美国之音之流行美语beats me / in a bind

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李华今天在紧张地准备历史课的考试。她在和Michael的谈话中会学到两个常用语：beats me和to be in a bind.

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

L:   我在准备历史课的考试。Michael, 你知道美国总统罗斯福和斯大林第一次见面是在什么时候？ 

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

L:   哎哟，你不知道我也不会打你呀，你为什么要说：Beats me? Beat不就是打人的意思吗？

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，在这里，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:   这你倒是说对了，我还真不知道地球和太阳之间距离多少英里。Beats me!  你知道尼加拉瓜的第五任总统是谁吗？

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，我当然不需要知道这个答案，我是在跟你开玩笑，我学的历史是二次大战期间的美国和欧洲，和尼加拉瓜根本就没关系。 

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

L:   哟，beats me! 我把考试的日程忘在同学家里了！

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

L:   Beats me!  我也不知道我怎么会忘在他家里的。不过，没关系，我还有足够时间来准备。

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，要是明天就考试的话，那我可真是麻烦了。

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

L:   没有人知道罗斯福和斯大林第一次见面是什么时候。我也找不到这方面的材料。而且，考试是星期二，不是星期三。我这下可真麻烦了。

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

L:   你说什么？我在什么东西里？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就是处境很难。唉，我真是处境艰难。Michael，我这次考试可能要不及格了。你能不能帮我摆脱这个困境呢？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:   我复习我的笔记，然后你帮我查课文里的问题。这是个好主意，这样我可以省好多时间。Michael, 谢谢你，谢谢你。哎，还有什么情况下我们可以用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:   你付房租的时候到了，可是你又没有钱，那可真是in a bind。我来举个例子。要是我在找工作，有个公司要和我面谈，可是我早就和朋友约好那天要一块儿吃饭，我可以说：I'm in a bind吗？

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:   你说得对，要是我们再不动手开始准备考试的话，那我就会处境更困难了-- in an even worse bind。好吧，那赶快念书吧！I don't want to be in a bind anymore!

今天李华学到了一个用得非常普遍的说法：beats me, 意思是“不知道”。李华还学到了另一个常用语：to be in a bind, 意思是“处境困难”。