Larry 和李华一起去购物。Larry 准备去参加朋友的婚礼，可是原来的西装
太旧了，所以需要买一套新西装。李华今天要学两个常用语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：要我帮你购物？这可是我的专长。你想买什么牌子的西装？是Ralph Lauren，
Calvin Klein，还是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？你这套旧西装是什么质地的？Hand-me-down？我怎么没听说过这
种西装布料呀？

    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是说从别人那儿捡来的旧东西，是别人不
要的东西。你现在这套西装原来是你老爸穿不了给你的，怪不得看起来不太合身，
而且还有些旧旧的。要这么说的话，我的鞋也是hand-me-down.

    LL： What ？ Your wingtip dress shoes ？

    LH：就是啊，这双鞋其实是我的好朋友Jane不要了给我的。她还告诉我说，
她的另外两个朋友Sarah 和Lily也都穿过这双鞋。

    LL： Wow！ Now that's a hand-me-down. How have those shoes lasted
so long ？

    LH：这种鞋之所以结实，是因为鞋底可以换新的，我已经换过两次了。对了，
你老爸有没有给你什么hand-me-down的鞋，让你穿着去参加Jack的婚礼啊？

    LL： No ， unfortunately， my big feet won't fit into his hand-me-down
shoes.

    LH：你的脚确实不小。那就走吧，大脚，我们买东西去。

    ******

    [Li Hua and Larry arrived at store]

    LH： Larry，你有三种选择，这种黑色或是棕色的单排扣两件套西装，还有
就是这件灰色的双排扣西装，你更喜欢哪个？

    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：这件灰西装看上去确实不错，穿在你身上也挺精神的，但是你刚才说的
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。你是说这件灰色西装比其它的都强得多，根本没有好比
较的。你说的不错，那套棕色的好像有点儿容易皱，黑色的看起来又太一般了。
这件灰色的样子确实不错。

    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：而且价钱也不贵，算是让你赶上了。你也知道，我这人就是喜欢逛街。
下次你要买什么东西，可以再找我。我们俩儿也算是各有所长，谁都知道，要打
篮球，我绝不是你的对手，可是，hands down，毫无疑问。

    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.

    今天李华学到了两个常用语。一个是hand-me-down，意思是别人用过的旧东
西。还有一个是hands down，意思是毫无疑问。