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！
: }, N6 c6 n* r' K
M： No problem! I am really happy you could come. Yeah, I love coming to the Garden to watch basketball games.
+ K' P9 _' `: R3 n
! ~4 K4 j1 m6 O- Y2 q% ]/ r/ i3 {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.

' M) v6 Z6 e2 uL: 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。
$ H0 g$ w6 R! b# F3 l, K& X
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.
5 K  R' K+ T( ^( R9 S, ?
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？
4 b9 Z9 ]; M* J. V8 w! E
! L$ A6 N- U! R0 X. [3 S6 T& z# oM: Yes! And choke has many uses. How else do you think it can be used?
, G" p$ _$ Q! D3 n9 d7 W
L: Choke 可以用在很多地方。考试考糟了，可以用choke 这个字吧？

9 A; x2 ~) J) O$ k1 l4 SM: Yes! In fact, I choked on a test last week.
4 b9 Q" U2 k7 G! B; u, X. p
, h) e" Z( `. `' z( bL：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 k# B, E0 ~! oM：It seems like you really understand this word! Yeah, but it doesn't matter with that girl because I don't like her anyway.
  T; k- k; x. ], j% m( _
: X; ]( h; n0 f5 {. EL: 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 K/ k8 g- ?$ l5 m+ j+ o
6 v8 P& D5 s) O3 ?) I0 xM：Oh, that doesn't matter. Let's go to our seats！
4 m* c/ Q3 E2 x( I" P' a
. x- j% e" h4 F) x# c  nL: 好，好， 去找位置吧！
1 g8 f4 G4 S& u8 b
(Michael和李华找到了自己的座位)
, k1 o- t3 }: ~2 p& V
( Q; a% y5 o4 z( bL: 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。
2 {8 S8 M/ ]6 f8 T
$ S% }& m  |. g" K; E7 F+ H* J% |M：I think that New York is going to win. Maybe they won't choke after all.
+ v; C/ S! W# C; p1 k
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。
3 ]3 G$ X" ^! E( F7 Z9 g
M：Washington is going to win. Michael Jordan will make the last shot. He is money.
' f3 ]- @4 _4 Z: l
/ I% H7 C6 j8 @- ~: ^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？
& i' c0 T7 }& U7 e1 R- v
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.

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?

  h* t0 n, o6 V' }# |M：Yup. He's money. You can also call things money. For example, this pizza we are eating is money.

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.
7 S5 N8 ?: r3 m& W% v% u
M：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。
4 b, V) I+ z7 m* \
+ \( X8 t% i0 @( q8 fM: Michael Jordan won the game! I told you he is money!

L: Michael Jordan赢得了比赛，他就是棒。
5 _% l8 C3 {! R4 ]! h
& t% D- E" s8 v/ s; l  S7 l5 s+ F  ZM：Let's get going, though. I have to study for a test. I don't want to choke on the test again.

2 G3 o2 ~0 k% J/ d  rL: 好吧，你快回去准备考试吧，我知道你要再考糊，就麻烦了。
0 X8 l) I1 y. k- r% ^, T( m
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：
" Z" @, a& d$ t/ X