VOA流行美語 Unit 153:knock off和running on empty

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專業的學生，他們會臨摹一些名畫，順便練習自己的繪畫技巧。所以你經常可以找到一些假的中國名畫呢。

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

LH: 你在中國買這樣的仿冒品帶回來送人啊？不過很多美國人都不太懂中國的畫，說不定他們還以爲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? 什麼是“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。或許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，所以纔會覺得running on empty。好吧，那我們就買點東西吃。休息一下，然後就回家。

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。