今天是星期六，Michael和李華到購物中心去買東西。李華喜歡買衣服，Michael喜歡看電腦， 所以他們決定各自先去買東西，然后中午在吃飯的地方碰頭。今天李華會學到兩個常用語：to rip off和straight answer.

    L： 嗨， Michael， 在這兒！

    M： Hi， Li Hua！ Hey， what did you buy？

    L： 今天我真高興，你看，買了那么多衣服才花了我七十五美元。那店要關門了，東西全都半價。Michael， 你買了什么？

    M： I bought a pair of tennis shoes. When I bought them， I thought it was a good deal， but later I saw the same pair at another store for much less. I got ripped off.

    L： 你買了一雙網球鞋。讓我看看。挺好的嘛！Michael， 你剛才說的最后一句話我沒有聽懂，什么是got ripped off？ 是不是上當受騙的意思？

    M： Yes， to be ripped off means to be cheated.

    L： 你看，我還猜對了。Michael， 你為什么不把買的網球鞋去退掉， 再到便宜的店去買呢？

    M： I wanted to do that， but when I went back to the first store， I saw a sign that said "All Sales are Final". So， I guess there's nothing I can really do about it.

    L： 喲，還不讓退貨，這可真倒霉。那你買鞋的時候怎么沒看見不讓退貨的牌子呢？

    M： I was just too eager to buy these shoes. If you buy something and then find out that it is of poor quality， you can also say you were ripped off.

    L： 噢，買了東西后發現質量很差也可以說to be riffed off.對了，我上個月從網上買了一部DVD電影，可是我在看電影的時候好幾次都卡住 了，害得我連結尾都沒看上。

    M： I guess I'm not the only one who got ripped off.

    L： 買東西真是要小心。得了，我們去買飯吧！

    （Michael和李華吃完飯以后）

    L： 時間不早了，該回去了。搭地鐵去吧！

    M： Sure！ That was fun， Li Hua， but I have to stop spending so much money.

    L： 我也不該花那么多錢。嗨，Michael， 你不是申請去一個公司實習， 他們會付你一些工資的嗎？那他們有沒有決定要雇用你啊？

    M： No， they just keep telling me that they will let me know soon. I wish the company would just give me a straight answer.

    L： Straight answer？ 是什么意思啊？

    M： Well， if you are looking for a straight answer， that means you want someone to give you a direct answer and tell you the truth.

    L： 噢，straight answer就是直接了當，或者是實事求是的回答。

    M： That's right. For instance， I could see that my last roommate was unhappy living in our apartment， I asked him why， but I could never get him to give me a straight answer.

    L： 為什么你以前同宿舍的人既不高興和你住在一起可是又不告訴你真正的原因呢？后來他不是搬出去了嗎？

    M： Yes， he did give me a straight answer after he moved out. It turned out he wanted to move in with his girlfriend.

    L： 他搬出去以后才老實地告訴你他是要搬去和女朋友一起住。 我還以為他不喜歡你把屋子弄得亂糟糟的呢。

    M： Li Hua， I think you are the only one who is bothered by that. Well， this is our stop. Do you still want to come over to my messy apartment？ Give me a straight answer.

    L： 我才不信只有我一個人批評你把屋子弄得亂七八糟。不管你家亂不亂，我當然得去呀，我的書還在你那里嘛！

    今天李華學到兩個常用語，一個是：to rip off，意思是受騙，上當；另一個是：straight answer，意思是坦率，老實的回答。