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！

M： No problem! I am really happy you could come. Yeah, I love coming to the Garden to watch basketball games.
0 v! ?/ o; N* [. Q' T5 m' H7 s; W
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？
2 g4 X( C2 `7 T, Z" `+ ^8 |
M：Well, Li Hua, I think New York is going to lose. Knowing them, their going to choke.

, B5 H2 \( Y( A+ l5 U" E* I$ s0 ~, G! tL: 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。

- g' y! ~3 |6 e, J* h( oM：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？
( M8 F4 e( f# H3 j) z3 C/ e% J
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？

M: Yes! In fact, I choked on a test last week.

  ~: [( W9 X. g" U0 ?6 A9 u3 s, A1 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？
1 z. y; [0 \" y8 I7 I. c' g8 R+ N
# l) A) }; j: `# @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.
2 R) g( x3 _4 t* v+ v6 h: G- F1 o
+ s5 Z) n% Z) o" l$ sL: 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！

' Y8 K( O: K' ZL: 好，好， 去找位置吧！

+ }5 A0 |( \/ }1 x: B, s. S/ K5 ](Michael和李华找到了自己的座位)
4 F4 k1 P' l, \# B6 H
L: 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。
% e, c0 D: \! Q6 b2 @; t% r
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。

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？

M：No, by money, here I mean that he performs consistently at a high level.

! ~* n2 ~5 P# F1 W. LL: 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。

7 o1 `8 B% J$ JM：Yes, you could say Yao Ming is money too.

5 |" O9 n  g; g6 Z) {" rL: 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?

M：Yup. He's money. You can also call things money. For example, this pizza we are eating is money.

+ n. c# c) w# U! YL: 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.

M：Do you think the coffee shop we like to go to is money?

4 G! Q0 G7 t: @% HL: 我们常去的咖啡馆当然非常好，我一有空就想去。
2 h- v2 o- p! S8 F
M: Michael Jordan won the game! I told you he is money!

L: Michael Jordan赢得了比赛，他就是棒。
6 }0 F) `% e9 X8 O9 m  T; {% ~* X
M：Let's get going, though. I have to study for a test. I don't want to choke on the test again.

3 z. a" F/ N1 M$ DL: 好吧，你快回去准备考试吧，我知道你要再考糊，就麻烦了。
+ g8 J" ~8 ^; y. b9 _, }
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：