今天Michael和李華要出去買(mǎi)東西。李華會(huì)學(xué)到兩個(gè)常用語(yǔ)：down with that和to pay through the nose.

    M： Hey， Li Hua. What do you want to do today？ I don't have any special plan， so we can do whatever you want. L： 你今天沒(méi)事干呀？太好了，我正想去買(mǎi)幾件春天穿的衣服。那些舊的都已經(jīng)過(guò)時(shí)了。

    M： I'm down with that. I need to buy some new tennis shoes. My old ones are really gross. My roommate is threatening to throw them out. L： 我也注意到你的球鞋了，實(shí)在不象話(huà)，怪不得你的室友要把它扔掉呢。哎，那太好了，咱們就一塊兒去買(mǎi)東西吧。不過(guò)，Michael，你剛才說(shuō)I'm down with that.那是什么意思呀？就是你愿意去的意思嗎？

    M： Yes， the expression "I'm down with that" means going shopping is okay with me and I'm willing to go. L： 這很有意思。那要是你問(wèn)我，要不要跟你一塊兒吃晚飯，我很愿意的話(huà)，我能不能說(shuō)：I'm down with that？

    M： Yes， that would let me know that you are willing to have dinner with me. What would you say if I suggested we go to my friend's party on Saturday night. L： 你建議我們星期六晚上上你朋友家去聚會(huì)啊。嗯，那一定很好玩，我愿意去，I'm down with that.

    M： Right. Now， where do you want to go shopping？ There are lots of places close by. L： 去哪兒買(mǎi)東西呀？學(xué)校附近有很多買(mǎi)東西的地方。去附近那個(gè)購(gòu)物中心，好不好？

    M： Okay， that's fine with me. That mall has a shoe store and it's close. Let's go. L： Okay， I'm down with that. 我們可以搭公共汽車(chē)去，幾分鐘就到了。然后我們有一整天去買(mǎi)我們要買(mǎi)的東西。還可以在購(gòu)物中心吃飯呢！

    M： Okay， I'm down with that. L： 哎，Michael，這家店看起來(lái)真好。我們能不能進(jìn)去看看呀？我肯定他們有很好的衣服。

    M： That's Neiman-Marcus. They have nice stuff， but they're really， really expensive. You have to pay through the nose to buy even a shirt there. L： 我也猜想它們的衣服一定很貴。你說(shuō)要在他們這里買(mǎi)件襯衣就要pay through the nose？ 東西貴和鼻子有什么關(guān)系呀？

    M： To pay through the nose is to pay a lot of money for something， usually way more than the item is worth. For instance， a shirt in a normal store costs about $40. However， a shirt in Neiman-Marcus easily costs $200. That's paying through the nose. L： 我懂了。To pay through the nose就是用高價(jià)買(mǎi)一樣?xùn)|西，往往要比原來(lái)的價(jià)值高很多。像普通店里一件襯衣要40美元，在他們這里就要200美元�？墒�，Michael， 我還是不懂，一個(gè)人的鼻子和錢(qián)有什么關(guān)系呀？

    M： Yeah， it is a strange expression， but that's the way it is. Do you still want to go into that store？

    L： 不要，不要，我不進(jìn)去了。我只是個(gè)學(xué)生，沒(méi)那么多錢(qián)，I can't afford to pay through the nose for things. 我啊，付不起這么高的價(jià)錢(qián)。

    M： I agree. I don't want to pay through the nose for anything either. It's stupid to waste so much money on something you can buy cheaper somewhere else. L： 就是呀，能夠用便宜的價(jià)錢(qián)買(mǎi)到的東西為什么要浪費(fèi)那么多錢(qián)去買(mǎi)呢？對(duì)了，Michael， 那什么時(shí)候我們還可以用to pay through the nose這個(gè)說(shuō)法的呢？

    M： Well， some people are willing to pay through the nose to buy tickets to see their favorite singers. L： 噢，花好多錢(qián)買(mǎi)票去聽(tīng)他們喜歡的歌手唱歌。我就有幾個(gè)朋友愛(ài)買(mǎi)名牌的東西。她們就愿意pay through the nose.

    M： I don't understand paying through the nose to eat at fancy restaurants either. Food is food. Li Hua， I'm getting hungry. Can we go eat first？

    L： I'm down with that. 我也有點(diǎn)餓了。但是，I don't want to pay through the nose.

    李華今天學(xué)到了兩個(gè)常用語(yǔ)。一個(gè)是：down with that， 意思是“同意”，或者是“愿意”。另一個(gè)是：to pay through the nose， 意思是“出高價(jià)買(mǎi)東西”。