Larry 下課后在校園里碰到李華。他問李華需不需要去郵局。今天李華會學
到兩個常用語：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，你要去郵局寄包裹。這和修理東西有什么關系？為什么你說fixing
to go to the post office？是不是你去郵局前，要先修什么東西啊？

    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就是準
備要做什么事。Larry ，我從來沒聽過這種說法。

    LL： It's used all over the U.S.， but it's more commonly used in
the southern states. LH ：原來這是在美國南方常用的說法。Larry ，我很想
和你一塊兒去郵局，不過我準備去圖書館，我想在晚飯前看點書。I am fixing
to go to the library to study before dinner. Larry，我這么說對嗎？

    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 教授看起來好累，在課
堂上講課時好想要睡著一樣。不過你知道嗎？他正在為下個月參加馬拉松賽跑作
準備，也許他鍛煉過度，所以才這么累。

    LL： I didn't know that he's fixing to compete in a marathon？ Wow，
that's impressive. LH ：就是啊！我真難以想像他怎么能在上課之余還能找出
時間來鍛煉呢。

    LL： No wonder he's tired. I'd be exhausted. LH ：嗯，對了，我得去
圖書館了，一會兒見！

    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！否則郵局關門了。你這包裹就寄不出去了。

    ******

    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 ？你說Bob 的新車怎么樣？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
就是說汽車、船、或其他任何機器有各式各樣的豪華設備。所以你剛才是說Bob
的新車有各種新式的裝置，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，車上有衛星收音系統、大的擴音器、特殊的輪子……啊呀，我可
不懂這些東西，但是聽起來真的很酷！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，肯定是很貴。你想要這樣的車呀？我可不一定想買這種豪華車。我比較喜
歡實用的車子，價錢比較便宜，問題可能也比較少。

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

    LH：當然啦！你車上的裝置越多，就越容易出故障，修理起來一定也很貴。

    這是必然的。

    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：對呀，要維護一輛高級車肯定是很貴的。我的要求是價錢便宜，問題要
少。

    今天李華學到兩個常用語。第一個是fixing to do something，就是準備要
做某件事。另一個常用語是tricked-out ，是形容一樣東西很豪華，有各種新式
的裝置。