My father woke up early one summer morning
when I was fourteen and announced, “Get up, you’re going with me to cut the grass in the
garden.”
The idea that my father thought I was old
enough to help him in his business made me feel proud and excited. From sunup
to sundown, my father, my younger brother and I worked in the large garden. By
the end of the day I was too tired to say a word but I felt happy. This was my
first time to help my father in his business. I got $6 for my work that day.
One day my father found some leaves I had
missed and pulled me aside. “Take away these leaves!” he said. “And don’t make me have to tell you to do it again.” The message was
clear. Today I value the importance of doing job well the first time. I will
never fail to impress (留下印象) the person I’m working for.
After two years, my father told me and my
brother that he felt we were old enough to cut the grass by ourselves. Every
Saturday during my last two years of high school, we set off early in the
morning with the same wish we had gained while working under our father.
Looking after the garden was neither exciting
nor high paying, but that didn’t matter. It taught me that any job was a good job and
whatever I was paid was more than I had before.
A newspaper reporter once asked me how
someone could possibly live with hard work and low pay. “If you’re only thinking
about hard work and money, you probably don’t want to do better than you are doing,” I answered. In
every job, from cutting the grass to washing dishes, I’ve learned much. I’ve learned something that helps me in my next
job.
If you work hard enough, you can learn from
any job you do.
7. The writer ______ from working in the
garden.
A. learned to work hard to get money
B. found he could be well paid
C. felt he could impress others by working
hard
D. learned any job was good though he might
be paid less
8. When the writer finished high school,
maybe he was ______ years old.
A. fourteen B.
eighteen C.
twenty D. twenty-two
9. The writer’s father was ______.
A. very strict but helpful
B. lazy and easy to get angry
C. careful and enjoyed working in the garden
D. funny and hard-working
10. Which is the most important to the writer
according to the passage?