L: 嗨,Michael,快进来。
M: Hey, Li Hua, what's up?
L: 什么?
M: What's up? What are you doing?
L: What's up? 我倒是听人这么说过,可是我还没有弄清楚这句话到 底是什么意思,我应该怎么回答?
M: What's up is really a common greeting.
L: 噢,what's up就是一般打招呼,不是指我的头上是什么呐?
M: No. It's like saying, "What is happening in your life?"
L: 我知道了,what's up就是中文里我们说的:怎么样?
M: Well, it's really only spoken language.
L: 要是我去看一个我已经有两个月没见的朋友,我在见到她的时 候我可以说What's up,对吗?
M: Yes, definitely!
L: 那别人对我说what's up?, 我又该怎么回答呢?
M: You can explain what's going on in your life, or you could say something as simple as: Not much.
L: 要是你问我,What's up? 我就可以说: Oh, not much, just getting ready for our test. 意思就是:噢,没什么,就是在准备我们的考 试。
M: That's good usage. You can really say anything.
L: 对,你怎么回答都行。 好吧,我们该学习了。
我真是希望这次考试赶快过去。
M: You stress too much, this test will be a no brainer.
L: 你是说我压力太大,没有脑子? 你知道我脑子很灵的呀!
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,你承认我比你聪明。不过,我还得跟你学英文。你说,no brainer就是某件事很容易,不需要动脑子就行呀?
M: Yeah.
L: 我知道了。象我哥哥那天去买车,运气好,碰到一个公司半价出 售。 在这种情况下决定买不买,不就是no brainer吗?
M: That's right.
L: 那次那个漂亮女孩邀你出去玩,你接受不接受邀请不也是很容易 定的吗?
M: Yeah, that was a really easy decision, could be called no brainer. Of course I would go out with her.
L: 对,决定是容易做,但是你到头来还是不喜欢她。
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: 当然啦,大学给我奖学金来纽约念书,作这种决定还要动脑筋 啊?更何况我学习成绩那么好。
M: So then why are you bothering to study?
L: 这还用问? 再聪明的人也得念书嘛!
M: On, ok, let's get back to work.
李华今天学到了两个常用语,一个是:what's up? 这是一个用来打招呼的通俗说法; 另一个是:no brainer,意思是某件事很容易,不用动脑子就能做成。这次[流行美语]就学习到这里。再见。