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。
: ]- A0 X6 h8 L6 r( d& X" u: E/ a
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！
: _. W8 f3 S4 S1 _5 X
4 d! S" V9 {2 \  z' a" p! f7 n4 cM： No problem! I am really happy you could come. Yeah, I love coming to the Garden to watch basketball games.

+ q+ P- ?6 f% @% a0 v# I) F/ G9 SL: 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？
5 z8 w- V/ P' q1 |% E# y
M：Well, Li Hua, I think New York is going to lose. Knowing them, their going to choke.
  S- l3 l0 l: U
. u5 m0 r# p3 F6 f+ F( }( FL: 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 ^! q/ {; h6 v+ W- {9 H, u( B
2 w+ }. L2 |6 g4 E7 f. kM：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.

6 V5 C* u( ?" M4 n: @; e) q+ lL：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？

; z3 Y" r% p7 `% {2 \4 N7 `' j, q2 W, zM: Yes! And choke has many uses. How else do you think it can be used?

# E: n! W' Y6 }L: Choke 可以用在很多地方。考试考糟了，可以用choke 这个字吧？

M: Yes! In fact, I choked on a test last week.

1 w- V1 B1 y8 Z2 RL：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？

* S% A6 z# W/ f6 Y) [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.

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？

M：Oh, that doesn't matter. Let's go to our seats！

; U# X) n1 \; @. X: g5 RL: 好，好， 去找位置吧！

# a9 ^" N; q, Q  F(Michael和李华找到了自己的座位)

9 U. j1 \- Z* H2 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。

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。

. K7 D( _9 S# M9 E9 l% L& bM：Washington is going to win. Michael Jordan will make the last shot. He is money.
5 E$ G" r1 L  R; w- D
) b/ a7 d0 u5 I2 o0 Q0 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？
' G& T3 S" u. T' D+ C
M：No, by money, here I mean that he performs consistently at a high level.
, ~( l( z4 F* ]3 ]6 `  B( A
! H- N, h# @+ g3 D3 ~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。

% Q* V* V; W- [* z9 WM：Yes, you could say Yao Ming is money too.
0 l+ X/ L& j' _6 @: 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?
4 |& S1 h% k& C; H$ x9 Z  C( {
M：Yup. He's money. You can also call things money. For example, this pizza we are eating is money.
' a( o  l+ x2 y7 V7 J& O/ o6 \
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.

; ^: J) \2 h# e9 hM：Do you think the coffee shop we like to go to is money?
9 A. R; [; B* m6 ^
L: 我们常去的咖啡馆当然非常好，我一有空就想去。

) L5 r. x3 q; [, sM: Michael Jordan won the game! I told you he is money!
: z/ V9 f& U3 O! U7 V
. w6 i: r% Q4 |5 @L: Michael Jordan赢得了比赛，他就是棒。

M：Let's get going, though. I have to study for a test. I don't want to choke on the test again.

& J1 k9 u, N, ~9 k1 p0 bL: 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。
以下为音频：