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！
' e8 t% T* Z* w
$ |2 u( m- ]) G3 s+ bM： No problem! I am really happy you could come. Yeah, I love coming to the Garden to watch basketball games.

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.
" D1 j, S( D$ k5 K& @# A) M
4 _' l+ V) ~4 S4 t4 O# S& ?1 a  rL: 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。
3 q% q) \0 ^  q
1 d- x3 R+ d' F3 ~4 jM：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( {) m* T& E
5 ^3 c: p8 }- CL：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？

M: Yes! And choke has many uses. How else do you think it can be used?
( U  i- g3 S: J* {2 U4 T4 |
+ Y* b( q; r6 R9 ]! V/ }L: Choke 可以用在很多地方。考试考糟了，可以用choke 这个字吧？

' j7 Z2 o1 [1 a: H( CM: 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？

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.

4 q9 {9 f, i% @' 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？
6 T' X) B6 D& E+ S% R* h; C0 H
/ q2 n2 f3 H0 SM：Oh, that doesn't matter. Let's go to our seats！

; {- ^2 {9 [( ^. `L: 好，好， 去找位置吧！
" ~0 B& f5 o. J" p6 N" v/ w
4 ~/ d3 b$ L' `8 z" }2 x(Michael和李华找到了自己的座位)
( b: \( L1 h, L% i
! C+ D0 P1 J/ X- A, a. s' EL: 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。
; u' f, t* e! V+ _2 P+ q, L) u0 p
M：I think that New York is going to win. Maybe they won't choke after all.
, I" U& K) h! p8 Q, f9 i: D7 U
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。
, V  P7 D0 X2 U! A7 a9 u+ P) S
M：Washington is going to win. Michael Jordan will make the last shot. He is money.
( m6 i0 K" m( x
* X. J9 e/ u/ Z! M3 TL: 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。

M：Yes, you could say Yao Ming is money too.
9 s% V1 a) F8 K) r
9 |2 s3 F6 L5 M, S  y; M3 g3 HL: 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 p: ^: O4 ?- t6 Z5 }8 ~1 J' u
M：Yup. He's money. You can also call things money. For example, this pizza we are eating is money.
! T% z) p% S# I" 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.
- P  c: x9 n" v9 g. j
( D5 k3 C! ]0 n2 j  G6 V8 MM：Do you think the coffee shop we like to go to is money?

" b" t, X8 @2 o0 z5 t0 A7 NL: 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!
; H; u0 S6 h; @0 y7 E
L: Michael Jordan赢得了比赛，他就是棒。

( }* x: N6 n0 u. U2 @( BM：Let's get going, though. I have to study for a test. I don't want to choke on the test again.

5 D# d5 d) @. ~2 n/ }7 s& ML: 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：