美國之音之流行美語beats me / in a bind

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李華今天在緊張地準備歷史課的考試。她在和Michael的談話中會學到兩個常用語：beats me和to be in a bind.

M:   Hey, Li Hua.  What are you doing?

L:   我在準備歷史課的考試。Michael, 你知道美國總統(tǒng)羅斯福和斯大林第一次見面是在什么時候？ 

M:   Beats me.  I don't know much about that period of history.

L:   哎喲，你不知道我也不會打你呀，你為什么要說：Beats me? Beat不就是打人的意思嗎？

M:   No, I don't mean you would beat me. The expression "beats me" means that I have no idea what the answer is. 

L:   噢，在這里，beat不是打人的意思。Beats me就是我不知道！  

M:   Right.  If I ask you a question like how many miles away the sun is, you might say, "I don't know - beats me."

L:   這你倒是說對了，我還真不知道地球和太陽之間距離多少英里。Beats me!  你知道尼加拉瓜的第五任總統(tǒng)是誰嗎？

M:   Okay, that really beats me.  You don't really need to know the answer to that question for your history test, do you?

L:   傻瓜，我當然不需要知道這個答案，我是在跟你開玩笑，我學的歷史是二次大戰(zhàn)期間的美國和歐洲，和尼加拉瓜根本就沒關(guān)系。 

M:   Okay. By the way,  what time is your history exam?

L:   喲，beats me! 我把考試的日程忘在同學家里了！

M:   You left the schedule at your classmate's home? What's wrong with you?

L:   Beats me!  我也不知道我怎么會忘在他家里的。不過，沒關(guān)系，我還有足夠時間來準備。

M:   You had better go and check the exam time.  If the exam is tomorrow, you're really going to be in trouble.

L:   行，行，行。我去查，要是明天就考試的話，那我可真是麻煩了。

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M:   Hey, Li Hua, did you find someone to help you with that history question?

L:   沒有人知道羅斯福和斯大林第一次見面是什么時候。我也找不到這方面的材料。而且，考試是星期二，不是星期三。我這下可真麻煩了。

M:   Wow, it sounds like you're really in a bind.

L:   你說什么？我在什么東西里？什么是a bind?

M:   To be in a bind -- B I N D -- means that you are in a very difficult situation.  Your exam is tomorrow and you can't find the material you need to study.  Therefore, you are in a bind.

L:   噢，to be in a bind就是處境很難。唉，我真是處境艱難。Michael，我這次考試可能要不及格了。你能不能幫我擺脫這個困境呢？也就是 to get out of this bind I'm in.

M:   Of course, I'm always willing to help a friend out of a bind.  You can study your notes, and I can look up any questions you have in your text book.  Will that help?

L:   我復習我的筆記，然后你幫我查課文里的問題。這是個好主意，這樣我可以省好多時間。Michael, 謝謝你，謝謝你。哎，還有什么情況下我們可以用to be in a bind?

M:   Well, if I have to pay my rent, but I don't have any money, then I'm in a bind. 

L:   你付房租的時候到了，可是你又沒有錢，那可真是in a bind。我來舉個例子。要是我在找工作，有個公司要和我面談，可是我早就和朋友約好那天要一塊兒吃飯，我可以說：I'm in a bind嗎？

M:   Yes, you would be in a bind.  But you're going to be in an even worse bind if we don't start studying for your exam soon.

L:   你說得對，要是我們再不動手開始準備考試的話，那我就會處境更困難了-- in an even worse bind。好吧，那趕快念書吧！I don't want to be in a bind anymore!

今天李華學到了一個用得非常普遍的說法：beats me, 意思是“不知道”。李華還學到了另一個常用語：to be in a bind, 意思是“處境困難”。