流行美语 第123课 - to level with someone / 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 direct¹ 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 crush² 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.

******

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 means³ 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。

1 direct   

adj.直接的；直达的；v.指挥；知道；监督；管理

参考例句：

• This train is direct,you do not have to change.这辆火车是直达的，你不必换车。
• The army is under the king's direct command.军队由国王直接统帅。

2 crush   

v.压垮，压倒，压服，镇压；压碎，碾碎

参考例句：

• This machine is made to crush the rock into powder.这台机器是用来把石头压成碎末的。
• You can't crush so many people into the classroom.不能让这么多人挤进教室。

3 means   

n.方法，手段，折中点，物质财富

参考例句：

• That man used artful means to find out secrets.那人使用狡猾的手段获取机密。
• We must get it done by some means or other.我们总得想办法把它干完。