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。
4 e" f* n; Z  _2 W: B  F
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！
2 Z; `1 c' ?. H  Y
, {) I- S# x& T( c/ D- sM： No problem! I am really happy you could come. Yeah, I love coming to the Garden to watch basketball games.

7 V/ n/ k: E* f1 C% P5 N+ F; TL: 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？

% C3 A' C+ }. m7 a5 H+ cM：Well, Li Hua, I think New York is going to lose. Knowing them, their going to choke.
! w; S4 ?& Q" Y6 w* U5 S( ~5 v
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。

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.
) }  _  r# m/ g" L" p
/ I& {! l! @! b; k  kL：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？
  K/ I4 s; B8 ?5 A' M- w
M: Yes! And choke has many uses. How else do you think it can be used?

L: Choke 可以用在很多地方。考试考糟了，可以用choke 这个字吧？
3 |1 S+ e- Z/ j$ J7 `, _/ r
2 a) O- D2 h; g8 I3 F0 qM: Yes! In fact, I choked on a test last week.

. Y0 y) U! u* y4 P- J  XL：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？

! U% _$ _+ f9 p0 ]" AM：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？

# O" @( |. w% \M：Oh, that doesn't matter. Let's go to our seats！
) Z7 \# k( \0 M4 h+ H+ a
L: 好，好， 去找位置吧！

7 Z7 v* G' e( e4 U/ X2 f(Michael和李华找到了自己的座位)
, v7 J0 O" q0 X( E8 H' Y! X2 h  ~6 x
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。

M：I think that New York is going to win. Maybe they won't choke after all.
8 |2 W: g% I% H" X1 q
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。
( ~2 f7 z! O. Y; m6 U2 A8 {+ I
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？

% F- z2 O0 Q0 b2 q# e$ d: i; MM：No, by money, here I mean that he performs consistently at a high level.
8 L$ [* v& `0 F
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。
6 q0 o* l6 B2 m2 _6 m& Y" t
M：Yes, you could say Yao Ming is money too.
7 e" a2 B; i# i0 a- o
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?

* o& y# i  c  k4 B% u7 Z6 y0 RM：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?

L: 我们常去的咖啡馆当然非常好，我一有空就想去。
+ \2 l* s- M' s2 Y% U4 p, Q
M: Michael Jordan won the game! I told you he is money!
; _8 z7 D+ c' t3 {3 k" f3 J# Y
* c8 E8 O5 l- |) QL: Michael Jordan赢得了比赛，他就是棒。
' M) \. v$ i0 S- T$ e7 C
# U( G2 d; w- }M：Let's get going, though. I have to study for a test. I don't want to choke on the test again.
# `7 C. a+ M/ Y0 \
: ~9 W. w: h4 Y& y. h0 s  VL: 好吧，你快回去准备考试吧，我知道你要再考糊，就麻烦了。

* v. n, x; ^, \" t( f" n( JMichael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：