大家现在肯定都已经很熟悉Michael和李华这两个在纽约上大学的学生了。Michael是正在学中文的美国学生，李华是从中国来的留学生。今天他们上完课以后一起去打保龄球。李华会学到两个常用语：to mess with somebody和give me a break.
L: 哎，得，现在我们的分数平了。Michael，你输了可不要哭哟！
M: Oh, oh…Come on! Miss it, miss, miss!
L: Michael，你好赖皮，你这样叫我“别打中，别打中”，是分散我注意力嘛，你要我怎么打啊！
M: Hehe, calm down, Li Hua. Don’t take the game so seriously. I’m just messing with you.
L: 你说你跟我做什么？
M: I said I’m messing with you. To mess with someone means to bother the person, or disturb him, or to play a joke on him.
L: 噢，to mess with someone就是说去打扰某个人，或者是跟他开玩笑。那to mess with someone是不是也有想要骗某人的意思呢？
M: Not really. Sometimes “to mess with someone” can be serious. For instance, a dangerous person might say, “If you mess with me, I’ll hurt you.”
L: 对，有的流氓就会这么说，他说，“你要跟我捣乱，我就揍你。”可是，在一般情况下，to mess with someone是指跟一个人开玩笑，或者故意跟他捣乱，是不是？
M: That’s right. When I was in high school, the whole class would mess with the teacher sometimes. Everyone would start humming at the same time. The teacher would be angry, but couldn’t tell who was doing it.
L: 啊，你上中学时就这么顽皮啊。全班一起哼哼，连老师都搞不清楚是谁在做呢，就这样跟老师开玩笑啊！我们在中国啊可不敢呢。我们都很怕老师的。哎，得了，该我了！
M: Whao! Don’t move, there’s a bee on your neck.
L: 啊，什么？你说我脖子上有只蜜蜂啊？快把它赶走啊！
M: Heheh, just kidding! There was no bee, I’m just messing with you.
L: 你很讨厌呐，Michael, 把我吓了一跳。Stop messing with me，我得打球了。
M: Ok. Miss! Miss!
L: Michael， 我再也不跟你打保龄球了，我输都是因为你跟我捣乱。虽然我们说了谁输就请客，我今天不请你吃晚饭了。
M: What? I only coughed after you had let go of the ball. There is no way I made you miss. Give me a break!
L: 你说给你什么？我什么都不给哟！
M: I said “give me a break.” When someone says “give me a break,” that means he thinks what he just heard or saw is unreasonable, or they think someone is being too harsh on them.
L: 噢，Give me a break就是你认为你听到的，或看到的是不合理的。那你的意思是说，我说你是因为捣乱我才输了球，这么说是不合理的？
M: That’s right.
L: 什么？ Give me a break! 我没有说任何不讲理的话。就是因为你跟我捣乱，所以我才没有打中球。
M: What? Give me a break! I only messed with you before you bowled, I didn’t say anything while you were throwing the ball.
L: 什么？我打球的时候你什么也没说？Give me a break! 你明明就假装咳嗽，说什么“别打中！别打中！”这样就是分散我注意力嘛！
M: I just had something in my throat. Is it not OK for me to cough? Give me a break!
L: 得了，得了，我下回哪儿都不跟你去了。别跟我讲话了！
M: Li Hua, give me a break! I’m just kidding…take it easy.
L: 哈哈！我也是在跟你开玩笑啦！可是，你可千万要记住，绝对不要mess with me!
M: OK, that’s fair enough!
这两个年轻人听起来好象要吵架，但是却是在互相开玩笑。在他们的谈话中，李华学到了两个很有用的说法：to mess with someone和give me a break.