第7课：Choke;Money

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！

M: No problem! I am really happy you could come. Yeah, I love coming to the Garden to watch basketball games.

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.

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。

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.

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？

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？

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.

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！

（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。

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。

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？

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?

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?

L：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!

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.

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