We were burgled

Question 1

to be a complete mess

Answer 1

乱成一团 luàn chéng yītuán

Question 2

to scatter

Answer 2

散 sàn

Question 3

to be robbed

Answer 3

遭小偷 zāo xiǎotōu

Question 4

to report to the police

Answer 4

报警 bàojǐng

Question 5

trace or clue

Answer 5

蛛丝马迹 zhūsīmǎjì

Question 6

to be done for

Answer 6

完蛋 wándàn

Question 7

family heirloom

Answer 7

传家宝 chuánjiābǎo

Question 8

jade bracelet

Answer 8

玉镯子 yùzhuózi

Question 9

habitual thief; career thief

Answer 9

惯窃 guànqiè

Question 10

to dispose of loot

Answer 10

销赃 xiāozāng

Question 11

to reprimand oneself

Answer 11

自责 zìzé

Question 12

even more

I help out even when strangers are getting picked on, let alone when it’s one of my best friends are being picked on.

I don’t even necessarily let everyone I know come to my house, let alone him. I’ve only met him once!

This thing isn’t so easy to resolve, especially as we don’t even know where the problem is!

Answer 12

更何况 gèng hékuàng

陌生人被欺负我都会去帮忙了，更何况被欺负的是我最好的朋友。
mòshēngrén bèi qīfu wǒ dōuhuì qù bāngmáng le gèng hékuàng bèi qīfu de shì wǒ zuì hǎo de péngyou

认识的人我都不一定会让他到我家了，更何况他，我只见过他一次耶！
rènshi de rén wǒ dōu bù yīdìng huì ràng tā dào wǒjiā le gèng hékuàng tā wǒ zhī jiàn guò tā yīcì yē

这件事不是那么容易解决的，更何况现在连问题出在哪里都还不知道呢！
zhè jiàn shì bùshì nàme róngyì jiějué de gèng hékuàng xiànzài lián wèntí chū zài nǎli dōu hái bù zhīdào ne

Question 13

thief

Answer 13

偷儿 tōuér

Question 14

evil triumphs over good

Answer 14

道高一尺，魔高一丈 dàogāoyíchǐ, mógāoyízhàng

Question 15

to escape the long arm of the law / get off scott free

Don’t think that you can do bad things and still escape justice. God sees all, you’ll get your comeuppance eventually.

The fact that this guy killed so many people and was still able to evade the law makes you wonder if divine justice really exists!

As the justice system isn’t perfect, many embezzlers are able to evade the law.

Answer 15

逍遥法外 xiāoyáofǎwài

你别以为做了坏事能够逍遥法外，老天有眼，总会让你遭报应的。
nǐ bié yǐwéi zuò le huàishì nénggòu xiāoyáo fǎwài lǎotiān yǒuyǎn zǒng huì ràng nǐ zāo bàoyìng de

这家伙杀了那么多人，竟然还能逍遥法外，到底还有没有天理！
zhè jiāhuo shā le nàme duō rén rén jìngrán hái néng xiāoyáo fǎwài dàodǐ háiyǒu méiyǒu tiānlǐ

由于司法体系不健全，许多贪污犯能够轻易逍遥法外。
yóuyú sīfǎ tǐxì bù jiànquán xǔduō tānwūfàn nénggòu qīngyì xiāoyáo fǎwài

Question 16

the silver lining on the cloud

Answer 16

不幸中的大幸 búxìngzhōngde dàxìng

Question 17

luckily

When it exploded he happened to be very far away, it was a real stroke of luck!

The tree fell down! Luckily you avoided it!

Luckily I bought enough insurance, so this time when I got sick I had enough coverage to rest comfortably at home.

Answer 17

好险 hǎoxiǎn

爆炸的时候他刚好离得比较远，真是好险！
bàozhà de shíhou tā gānghǎo lí de bǐjiào yuǎn zhēn shì hǎoxiǎn

树倒了！好险你躲开了！
shù dào le hǎoxiǎn nǐ duǒkāi le

好险我买的保险够多，这次生病才有足够的理赔让我安心在家休养。
hǎoxiǎn wǒ mǎi de bǎoxiǎn gòu duō zhècì shēngbìng cái yǒu zúgòu de lǐpéi ràng wǒ ānxīn zài jiā xiūyǎng

Question 18

fortunately / just for something bad to happen

Your mother and I went to all the trouble of bringing you up, just to have you haggle over every cent of our monthly food allowance.

