Larry 下课后在校园里碰到李华。他问李华需不需要去邮局。今天李华会学
到两个常用语：fixing to do something和tricked-out.

    LL： Hey， Li Hua ， I'm fixing to go to the post office to mail a
package. Do you need to buy stamps or mail something？

    LH： Larry，你要去邮局寄包裹。这和修理东西有什么关系？为什么你说fixing
to go to the post office？是不是你去邮局前，要先修什么东西啊？

    LL： No. Fixing to do something means that you are getting ready to
do it. "I'm fixing to go to the post office" means that I'm getting ready
to go to the post office. LH：啊！我懂了，fixing to do something就是准
备要做什么事。Larry ，我从来没听过这种说法。

    LL： It's used all over the U.S.， but it's more commonly used in
the southern states. LH ：原来这是在美国南方常用的说法。Larry ，我很想
和你一块儿去邮局，不过我准备去图书馆，我想在晚饭前看点书。I am fixing
to go to the library to study before dinner. Larry，我这么说对吗？

    LL： Absolutely ！ Hey， did you notice how tired Professor Smith
looked in class today ？ He looked as though he was fixing to fall asleep
in the middle of his lecture. LH：是呀，今天Smith 教授看起来好累，在课
堂上讲课时好想要睡着一样。不过你知道吗？他正在为下个月参加马拉松赛跑作
准备，也许他锻炼过度，所以才这么累。

    LL： I didn't know that he's fixing to compete in a marathon？ Wow，
that's impressive. LH ：就是啊！我真难以想像他怎么能在上课之余还能找出
时间来锻炼呢。

    LL： No wonder he's tired. I'd be exhausted. LH ：嗯，对了，我得去
图书馆了，一会儿见！

    LL： Yeah ， I'm going to go and mail this package before post office
closes. They should be fixing to close up soon， so I had better hurry.
LH：那就快走吧！否则邮局关门了。你这包裹就寄不出去了。

    ******

    LL： Hey， Li Hua. On the way to the post office， I saw Bob's new
car. It's awesome ！ It's totally tricked-out with every accessoryyou
can imagine. LH ： What ？你说Bob 的新车怎么样？什么是tricked-out ？

    LL： If a car ， or boat， or other machine is "tricked-out"， it
means that it has all kinds of luxury accessories. LH ：噢，tricked-out
就是说汽车、船、或其他任何机器有各式各样的豪华设备。所以你刚才是说Bob
的新车有各种新式的装置，很酷，是吧？

    LL： Exactly. It has a satellite radio system ， big speakers ， special
wheels， and an amazing paint job. It has a super turbo-charged engine，
too. LH ：哇，车上有卫星收音系统、大的扩音器、特殊的轮子……啊呀，我可
不懂这些东西，但是听起来真的很酷！Bob's new car really is "tricked-out."

    LL： I can't imagine what he paid for it. It must have been really
expensive. I can't wait until I can afford such a tricked-out car. LH
：嗯，肯定是很贵。你想要这样的车呀？我可不一定想买这种豪华车。我比较喜
欢实用的车子，价钱比较便宜，问题可能也比较少。

    LL： A simple car would be less expensive than a tricked-out one.
But why do you think it would have fewer problems ？

    LH：当然啦！你车上的装置越多，就越容易出故障，修理起来一定也很贵。

    这是必然的。

    LL： That's true. It's probably more expensive to maintain a really
tricked-out car because there are more things that could go wrong with
it. LH：对呀，要维护一辆高级车肯定是很贵的。我的要求是价钱便宜，问题要
少。

    今天李华学到两个常用语。第一个是fixing to do something，就是准备要
做某件事。另一个常用语是tricked-out ，是形容一样东西很豪华，有各种新式
的装置。