L:嗨,Michael,快進來。
M: Hey, Li Hua, what's up?
L:什么?
M: What's up? What are you doing?
L:What's up? 我倒是聽人這么說過,可是我還沒有弄清楚這句話到底是什么意思,我應該怎么回答?
M: What's up is really a common greeting.
L:噢,what's up就是一般打招呼,不是指我的頭上是什么吶?
M: No. It's like saying, "What is happening in your life?"
L:我知道了,what's up就是中文里我們說的:怎么樣?
M: Well, it's really only spoken language.
L:要是我去看一個我已經(jīng)有兩個月沒見的朋友,我在見到她的時候我可以說What's up,對嗎?
M: Yes, definitely!
L:那別人對我說what's up?我又該怎么回答呢?
M: You can explain what's going on in your life, or you could say something as simple as: Not much.
L:要是你問我,What's up? 我就可以說:Oh,not much, just getting ready for our test. 意思就是:噢,沒什么,就是在準備我們的考試。
M: That's good usage. You can really say anything.
L:對,你怎么回答都行。好吧,我們該學習了。我真是希望這次考試趕快過去。
M: You stress too much, this test will be a no brainer.
L:你是說我壓力太大,沒有腦子?你知道我腦子很靈的呀!
M: Smarter than me, that's for sure. What I mean is that this test will be really easy. No brainer means something that reqires little or no thought.
L:好,你承認我比你聰明。不過,我還得跟你學英文。你說,no brainer就是某件事很容易,不需要動腦子就行呀?
M: Yeah.
L:我知道了。象我哥哥那天去買車,運氣好,碰到一個公司半價出售。在這種情況下決定買不買,不就是no brainer嗎?
M: That's right.
L:那次那個漂亮女孩邀你出去玩,你接受不接受邀請不也是很容易定的嗎?
M: Yeah, that was a really easy decision, could be called no brainer. Of course I would go out with her.
L:對,決定是容易做,但是你到頭來還是不喜歡她。
M: That's true. When the University gave you a scholarship to come study here in New York, it was a no brainer for you too.
L:當然啦,大學給我獎學金來紐約念書,作這種決定還要動腦筋啊?更何況我學習成績那么好。
M: So then why are you bothering to study?
L:這還用問?再聰明的人也得念書嘛!
M: On, ok, let's get back to work.
李華今天學到了兩個常用語,一個是:what's up?這是一個用來打招呼的通俗說法;另一個是:no brainer,意思是某件事很容易,不用動腦子就能做成。