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。
- o! T% I8 A7 V: s9 y4 e4 W
% _, C7 T) R8 l' S6 |, a# |# vL: 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！
$ g7 e) Y; S5 w* H  D
M： No problem! I am really happy you could come. Yeah, I love coming to the Garden to watch basketball games.

: f! O: D. {9 _3 nL: 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.
. }$ K3 h3 O/ D, ~' y
# y1 O. Z4 }! _# D+ H$ e4 PL: 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。
  e) v; N" g+ X- O8 ]
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.
/ `8 o& R+ w$ E
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？

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？
- P0 O! b( L, `8 H) ~/ Z6 Y# Q
  g' F. ~( r! k& g: e  \M: Yes! In fact, I choked on a test last week.
, p3 L3 f$ Q, [6 @# g- x
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？
8 l& X2 d2 n- ]. ^
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.
" w" q& {% _3 q1 o7 m
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？

M：Oh, that doesn't matter. Let's go to our seats！

L: 好，好， 去找位置吧！

) v* H9 i' J' K(Michael和李华找到了自己的座位)

) x& I3 G5 Q) {: W/ b3 ML: 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。
( F' s* L/ U9 I0 E8 B2 E6 T- ]
4 E+ D" X2 ]2 ~; @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。
4 |2 v8 K1 }9 z6 }: ]* \1 n
M：Washington is going to win. Michael Jordan will make the last shot. He is money.
" Z- ~  W" E8 v* M6 I
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？

- S* ~: a- P9 r4 M: a3 Q" A" wM：No, by money, here I mean that he performs consistently at a high level.

+ G0 z$ A# {; j+ `. zL: 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/ A5 E( o- p  EM：Yes, you could say Yao Ming is money too.
, U5 K# R" ~3 `+ V
% }- q" E$ e) ^" j2 uL: 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?
5 [  a, i1 E/ X1 Z% x( a& e) l# y
6 f2 j$ n7 ~1 f) o4 ~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.

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

& `* `& O6 Z2 VL: 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!

) W1 k8 a: _; R3 N% T4 FL: Michael Jordan赢得了比赛，他就是棒。
2 I# m: g1 Z" O- `9 f, u
M：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。
+ x+ `9 T5 L* }; T以下为音频：