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。
  y4 e7 n" U( {6 b) s% U
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！

% W( {) K. H9 vM： No problem! I am really happy you could come. Yeah, I love coming to the Garden to watch basketball games.
; ^$ J- S& k; ^; ]" s9 D, 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？

  u1 _) d* l5 k6 X: D2 Q& e* UM：Well, Li Hua, I think New York is going to lose. Knowing them, their going to choke.
# k3 X! ?; b7 Y  d& W& r6 U1 T
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。
+ P  N5 r, {0 B
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.
, h% r& N" L. [9 x
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?

) c9 n- B6 E1 }/ Y" }/ w, n- jL: Choke 可以用在很多地方。考试考糟了，可以用choke 这个字吧？
* E( K/ h; Y+ i/ I: K( F
M: Yes! In fact, I choked on a test last week.

8 C, |/ U. y4 U- s% gL：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？
9 Q" H# w/ @: L- I5 x
, c, p/ y- b0 [, _+ H+ e  NM：It seems like you really understand this word! Yeah, but it doesn't matter with that girl because I don't like her anyway.
( ~# @  b# I. }0 n: @
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？
( q& W5 ~, U" C
& V" ~2 z+ Q, g3 H$ }" D, CM：Oh, that doesn't matter. Let's go to our seats！
; |3 Z% F1 A9 A5 P$ i% E
- W4 Z9 c6 ?% R3 lL: 好，好， 去找位置吧！

, ~6 L: J+ j) S; E, _(Michael和李华找到了自己的座位)

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。

5 n5 p5 l+ U( n8 |: }M：I think that New York is going to win. Maybe they won't choke after all.

$ ^; a' T; d" y. [: ~* 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.

4 F" M, Z1 _: z2 |& }2 t6 P* O! yL: 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？

M：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。
+ s3 i& K. B4 j+ s- E
M：Yes, you could say Yao Ming is money too.
# U5 d8 V4 x; L1 m2 v! |7 ?" }+ 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?
6 P1 |0 ~- G7 K$ Z
M：Yup. He's money. You can also call things money. For example, this pizza we are eating is money.

4 ]7 ]% v; c7 J" M9 b7 EL: 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?

8 E& h# u$ z3 w4 E9 yL: 我们常去的咖啡馆当然非常好，我一有空就想去。
' x2 f: T, c$ T3 e
1 h9 z" l/ \1 }M: Michael Jordan won the game! I told you he is money!

8 Z  P3 n* ~- b! h4 x% vL: Michael Jordan赢得了比赛，他就是棒。
! W: Z( r4 k+ D3 y, n, U
M：Let's get going, though. I have to study for a test. I don't want to choke on the test again.
# W) z, l- z+ V2 n1 E% v) L
L: 好吧，你快回去准备考试吧，我知道你要再考糊，就麻烦了。

( G$ n( W6 K. [. w5 o( W( V) QMichael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：