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。
% p/ c4 E# Y* b9 W5 r5 I7 Z
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！
- Z- Q! c/ ?. S7 W. T  G
M： No problem! I am really happy you could come. Yeah, I love coming to the Garden to watch basketball games.
3 ]. s' l. j6 P# W; v. ]
8 t( }0 \8 t; G0 x+ y# UL: 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？
( Y8 X! [9 {, T7 b  C
' k) u$ A" v3 u; m0 z1 ]2 C7 S) VM：Well, Li Hua, I think New York is going to lose. Knowing them, their going to choke.
5 M: O9 n( i' g. C# h4 n" J2 q
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。

+ Q5 ~. O3 z  E( F. C# M0 o- vM：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.
2 V4 e! v' L& d: n
. w0 m: R& [: A, vL：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？
9 w$ n/ U9 k: N
, `. }. G1 b' e9 ~" l* B$ ^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？

2 t7 h" L# @& l! s+ [8 `M: 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？
- W! y' X! p6 |0 m* q# t
7 y6 I: Q4 w: f+ T7 YM：It seems like you really understand this word! Yeah, but it doesn't matter with that girl because I don't like her anyway.

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？
# s% L/ ?' g& d( r0 L" H0 A
M：Oh, that doesn't matter. Let's go to our seats！
& K# E4 ~7 I7 O8 R- Z1 m
0 T  b$ U3 M) A7 ^6 B  x  T8 g+ RL: 好，好， 去找位置吧！
, j7 f4 ^% x+ G- S5 J8 p
9 t) G8 u+ W+ r! S$ u, P0 ](Michael和李华找到了自己的座位)
1 \: r/ |9 f# q6 i( G. d7 d
  M0 Q: q9 S$ l3 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。

M：I think that New York is going to win. Maybe they won't choke after all.
5 t" y! R+ H& a& V! A
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。

! D. z/ h' [2 K: s- ]" vM：Washington is going to win. Michael Jordan will make the last shot. He is money.

4 i" k5 \. E1 h" pL: 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？
2 E+ v! N+ l- s* X% Q& }. j, O
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。
  x  \4 L7 L! v9 y& \4 {6 z
" _$ g1 |7 \# \M：Yes, you could say Yao Ming is money too.
! n3 y+ G; _1 L8 A& U6 {
1 v8 y9 q3 q4 v1 I. c2 o7 P/ WL: 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.

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" Z- m. v2 _, F  j
# F0 x9 {, F" H: N$ m+ \  Y) SM：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。

# D9 r/ m+ b& x$ q0 qM: Michael Jordan won the game! I told you he is money!

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.

" q5 L! ?! z6 H) VL: 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：