+ r8 rL: Choke 可以用在很多地方。考试考糟了，可以用choke 这个字吧？
; t# f, J% h) D, i2 Z# D) ^
M: Yes! In fact, I choked on a test last week.

. k; {* V' D; e" {( v% CL：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.
9 Q! M* j4 E0 |3 z# y' s3 {
  j/ v% R0 o6 B# r6 d  VL: 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？

  s) I4 k6 e4 l$ ?( N9 _. jM：Oh, that doesn't matter. Let's go to our seats！

. A" h) }, j+ b: }. X8 WL: 好，好， 去找位置吧！
4 v* ~) W) w$ r" A
1 o; }8 k: ]8 h7 D- K! g(Michael和李华找到了自己的座位)

# E3 Y2 g* o+ L9 C) y2 B* A# y0 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。

* g3 l0 ?2 |) @$ m1 i) ?M：I think that New York is going to win. Maybe they won't choke after all.

. j& F1 G9 V: V( 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。

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？
/ R( ]7 a5 X2 J
5 V' P  j# J- m$ `2 S( H( b0 oM：No, by money, here I mean that he performs consistently at a high level.

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。
3 U6 m- i% w9 S( h# W! K9 U" D+ g
% [% I6 T2 p6 X" s5 BM：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?
( a3 H. B2 \3 D) P7 s0 h
+ r' I& v# C  z7 Y' y6 A' W7 b9 nM：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?
: @/ c% x( Q5 B  ~
L: 我们常去的咖啡馆当然非常好，我一有空就想去。

  @: A' A% A: `; P% x9 VM: Michael Jordan won the game! I told you he is money!
6 Q; K: i1 ~6 Y! G' e# n2 o0 l' t$ J
/ r8 y3 g. ?+ i/ i( PL: Michael Jordan赢得了比赛，他就是棒。
. g8 T! s! _& V. y
M：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。
( h$ k- h* k* G4 U
- |8 O' t' b# O' R: w# vMichael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：