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.

    ******

    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！