正文
流行美语 第123课:level with sb.; clueless
Larry和李华正在乘公共汽车去公园去溜冰。今天李华会学到两个常用语:to level with someone和clueless.
(Local traffic)
LL: I have to level with you, Li Hua. I'm not very fond of ice-skating. I haven't done it in years.
LH: To "level with me?" Level是水平的意思。你是说你溜冰的水平和我不一样啊?哎!你又没看过我溜冰,怎么知道我的程度呢?
LL: No, "to level with someone" is to be direct and honest.
LH: 噢,to level with someone, 就是向人诚实坦白的意思。嘿!那我也得和你老实说,我根本不太会溜冰。我只是想去看看历史课的同学Jake。他说他今天会去公园溜冰,可是我又不想一个人去,所以.....
LL: Now, the truth comes out! Come on, level with me, do you have a crush on Jake?
LH: 嗯... 我是挺喜欢他的。 不过我想和他多聊聊,看看我是不是真喜欢他。
LL: Well, Li Hua, I have to level with you and say that you might not make the best impression on Jake if you're falling all of the time.
LH: 对,我要是老摔倒,他看见了怎么会对我有好的印象呢!我还是少溜一些,站在一旁看别人溜吧!
LL: Hey, that's not fair! You drag me ice skating and now you aren't going to ice skate?
LH: 哎哟,对不起嘛!我把你拖来溜冰自己又不溜。To level with you,我来之前根本就没想那么多!
LL: That's obvious. I think you might as well level with Jake and ask him to help you.
LH: 对耶!我怎么没想到?我可以叫Jake教我溜冰啊!嗯,可是Larry, 那你怎么办?
LL: Then I'll just sit and watch while you and your new boyfriend skate around on the ice.
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LL: Li Hua, I think I'll skate after all, but I'm really clueless about ice-skating. How do I put these skates on?
LH: 怎么穿溜冰鞋啊!把鞋带系好不就行啦!对了,你刚才说"clueless",那是什么意思啊?
LL: Okay. If someone is "clueless" it means that he or she has no idea what they are doing.
LH: 噢,clueless就是什么也不懂。我虽然会穿溜冰鞋,可是对溜冰我也是一窍不通呐!I'm also clueless about ice-skating.
LL: Great. This is the blind leading the blind. We're both more or less clueless. Do you see your friend Jake? Maybe he can help us.
LH: 嗯,我没看到Jake,也许... 他不来了。
LL: Li Hua, is Jake really coming? If he is, what time is he supposed to come here?
LH: 嗯,我不知道。
LL: You're not sure or you're clueless?
LH: 好啦好啦,to level with you,我就听他说了一声今天会来滑冰。我根本不知道他到底什么时候来嘛!
LL: Li Hua, what were you thinking?
LH: Larry, 对不起嘛!我很喜欢Jake,可是我不知道该怎么接近他,怎么样进一步了解他。
LL: Oh, I understand. Yeah, sometimes I'm clueless about girls, too. Everyone feels that way sometimes. Don't worry; I'll help you find an excuse to talk to Jake.
LH: 真的吗!Wow! Larry, 你真好。有你帮忙,我就放心了。看样子我们在这儿也没别的事可做。那就一块儿溜冰咯!来吧!
今天李华学到两个常用语。一个是: to level with someone, 意思是向人坦白说实话。另一个常用语是clueless, 意思是对某件事什么也不知道。