今天李華和Larry在紐約市中央公園附近散步。路邊有許多小販在賣仿名牌的手提包和圍巾等東西。今天李華會學到兩個常用語:knock-off和running on empty.
LL: Li Hua, don't bother buying any of those. They're just cheap knock-offs.
LH: 可是這個手提包真漂亮!你看,上面還有名牌古姿的標記呢!你說這些都是便宜的knock-offs。是不是說它們都不是真貨?
LL: Yeah. A "knock-off" is a fake, an imitation of the real thing.
LH: 你瞧。我一猜就猜對了,knock-off就是指假的,仿冒的東西。這些皮包當然不可能是真的啦!一個真的古姿皮包可是要上百美元呢!我根本就買不起!
LL: Well, if you can't afford the real thing, why would you want to buy a cheap knock-off?
LH: 買不起真貨的人才買假冒品嘛!有的假冒品做的非常好,你不仔細看還分不出是真是假呢!你看,這個皮包還是很漂亮,而且也很實用呢!
LL: Well, it's your decision whether you want to buy a knock-off.
LH: 我很喜歡這個皮包。不過我現(xiàn)在還不需要。算了吧!我想還是別買了。
LL: Hey, look that vendor is selling knock-offs of famous paintings. Some of them are pretty good.
LH: 真的耶!這些仿冒的藝術(shù)畫看起來和真品一樣,模仿得真像! 不知道是不是那個賣畫的人自己畫的。
LL: It's possible. He might be an art student and practices his skill by making knock-offs of famous masterpieces.
LH: 在中國也有很多學藝術(shù)專業(yè)的學生,他們會臨摹一些名畫,順便練習自己的繪畫技巧。所以你經(jīng)??梢哉业揭恍┘俚闹袊嬆亍?/p>
LL: I know. When I was in China, I bought several and brought them back to my friends as gifts.
LH: 你在中國買這樣的仿冒品帶回來送人???不過很多美國人都不太懂中國的畫,說不定他們還以為你送給他們的是真品呢!
LL: The important thing is not whether the paintings were knock-offs but rather that they made my friends happy.
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LL: Wow, Li Hua. I'm really running on empty. Do you mind if we go back home now?
LH: Running-on-empty? 什么是“running on empty"? 你不舒服,想回家了?
LL: No, "running on empty" means that I'm exhausted and I don't have any energy. I feel like a car whose gas tank is empty.
LH: 噢,你用汽車沒有油來比喻,我就知道了。Running on empty就是很累,一點勁兒都沒有了?;蛟S我們可以找點東西吃。你可以補充一下體力。
LL: That might help a little, but I really need to go home and get some rest.
LH: 對了,你前兩天感冒剛好,所以才會覺得running on empty。好吧,那我們就買點東西吃。休息一下,然后就回家。
LL: That sounds like a good idea to me. When I'm running on empty, food and sleep are always the best remedies.
LH: 我也是呀!我一累,只要吃飽睡足,馬上就能恢復體力。我們這兩天都夠忙的。真是該好好休息一下。
LL: It's kind of difficult to enjoy the park when you're running on empty.
LH: 沒錯。人一累,再好玩的事都提不起勁來。
LL: Hopefully, by tomorrow, I won't be running on empty anymore and we can enjoy a nice walk in the park.
LH: 今天你回家好好睡一覺,多吃點有營養(yǎng)的東西,我保證你明天就會有精神了。如果你還想來公園散步,我一定奉陪!走吧!
今天李華學到兩個常用語。第一個是knock-off,是指假的,仿冒的東西。另一個常用語是running on empty,是形容一個人很累,體力不足。