听播客学英语 150 让我知道

 　　“Suppose you are planning a holiday in England. Your friend in England might say to you, “Please let me know when you are going to arrive.”

　　Or suppose I am talking to a friend who is planning to move to another town. I might say, “Please let me have your new address.”

　　What do these expressions mean – “let me know”, and “let me have”?

　　You have probably guessed the answer. “Let me know” means “tell me” and “let me have” means “give me”. Easy. Simple.

　　Well, actually it is a more complicated¹ than perhaps you think. If I say to you, “Tell me how to get to your house”, I expect you to answer straight away. I expect you to say, “Take the underground to Highgate station, and a bus from there.” But if I say, “Please let me know how to get to your house”, I mean “Please don’t explain now if that is inconvenient²; please tell me later, when you are ready, when you have time”. So, “let me know” is a less direct way of saying “tell me”. And because it is more indirect³, it is often more polite and formal as well.

　　Here are some more examples:

　　Joanne’s friend Judy and her boyfriend have decided⁴ to get married. They still haven’t made any detailed⁵ plans, about when the wedding will be and what sort of wedding they want. Joanne is very pleased and excited when Judy tells her. Here are some of the things that Joanne says:

　　When you have decided, let me know the date of the wedding.

　　And let me know where the wedding will be.

　　Please let me know how to get there.

　　And let me know whether there is anything I can do to help.

　　Let me know what I should wear.

　　Let me know what you would like as a wedding present.

　　And let me know who else is coming.

　　And after the wedding, please let me see all the wedding photos.

　　And as for Kevin, he has just finished writing a report at work. It is a report on new developments in the market for cat food. It doesn’t sound very interesting, does it? But Kevin is very proud of his report, and he wants to impress his boss and his work colleagues. “I might be able to let you see my report,” he says to one colleague, loudly so that the whole office can hear. “When you have read it, perhaps you could let me have your opinion on it.” Poor Kevin. Perhaps someone should let him know that there are more important things in life than the market for cat food.

1 complicated   

adj.错综复杂的，麻烦的，结构复杂的

参考例句：

• The poem is so complicated that I cannot make out its meaning.这首诗太复杂，我理解不了它的意思。
• This is the most complicated case I have ever handled.这是我所处理过的最为复杂的案子。

2 inconvenient   

adj.不方便的，令人感到麻烦的

参考例句：

• You have come at a very inconvenient time.你来得最不适时。
• Will it be inconvenient for him to attend that meeting?他参加那次会议会不方便吗？

3 indirect   

adj.间接的，转弯抹角的，非直接的

参考例句：

• What he said was very indirect.他的话很婉转。
• He gave only an indirect answer.他只作了间接的回答。

4 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

5 detailed   

adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• A detailed list of our publications is available on request.我们的出版物有一份详细的目录备索。