On Saturday morning, Mum announces宣布 /əˈnaʊns.ɪz/ that she needs new clothes衣服 /kloʊðz/ for work. "Jack, come with me," she says. "I need a second opinion意见 /əˈpɪn.jən/." I groan呻吟 /ɡroʊn/ quietly but agree同意 /əˈɡriː/. Twenty minutes later, we are at the shopping购物 /ˈʃɑːp.ɪŋ/ centre中心 /ˈsen.t̬ɚ/. It is crowded拥挤的 /ˈkraʊ.dɪd/ and loud嘈杂的 /laʊd/, with people carrying提着 /ˈker.i.ɪŋ/ bags袋子 /bæɡz/ in every direction.
We head straight直奔 to a clothing服装 /ˈkloʊ.ðɪŋ/ store店铺 /stɔːr/ on the second floor层 /flɔːr/. A young assistant店员 /əˈsɪs.tənt/ walks over走过来 and smiles微笑 /smaɪlz/. "Can I help you帮您 find something?" Mum explains解释 /ɪkˈspleɪnz/ that she is looking找 /ˈlʊk.ɪŋ/ for a jacket外套 /ˈdʒæk.ɪt/ for the office办公室 /ˈɑːf.ɪs/. "What size尺码 /saɪz/ are you?" the assistant asks. "Medium," Mum says. The assistant leads带 /liːdz/ us to a rack衣架 /ræk/ of jackets外套 /ˈdʒæk.ɪts/ near the window橱窗 /ˈwɪn.doʊ/.
Mum flicks拨过 /flɪks/ through the rack and pulls取出 /pʊlz/ out three jackets. One is dark深色的 /dɑːrk/ blue蓝色 /bluː/, one is grey灰色 /ɡreɪ/, and one is cream米白色 /kriːm/. She holds举 /hoʊldz/ each one up and checks看看 /tʃeks/ the colour颜色 /ˈkʌl.ɚ/. "Which one do you prefer更喜欢 /prɪˈfɜːr/?" she asks me. I point指 /pɔɪnt/ at the dark blue one without hesitating犹豫 /ˈhez.ɪ.teɪ.tɪŋ/. "That one. Looks看起来 /lʊks/ smart干练的 /smɑːrt/." Mum nods点头 /nɑːdz/ and drapes搭着 /dreɪps/ it over her arm手臂 /ɑːrm/. "I'll try it on试穿."
The fitting试衣 /ˈfɪt.ɪŋ/ room间 /ruːm/ is at the back of the store. I wait等 /weɪt/ outside on a small bench长凳 /bentʃ/, watching看着 /ˈwɑːtʃ.ɪŋ/ people walk past走过. After a few minutes, Mum steps走出 /steps/ out. The jacket fits合身 /fɪts/ perfectly完美地 /ˈpɜːr.fɪkt.li/. "What do you think?" she asks. "It suits适合 /suːts/ you," I say. She turns转身 /tɜːrnz/ to check herself打量自己 in the mirror镜子 /ˈmɪr.ɚ/, smoothing抚平 /ˈsmuː.ðɪŋ/ the fabric布料 /ˈfæb.rɪk/ with both hands. "Good. I'll take要了 /teɪk/ it."
At the counter收银台 /ˈkaʊn.t̬ɚ/, the assistant scans扫描 /skænz/ the tag标签 /tæɡ/ and says, "That's eighty八十 /ˈeɪ.ti/ dollars元 /ˈdɑːl.ɚz/." Mum raises扬起 /ˈreɪ.zɪz/ an eyebrow眉毛 /ˈaɪ.braʊ/. "Is there a sale打折 /seɪl/ on at the moment?" The assistant checks the screen屏幕 /skriːn/. "Actually, yes — there's a twenty percent百分比 /pəˈsent/ discount折扣 /ˈdɪs.kaʊnt/ today. So the total总价 /ˈtoʊ.təl/ is sixty六十 /ˈsɪk.sti/ four." Mum looks看 /lʊks/ pleased高兴 /pliːzd/. "I'll pay by card刷卡付款," she says, and taps轻触 /tæps/ her phone on the reader读卡器 /ˈriː.dɚ/. The machine beeps哔哔响 /biːps/ and the assistant prints打印 /prɪnts/ a receipt收据 /rɪˈsiːt/.
On the way out, I spot看见 /spɑːt/ a sports运动 /spɔːrts/ shop店 /ʃɒp/ next door. In the window there is a pair of trainers运动鞋 /ˈtreɪ.nɚz/ I have been looking at惦记着 for weeks几周 /wiːks/. The price价格 /praɪs/ tag says ninety九十 /ˈnaɪn.ti/ dollars. I do the maths心算一下 and realise意识到 /ˈriː.ə.laɪz/ I only have fifty五十 /ˈfɪf.ti/ dollars in my wallet钱包 /ˈwɑːl.ɪt/. "Mum..." I start. She glances瞥一眼 /ɡlænsɪz/ at the trainers, then at me. "Your birthday生日 /ˈbɜːrθ.deɪ/ is next month," she says simply简单地 /ˈsɪm.pli/. I grin咧嘴笑 /ɡrɪn/.
Before we leave离开 /liːv/, Mum decides决定 /dɪˈsaɪdz/ to stop by顺道去 the supermarket超市 /ˈsuː.pɚ.mɑːr.kɪt/ on the ground floor. She picks up拿上 /pɪks ʌp/ a basket篮子 /ˈbæs.kɪt/ and moves走 /muːvz/ quickly down the aisle走道 /aɪl/, scanning扫视 /ˈskæn.ɪŋ/ the shelves货架 /ʃelvz/. She grabs拿 /ɡræbz/ a carton纸盒 /ˈkɑːr.t̬ən/ of milk牛奶 /mɪlk/, a loaf一条 /loʊf/ of bread面包 /bred/, and some eggs鸡蛋 /eɡz/. At the checkout收银处 /ˈtʃek.aʊt/, there is a short queue队伍 /kjuː/. We join the line排队 and wait. The woman ahead of us is counting数着 /ˈkaʊnt.ɪŋ/ coins硬币 /kɔɪnz/ from a small purse零钱包 /pɜːrs/. "No rush着急 /rʌʃ/," says the cashier收银员 /ˈkæʒ.ɚ/ with a smile微笑 /smaɪl/.
Walking home, Mum swings晃着 /swɪŋz/ her shopping bag and says, "That was a good trip出行 /trɪp/." "You saved省了 /seɪvd/ sixteen dollars," I say. She laughs笑 /lɑːfs/. "And you reminded me your birthday is coming. That cost代价 /kɑːst/ me more更多 /mɔːr/." I laugh笑 /lɑːf/ too, and we walk side by side并肩走 all the way home.