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！
5 j- l/ r6 G- h1 V: `) \8 a( |( E
M： No problem! I am really happy you could come. Yeah, I love coming to the Garden to watch basketball games.
- c& }' y" M4 f  h3 X
7 X' R" ~0 R5 J0 L; hL: 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？
5 Z3 D, t0 d0 K% V) O8 ^- o) W) L" F
M：Well, Li Hua, I think New York is going to lose. Knowing them, their going to choke.

4 @* ^( c9 ^, c7 b6 gL: 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。
* b* b% [; b% q2 ^$ a! ~
- b7 q& |! ?- X% ^) ^1 Q2 RM：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.

3 o+ L; l1 }- }% AL：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？

, H( _) G+ U! \. ?2 w$ i: IM: 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？

3 j1 H6 C$ F7 n0 f1 e  \M: Yes! In fact, I choked on a test last week.
( F" G( z8 k, A7 }
/ n9 |* q! d+ m, R( d" p: g3 jL：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？

# Q) m* D0 h9 g2 cM：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？

7 o$ X  \3 q5 c; n0 }8 u* MM：Oh, that doesn't matter. Let's go to our seats！
5 d0 S3 l1 Z! A1 `$ x6 H5 Z+ Y0 d
L: 好，好， 去找位置吧！

(Michael和李华找到了自己的座位)

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。
* k; @" s9 P: c. H. L
M：I think that New York is going to win. Maybe they won't choke after all.
# `/ L+ |5 M& ^& N7 M4 g% H
+ K0 r+ h$ h% J$ l4 wL：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。

) e: s4 k* o9 g. W- ]4 nM：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？
. g- k7 _. O/ X( b. N4 B9 a
M：No, by money, here I mean that he performs consistently at a high level.

# B- M' p- ]8 e& WL: 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。
2 j9 l. c4 Y  |
' D! k- }7 y* J  O2 \1 z# v3 NM：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?
8 Q4 i8 O6 K3 D; g* G) ?, A
) m4 ?. \( ~$ HM：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.
6 o* ]/ s2 s9 t! S. s1 Z
' E% H" |( Q' t& mM：Do you think the coffee shop we like to go to is money?
/ M$ ?9 d; e6 ]# a3 G1 C; F% H
1 C/ ]9 m  t) _0 ~L: 我们常去的咖啡馆当然非常好，我一有空就想去。

! S3 J# Y" F5 ]3 e) `M: Michael Jordan won the game! I told you he is money!

, ^5 o& {$ d0 M! z0 ~2 W' e/ mL: 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.

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。
% ?: D" L5 y$ M以下为音频：