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。
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”。