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。

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！

) {+ _# [/ j# R" PM： No problem! I am really happy you could come. Yeah, I love coming to the Garden to watch basketball games.
6 U/ k& T/ N- u" D' ?- \
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？

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。
6 n0 O, M# P' y' @" g9 V5 }4 A
/ Z+ @/ I3 h% F, k8 T3 Y5 j6 J- tM：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.

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？
: G8 v& ]: p: c% [& h
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？
; ?7 O5 i9 h6 V- N0 {. X
M: Yes! In fact, I choked on a test last week.
' v# I4 |+ p, c% m
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？
5 ]4 }- a: V9 Z0 K% ^* c, X: X! [
. S4 K# R: n8 g$ k1 PM：It seems like you really understand this word! Yeah, but it doesn't matter with that girl because I don't like her anyway.

! C9 r1 s7 k* a( aL: 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？
5 N$ Z9 V9 v- h, j. a
7 A3 P5 ?4 n" c. h$ K# }M：Oh, that doesn't matter. Let's go to our seats！

" l4 }2 k1 l4 q" ]8 lL: 好，好， 去找位置吧！

- k$ r8 y/ E5 i; F3 A; }(Michael和李华找到了自己的座位)

4 ~8 X# C0 B- D* T: E4 hL: 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.
0 r. w; d7 l, U# {, `, Y4 e" }
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 n3 |) @1 Y9 c4 s: C8 }
% p. T. r' O! b- A+ S" EM：Washington is going to win. Michael Jordan will make the last shot. He is money.
$ A( D, A" t0 G/ K8 A! ]2 j. c7 E3 D
' A+ O& v" Z% r  [; @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？
* B& ^, l- u7 J2 t. `+ `6 N' Q
$ m) y4 A6 X$ }( s0 W; {M：No, by money, here I mean that he performs consistently at a high level.
  ?* d! b* L# B( H/ z8 V
% E! o" R: f/ n7 jL: 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。

! a, X6 k; r+ ?/ CM：Yes, you could say Yao Ming is money too.

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?
9 i# ]8 M7 h' L
% q% r/ g  J# iM：Yup. He's money. You can also call things money. For example, this pizza we are eating is money.
; F7 h* t3 L( {$ o. p
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.
1 A8 W9 o7 }8 r+ Z
  X% g( q+ q; j) t; m+ HM：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。
5 u& |) `' e7 u! R9 f
M: Michael Jordan won the game! I told you he is money!

3 j; a) ^! ?/ a) d! J/ F# n/ sL: Michael Jordan赢得了比赛，他就是棒。
* K) Y# m! P. n0 B
9 K5 J+ g, q5 _! s, \3 IM：Let's get going, though. I have to study for a test. I don't want to choke on the test again.
* X, D8 \. v& c5 h7 b
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。
以下为音频：
$ m3 P; f- D2 z% ^. Z