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。

( I5 o' M& O& m2 ZL: 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！
* c6 W+ g, b! k9 @  \
) {3 }1 a$ Y, ?& n9 Y3 P8 z; rM： No problem! I am really happy you could come. Yeah, I love coming to the Garden to watch basketball games.
. |4 z1 V/ j5 t
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？
4 q) }# i! n9 o. h
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。
# s9 `; X+ W  D: p1 U9 R
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.
$ t2 p4 R% n: u; \- t; {' f
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？
0 ^: D7 Z: M8 M+ r9 g
M: Yes! And choke has many uses. How else do you think it can be used?

3 _( }9 K  V+ {8 v: QL: Choke 可以用在很多地方。考试考糟了，可以用choke 这个字吧？

6 X3 b) R3 j$ h5 S; i2 a9 u9 kM: Yes! In fact, I choked on a test last week.
/ o( `' T; v  w) J4 D
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？

4 a- h7 Q8 J, \( E2 M+ f5 P8 QM：It seems like you really understand this word! Yeah, but it doesn't matter with that girl because I don't like her anyway.
* c1 o7 l8 T* g, w$ L7 i6 V
$ j" N2 _3 n" k  N8 H& h, f  sL: 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！
0 L4 s2 G; }* S8 Q/ Z: f
2 q2 p( \9 g$ [; n& fL: 好，好， 去找位置吧！

) ]# T$ h% T" c1 H) W* n. e(Michael和李华找到了自己的座位)

4 `0 _4 G' d( d% K% UL: 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.
) `# I, L$ K: N* E! \0 v( X
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。

M：Washington is going to win. Michael Jordan will make the last shot. He is money.

, t  q" K* A; g/ ML: 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？
5 B, `" S6 \4 _
; W. k5 ^  K" ]9 f! WM：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。
8 b! M9 A  @- t8 E' T' K2 W
M：Yes, you could say Yao Ming is money too.
  ?7 B8 b8 T4 x2 N  f
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?
3 {( p+ ?3 r' [/ ^
# q+ Y% Y$ e3 S9 p% f8 yM：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.
% h3 N1 z' m3 K3 D; D) J, t
& |1 S1 U! ?; Q. Y2 X- a0 kM：Do you think the coffee shop we like to go to is money?
# s$ v* i' F. e6 V" {3 R) M+ n
L: 我们常去的咖啡馆当然非常好，我一有空就想去。

8 m: G. [- k, e$ rM: Michael Jordan won the game! I told you he is money!

L: Michael Jordan赢得了比赛，他就是棒。

! ~+ Q1 i# r8 H' {( A; tM：Let's get going, though. I have to study for a test. I don't want to choke on the test again.
  ~- O4 D- S- V% o' K
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。
! i6 f3 J+ L4 c( O以下为音频：
9 J/ a* N5 C/ _3 I7 e