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。

: s0 W  K) p$ l' D& v3 wL: 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！
# Z% d  p) f7 |4 `. t( x
M： No problem! I am really happy you could come. Yeah, I love coming to the Garden to watch basketball games.
, r) e3 c) N: {$ ~
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？
# F, Y: R& m- |) [
M：Well, Li Hua, I think New York is going to lose. Knowing them, their going to choke.
0 G- ~% n( b; O% O+ |
L: 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。
% P  \: ^/ ]2 m- b; L& L2 H& W
5 j, q7 h. I/ z* Q% k% ]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) m7 U! g* _/ c: W
- l% n, l% z4 I* ?4 g7 S8 w6 o/ 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？
8 O0 p6 x& t; b2 W
M: Yes! And choke has many uses. How else do you think it can be used?
3 a" u) i9 M2 H. u
) Z: I, ?8 L" U8 M# ]. eL: Choke 可以用在很多地方。考试考糟了，可以用choke 这个字吧？

" k. S2 J5 C3 R7 X2 A3 iM: Yes! In fact, I choked on a test last week.
3 s; S+ {4 ]" C: d7 ~
2 w0 |' f7 k, K. s5 a' IL：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？
4 z4 L/ L' b7 i9 @' ?4 l/ [8 f
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.

: r& H8 l& w: O2 y  {+ vL: 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！
0 x) F/ w" n8 J/ T4 Q
# }8 d3 F& ]& Q2 t; T" }$ w; O# sL: 好，好， 去找位置吧！
1 S/ M' K6 v  W9 t
(Michael和李华找到了自己的座位)
0 G" S6 ?/ A" o0 I
5 M9 [/ ~1 L: K- s1 w5 `  }* _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。

, a) t& a2 K4 j$ KM：I think that New York is going to win. Maybe they won't choke after all.
! Q+ j& H, P0 q8 y
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。
$ E5 U# [% `$ P8 J; o/ j( J
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？

' D+ ]  @" C* o( TM：No, by money, here I mean that he performs consistently at a high level.
0 x- q; s# e# }
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。

; y" s1 X8 I8 @( x' F" j+ j. x/ [M：Yes, you could say Yao Ming is money too.
6 c, Q' T1 p& _) m- E
) V' N& ~3 U* ~8 aL: 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.
) I) s1 b6 G+ y# |3 R8 E
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.

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

4 S/ e; M7 H4 o9 p( V1 OL: 我们常去的咖啡馆当然非常好，我一有空就想去。

# ]5 a2 u- @( U5 I( C1 l7 {3 c$ ?5 AM: Michael Jordan won the game! I told you he is money!
4 z( K' X( B& Z6 ?7 v4 s( g) H: |
L: Michael Jordan赢得了比赛，他就是棒。

* J: ^1 w2 G! M. x5 l& AM：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：
- J& `: t, a2 j8 }0 I5 q/ Z1 s