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。
  v% I  H! r9 }  w8 E
+ ?" {" V4 A/ i3 hL: 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！
; H6 `2 B4 _( D9 ?: d. o5 {
M： No problem! I am really happy you could come. Yeah, I love coming to the Garden to watch basketball games.
' Q" q! s2 m; H
+ P( M- z+ C: g9 i, 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？

! z" E% l* D+ o4 p" BM：Well, Li Hua, I think New York is going to lose. Knowing them, their going to choke.

5 {( Z/ l: P6 K& s+ B5 xL: 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。

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.
; }) n! \: b" L+ |! k7 S7 `- z
. X# F, i" ?' E7 dL：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？

' W* D6 m2 o( k- k/ C" q0 N. qM: 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？
% [  I+ C2 Q+ l
2 T3 J( {# a9 xM: Yes! In fact, I choked on a test last week.
1 M! N+ N1 F8 v0 J
1 {0 i% Z6 U5 G) TL：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？

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.

; |& C3 @1 P$ R- T* t' 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？
7 Y7 V% [0 m6 G6 [& }
M：Oh, that doesn't matter. Let's go to our seats！

% ^: h: B" A. v* _L: 好，好， 去找位置吧！
1 C7 D& E# p. p- l4 e- l
(Michael和李华找到了自己的座位)

- S) T) r; S! |7 h* a1 gL: 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。
7 v- E3 Q) Q' x
1 o' q6 g; E8 d/ lM：Washington is going to win. Michael Jordan will make the last shot. He is money.
0 @& ~. w  B2 L; c; F6 C$ X
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？

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。
9 _0 z  q" k% G9 T: C
- C. _+ ]$ f8 Y; F1 F, t6 q% U) N- dM：Yes, you could say Yao Ming is money too.
+ s# N" j2 b8 \8 o! U& q* X: v
1 b" c& y# A6 n$ Q1 YL: 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 d6 C- F, U" X% V& _3 g# Q
M：Yup. He's money. You can also call things money. For example, this pizza we are eating is money.
4 R6 I% b+ Y: X$ M* n
. ]' J/ H& _2 t/ h  RL: 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.

9 B: n0 [9 |# k3 \& IM：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。
- V+ F0 P! @. a+ R% p' M
9 c  X9 R9 Q% g0 ~$ }; i/ @M: Michael Jordan won the game! I told you he is money!
4 W* y+ f# u7 c- k0 H0 G9 f
5 b+ x# m4 _! e3 O" q& }& Q- J' oL: Michael Jordan赢得了比赛，他就是棒。
3 J3 L! F7 m# ~+ [
9 B+ e$ J8 K7 ^3 m4 a$ HM：Let's get going, though. I have to study for a test. I don't want to choke on the test again.

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：