Larry 和李華今天去給他們的朋友Jim 買結婚禮物。Jim 下個周末就要結婚。

    今天李華會學到兩個常用語：to tie the knot 和drop-dead gorgeous.

    LL： I can't believe Jim is going to tie the knot ！ He seems too
young to get married. LH： Jim已經25歲啦。25歲結婚還算早啊！你說Jim 要
tie the knot. Tie 是綁的意思，knot是結，“打個結”和結婚有什么關系？

    LL： "To tie the knot" is slang for "to get married." LH：噢！to tie
the knot就是結婚的意思啊！好奇怪噢！為什么要用打結來形容結婚呢？

    LL： As far as I know ， a very old type of wedding ceremony involved
tying a knot to symbolizethe joining of the couple's lives and now "tying
the knot" has become a synonym for marriage. LH ：噢，以前的結婚典禮上
要打結，表示新郎新娘的生活從此結合在一起。所以才會用tie the knot來表示
結婚。這真有意思。對了，Larry ，你想你大概什么時候會結婚哪？

    LL： Whoa ， slow down. I need to find a girlfriend first. At this
point ， I honestly have no idea when I'll get married. What about you？

    LH：我和你也差不多啦！你得找個女朋友，我呢，得先找到一個男朋友哪！

    LL： Well ， hopefully， someday we'll both find someone really nice
to tie the knot with. LH：嗯！我也希望我們兩個都能找到滿意的對象！對了！

    Larry ，你認識Jim 的未婚妻嗎？

    LL： No ， I've actually never met her. I'm really curious to see
what she's like. According to Jim ， she's the most beautiful woman in
the world. LH ：嗯，我明白Jim 為什么這樣說，每個人都認為自己的另一半是
世界上最美最帥的人！

    LL： Love does have that effect on people. I certainly hope I tie
the knot with someone beautiful. LH ：其實，只要你是真心愛她，你就會認
為她是世界上絕無僅有的大美人！

    ******

    LL： Li Hua ， Jim just showed me a picture of his fiancee. She's
drop-dead gorgeous！

    LH：你看到Jim 未婚妻的照片啦？你說她drop-dead gorgeous？那是什么意
思？是不是說她很丑？

    LL： No ， she's beautiful. "Drop-dead gorgeous" is a way to describe
someone who is incredibly attractive. LH：原來drop-dead gorgeous的意思
是非常漂亮，美極了。所以你認為Jim 的未婚妻是個超級大美女嘍？那她到底長
什么樣？

    LL： She looks like a super model. LH ：哇！像個超級模特啊！那真是
美得不得了了！Larry ，我有個問題。我能不能用drop-dead gorgeous來形容很
帥的男人呢？

    LL： Well ， I probably wouldn't call another man drop-dead gorgeous，
but you can. Why？ Who do you think is drop-dead gorgeous ？

    LH：嗯，我也不知道誰可以稱得上是drop-dead gorgeous的大帥哥。哎，不
過經過你這一問，我想電影明星Brad Pitt 應該可以算是drop-dead gorgeous的
帥哥吧！

    LL： Yeah ， I'm sure there are a million other women who agree with
you. LH ：好啦！現在該你了！你覺得誰算得上是drop-dead gorgeous的大美人
啊？

    LL： Besides Jim's fiancee？ I think that Lisa from our history class
is pretty close to being drop-dead gorgeous. LH ：你是說歷史課的那個Lisa？

    我從來沒注意過。哎！既然你覺得她很漂亮，為什么不約她出去呢？

    LL： She has a boyfriend. Unfortunately ， most drop-dead gorgeous
girls I meet already have a boyfriend. LH ：她已經有男朋友了！Larry ，
你動作太慢了！