流行美语 第153课:knock-off; running on empty

今天李华和Larry在纽约市中央公园附近散步。路边有许多小贩在卖仿名牌的手提包和围巾等东西。今天李华会学到两个常用语：knock-off和running on empty.

LL: Li Hua, don't bother buying any of those. They're just cheap knock-offs.

LH: 可是这个手提包真漂亮！你看，上面还有名牌古姿的标记呢！你说这些都是便宜的knock-offs。是不是说它们都不是真货？

LL: Yeah. A "knock-off" is a fake, an imitation of the real thing.

LH: 你瞧。我一猜就猜对了，knock-off就是指假的，仿冒的东西。这些皮包当然不可能是真的啦！一个真的古姿皮包可是要上百美元呢！我根本就买不起！

LL: Well, if you can't afford the real thing, why would you want to buy a cheap knock-off?

LH: 买不起真货的人才买假冒品嘛！有的假冒品做的非常好，你不仔细看还分不出是真是假呢！你看，这个皮包还是很漂亮，而且也很实用呢！

LL: Well, it's your decision whether you want to buy a knock-off.

LH: 我很喜欢这个皮包。不过我现在还不需要。算了吧！我想还是别买了。

LL: Hey, look that vendor is selling knock-offs of famous paintings. Some of them are pretty good.

LH: 真的耶！这些仿冒的艺术画看起来和真品一样，模仿得真像！ 不知道是不是那个卖画的人自己画的。

LL: It's possible. He might be an art student and practices his skill by making knock-offs of famous masterpieces.

LH: 在中国也有很多学艺术专业的学生，他们会临摹一些名画，顺便练习自己的绘画技巧。所以你经常可以找到一些假的中国名画呢。

LL: I know. When I was in China, I bought several and brought them back to my friends as gifts.

LH: 你在中国买这样的仿冒品带回来送人啊？不过很多美国人都不太懂中国的画，说不定他们还以为你送给他们的是真品呢！

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，你用汽车没有油来比喻，我就知道了。Running on empty就是很累，一点劲儿都没有了。或许我们可以找点东西吃。你可以补充一下体力。

LL: That might help a little, but I really need to go home and get some rest.

LH: 对了，你前两天感冒刚好，所以才会觉得running on empty。好吧，那我们就买点东西吃。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，只要吃饱睡足，马上就能恢复体力。我们这两天都够忙的。真是该好好休息一下。

LL: It's kind of difficult to enjoy the park when you're running on empty.

LH: 没错。人一累，再好玩的事都提不起劲来。

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觉，多吃点有营养的东西，我保证你明天就会有精神了。如果你还想来公园散步，我一定奉陪！走吧！

今天李华学到两个常用语。第一个是knock-off，是指假的，仿冒的东西。另一个常用语是running on empty，是形容一个人很累，体力不足。