I went to all the trouble of getting the house tidy, just for the plumber to come and trample dirt all over the floor as soon as he arrived.

I’ve helped you so much, just for you to say something despicable like that.

Answer 18

亏 kuī

亏你爸妈把你养大，你现在连给老人家每个月菜钱都要斤斤计较。
kuī nǐ bàmā bǎ nǐ yǎngdà nǐ xiànzài lián gěi lǎorénjiā měi ge yuè cài qián dōuyào jīnjīnjìjiào

亏我把家里弄得这么干净，修水管的一来，就把地上全踩脏了。
kuī wǒ bǎ jiālǐ nòng de zhème gānjìng xiū shuǐguǎn de yī lái jiù bǎ dìshang quán cǎi zāng le

我帮过你这么多，亏你说得出这种没良心的话。
wǒ bāng guò nǐ zhème duō kuī nǐ shuōdéchū zhèzhǒng méi liángxīn de huà

Question 19

in the face of; facing

Answer 19

面对 miànduì

Question 20

reality

Answer 20

现实 xiànshí

Question 21

good will always triumph over evil

Answer 21

邪不胜正 xiébúshèngzhèng

Question 22

Expresses, ‘to the greatest extent’, and is usually translated as, “to do/try one’s best”.

Please, do your best to come early tomorrow.

As long as I can do it, I’ll do my best to do it well.

We should do our best to fulfill the customers’ needs.

The baby just fell asleep, let’s try our best not to wake him.

Please do your best to complete this report before Wednesday.

Answer 22

尽量 (jǐnliàng)

明天尽量早点儿来。
míngtiān jǐnliàng zǎo diǎn lái

只要我能做的，我会尽量做好
zhǐyào wǒ néng zuò de wǒ huì jǐnliàng zuò hǎo

我们要尽量满足客户的需求。
wǒmen yào jǐnliàng mǎnzú kèhù de xūqiú

宝宝刚睡着，我们尽量别吵醒他。
bǎobao gāng shuìzháo wǒmen jǐnliàng bié chāo xǐng tā

这个报告，尽量在星期三之前完成
zhè ge bàogào jǐnliàng zài xīngqīsān zhīqián wánchéng

Question 23

Are you serious / You don’t really mean

Used to strengthen the tone of rhetorical questions. At the end of a sentence there is often a 吗 (ma), or 不成 (bùchéng).

Can you be serious– you don’t know anything at all about this matter?

Do you really mean that you could do this, but I couldn’t?

You miser– are you seriously saying that we can’t even take a look?

You’re not the one who told the secret– are you seriously saying that I’m the one who told it?

Are you serious that we can’t sit down and talk this over?

Answer 23

难道 (nándào)

这件事你难道一点也不知道吗？
zhè jiàn shì nǐ nándào yīdiǎn yě bù zhīdào ma

难道你做得到，我就做不到吗？
nándào nǐ zuòdedào wǒ jiù zuò bu dào ma

小气鬼，难道看一下都不成？
xiǎoqìguǐ nándào kàn yīxià dōu bùchéng

（秘密）不是你说出去的，难道是我说出去的？
mìmì bùshì nǐ shuō chūqù de nándào shì wǒ shuō chūqù de

我们难道不能坐下来好好谈谈？
wǒmen nándào bùnéng zuò xiàlai hǎohāo tán tan

Question 24

conjecture / LACK OF CERTAINTY

can express a conjecture or a guess. It also emphasizes a lack of certainty on the part of the speaker.

Maybe it will rain tomorrow.

Maybe he’s fallen in love with you.

Maybe he’s gone to the bathroom.

Perhaps I’ll be free tomorrow.

Maybe you forgot about me early on.

Answer 24

也许 (yěxǔ)

明天也许会下雨
míngtiān yěxǔ huì xiàyǔ

他也许爱上你了。
tā yěxǔ àishàng nǐ le

他也许去厕所了。
tā yěxǔ qù cèsuǒ le

我也许明天有空。
wǒ yěxǔ míngtiān yǒukòng

也许你早就忘了我。
yěxǔ nǐ zǎo jiù wàng le wǒ