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。
0 L9 u, l  I: M2 a5 h+ [) Q
* j! v1 R% ?# aL: 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.

/ U  i. C& V, wL: 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？
1 a3 P7 o) g" {; ^
M：Well, Li Hua, I think New York is going to lose. Knowing them, their going to choke.
9 I6 y, y4 O( T8 Y% n% f
2 b8 ]  B9 R; E# mL: 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。
, f  I: i3 {- Y0 o& D4 |
/ j! _7 ~) }( @/ X6 C. xM：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) s: H3 x8 F( I
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？
; A" x4 N0 [- [: F
# g! Y# `; @8 G6 s. NM: 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？

M: Yes! In fact, I choked on a test last week.
( R+ ^* \( v" A% b4 i2 M' x
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？
( V" S  B5 E" J1 t( ^& c
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.
# ^5 L- y. o' L) n/ ~  D
8 f4 b! H# j1 e; U% B. ]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, @" D# F# XM：Oh, that doesn't matter. Let's go to our seats！
  C( ]5 E; Q5 Q6 L3 q
0 h9 J  e' q1 |% R2 LL: 好，好， 去找位置吧！
$ s8 l7 \4 g3 V8 _
, z4 ^6 z6 `" V3 C3 Q(Michael和李华找到了自己的座位)
$ \& B0 S4 n" R- ^# h8 s
4 {) D" {9 G/ q5 l7 [% |5 mL: 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.
9 U" K; ?0 k8 s' r* \7 b) }
0 l! ]! k1 ^/ J+ ^% H1 `( yL：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.

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？
# \" H. B* B0 B7 U: I, n
% }8 _/ y' p5 a. z& Y9 O3 ]5 GM：No, by money, here I mean that he performs consistently at a high level.
  f) {/ M# M# X9 `+ A
' d) }5 G( I1 G- J4 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。

! P6 C1 u, p' b6 O6 s8 LM：Yes, you could say Yao Ming is money too.
3 Y2 ?9 O3 S/ h$ u& T; F
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?

3 u' G" G6 ^# B' h$ pM：Yup. He's money. You can also call things money. For example, this pizza we are eating is money.
- ]- X+ R  k5 v4 k3 z3 P  H
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.
, E) G' |& M+ M" K3 ]( ^0 Z
M：Do you think the coffee shop we like to go to is money?
: _+ y" w  C! C9 `+ |6 g1 ?
4 }8 q2 `( z- J& X! c3 T  iL: 我们常去的咖啡馆当然非常好，我一有空就想去。
8 f3 ^; B- E$ K3 ?+ w* p% [+ j4 S
M: Michael Jordan won the game! I told you he is money!
* t/ ^1 @+ u: R" K
  |' ?: t5 P! ^/ U! ML: Michael Jordan赢得了比赛，他就是棒。

. e& ^. m: }2 \4 FM：Let's get going, though. I have to study for a test. I don't want to choke on the test again.
7 s. \' {7 y8 `% R$ X
+ m( c8 l3 D( J* X4 I+ fL: 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：