Larry和李華一起去購物。Larry準備去參加朋友的婚禮,可是原來的西裝太舊了,所以需要買一套新西裝。李華今天要學兩個常用語hand-me-down和hands down。
LL: Hey Li Hua, I need your help with something. I want to go to the mall and buy a new suit to wear for my friend Jack's wedding.
LH: 要我?guī)湍阗徫??這可是我的專長。你想買什么牌子的西裝?是Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein, 還是Dolce & Gabbana?
LL: Wo! Wo! Don't overwhelm me already. Any department store will do. All I need to do is find something to replace this old hand-me-down suit that I always wear.
LH: 什么?你這套舊西裝是什么質(zhì)地的?Hand-me-down? 我怎么沒聽說過這種西裝布料呀?
LL: No. Hand-me-down is an expression. It refers to something that is given to you because someone else does not want it any more. My father gave me the suit that I wear now because he could not wear it any longer.
LH: 噢,我明白了,hand-me-down是說從別人那兒撿來的舊東西,是別人不要的東西。你現(xiàn)在這套西裝原來是你老爸穿不了給你的,怪不得看起來不太合身,而且還有些舊舊的。要這么說的話,我的鞋也是hand-me-down。
LL: What? Your wingtip dress shoes?
LH: 就是啊,這雙鞋其實是我的好朋友Jane不要了給我的。她還告訴我說,她的另外兩個朋友Sarah和Lily也都穿過這雙鞋。
LL: Wow! Now that's a hand-me-down. How have those shoes lasted so long?
LH: 這種鞋之所以結(jié)實,是因為鞋底可以換新的,我已經(jīng)換過兩次了。對了,你老爸有沒有給你什么hand-me-down的鞋,讓你穿著去參加Jack的婚禮???
LL: No, unfortunately, my big feet won't fit into his hand-me-down shoes.
LH: 你的腳確實不小。那就走吧,大腳,我們買東西去。
******
[Li Hua and Larry arrived at store]
LH: Larry,你有三種選擇,這種黑色或是棕色的單排扣兩件套西裝,還有就是這件灰色的雙排扣西裝,你更喜歡哪個?
LL: I think the gray double-breasted suit is better looking than any of the others, hands down. And it makes me look pretty sophisticated.
LH: 這件灰西裝看上去確實不錯,穿在你身上也挺精神的,但是你剛才說的hands down是什么意思呀?
LL: Oh. hands down is an expression that means that something is easily better than something else; that a comparison or competition between two things is uncontested.
LH: 噢, 我明白了。你是說這件灰色西裝比其它的都強得多,根本沒有好比較的。你說的不錯,那套棕色的好像有點兒容易皺,黑色的看起來又太一般了。這件灰色的樣子確實不錯。
LL: Yeah, and it costs half as much as the others. You know Li Hua, I would never have found this suit at such a good price without your help. Hands down, you are a much better shopper than I am.
LH: 而且價錢也不貴,算是讓你趕上了。你也知道,我這人就是喜歡逛街。下次你要買什么東西,可以再找我。我們倆兒也算是各有所長,誰都知道,要打籃球,我絕不是你的對手,可是,hands down,毫無疑問。
LL: Yeah you're right about that. Let's go to the check-out counter and pay for this suit so I can finally get rid of my old hand-me-down suit.
今天李華學到了兩個常用語。一個是hand-me-down, 意思是別人用過的舊東西。還有一個是hands down,意思是毫無疑問。