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！

/ F: C5 r/ S- L; j# d2 wM： No problem! I am really happy you could come. Yeah, I love coming to the Garden to watch basketball games.
  I* x# X8 |$ o5 U0 z  c5 v
' g1 L1 C/ H8 y# V4 ?" t  h( iL: 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？

" l" K9 ^5 d3 C$ eM：Well, Li Hua, I think New York is going to lose. Knowing them, their going to choke.
3 G* D& B/ i1 o. X
8 q" ]+ u" T3 y$ i5 WL: 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。

# u; C4 X+ r1 {5 I0 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.
- Z; U: N0 I6 o3 o
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？
5 a, k* t- ]. O6 t& Z+ @
M: Yes! And choke has many uses. How else do you think it can be used?

2 {1 e" K9 p8 pL: Choke 可以用在很多地方。考试考糟了，可以用choke 这个字吧？
( f3 h# P6 P; g
5 g7 w& o# r& ?! ]1 xM: 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？
0 b% Y7 v9 B0 e& T$ l3 ?& ]
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.
# ]3 V; k- @/ B4 |) M1 d
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！
  n* t3 ]+ _# k) a
  d- k1 _+ j' N0 z3 {' W! y2 O$ d9 nL: 好，好， 去找位置吧！
6 u" [) C/ [4 i% K! X
; b$ A: Z- T% [  \6 @(Michael和李华找到了自己的座位)

# I% i; J, f4 I9 ^- d1 V; OL: 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。

- _+ F" x2 \- P# N% j* XM：I think that New York is going to win. Maybe they won't choke after all.
7 u; c6 ^1 a# Z2 J
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。
" H$ N+ |& S# o
* h- K' `" n& M- MM：Washington is going to win. Michael Jordan will make the last shot. He is money.
/ q' F+ c& P9 K: L: ^  H4 A
' r' ?7 z1 S9 r9 W8 d. R# }- SL: 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？
% @9 ?4 ?" Z0 ?
M：No, by money, here I mean that he performs consistently at a high level.
% g- ]$ I6 f) L! U. a$ _  b' H# V
2 z8 u; a) J& L6 M% t8 IL: 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。
$ @1 p; g4 J2 q; l
6 y; Q7 O  Y, |! ?  y" a1 EM：Yes, you could say Yao Ming is money too.
4 D3 n8 j* H) y7 R4 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?
3 W; w8 n7 Y( Q$ t
M：Yup. He's money. You can also call things money. For example, this pizza we are eating is money.

( b- C' s5 c$ w# K* ~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.
3 Q; r3 E6 \; l2 V4 q
M：Do you think the coffee shop we like to go to is money?
5 w5 p2 h! s( O/ D: S6 b$ l' t! a1 r
% ]2 ]7 x' H9 ?, P( VL: 我们常去的咖啡馆当然非常好，我一有空就想去。

M: Michael Jordan won the game! I told you he is money!
3 h' Z3 [) x3 f# d
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.

L: 好吧，你快回去准备考试吧，我知道你要再考糊，就麻烦了。

, s! B0 P9 n9 O; a$ aMichael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：