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: 要我幫你購物？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: 這種鞋之所以結實，是因為鞋底可以換新的，我已經換過兩次了。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的婚禮啊？

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。