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。
; }2 V; S! |' ?0 v1 h
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！

M： No problem! I am really happy you could come. Yeah, I love coming to the Garden to watch basketball games.

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？
+ \8 K3 A* A9 w8 K8 X& V
M：Well, Li Hua, I think New York is going to lose. Knowing them, their going to choke.
6 N; T" v1 j& U
! J+ r) d' i9 j) K/ K: d: A6 ~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。

0 a# b; M- ~2 n# ^( E7 bM：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.
# n  p3 ^1 |/ h3 s
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？
3 s) J& l5 G2 Q! N5 ^* a
M: Yes! And choke has many uses. How else do you think it can be used?

: x9 f. M$ O! v+ eL: Choke 可以用在很多地方。考试考糟了，可以用choke 这个字吧？

; N- b' Z4 q% _% Z9 FM: 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？
$ }2 X2 K: N& J. O* w: L
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.
, \, \. ?# Y' I! j3 l- u- L3 A
1 w2 Q) H8 M/ W* U; \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？
1 E7 G5 [  j! [0 G7 Z
4 H0 B6 Q$ Z/ G5 |6 i( a5 @M：Oh, that doesn't matter. Let's go to our seats！
% ]# S/ ^/ y9 B- P8 o4 x+ [! m
L: 好，好， 去找位置吧！
- N8 J" u* _7 f* C, Y7 v, m
(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。

M：I think that New York is going to win. Maybe they won't choke after all.

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。

( x. X2 S& Z0 j. A2 o/ `M：Washington is going to win. Michael Jordan will make the last shot. He is money.

7 ^) p+ g% ?/ F: F0 b" NL: 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？
+ c. E7 S& D- z& m% P
. D5 C5 _: N. P0 [- T, ?M：No, by money, here I mean that he performs consistently at a high level.
/ h% ]: k2 c' G; C
' q# M( v3 M7 }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。

M：Yes, you could say Yao Ming is money too.
3 _7 n6 g* E& S( v, |
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?
- l; J1 o: _- }5 }  I$ ]
' m$ |' m% z, J  S: e1 d" s0 ^; i. ]M：Yup. He's money. You can also call things money. For example, this pizza we are eating is money.

# y5 o0 I$ G6 L: r: G  \9 Q# {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?

+ k3 V- o# @% F# Y3 C( VL: 我们常去的咖啡馆当然非常好，我一有空就想去。

+ D1 t# _# @0 u6 j" M8 r" `M: Michael Jordan won the game! I told you he is money!
8 M& ^: A5 s9 R+ Z
L: Michael Jordan赢得了比赛，他就是棒。

7 N' |( A+ n8 e! T# G# w8 EM：Let's get going, though. I have to study for a test. I don't want to choke on the test again.
! z- Q+ |! H0 Y; t9 s
L: 好吧，你快回去准备考试吧，我知道你要再考糊，就麻烦了。

2 A. M' U( u+ }$ c* n/ 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：