My First Job

1. My First Job Unit 1

2. Pre-reading Tasks Would you like to take shoe-shining as your job? Why and why not? • Should children get paid for what they have done for their families? • Why and why not? • Which of the following questions does one need in order to do a good job? • Tick the choices from the list. intelligence ability loyalty devotion creativity willingness to work hard team-spirit

3. Read the text • Now, read the following story. When you finish, return to question 3.What does the narrator think is the most important quality one needs to do a good job?

4. Text • My parents ran the Pagonis Restaurant ,a small eatery in Charleroi,Pa. The Pagonis was open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and my first real job, when I was six years old, was shining diners’ shoes. My farther had done it when he was young, so he taught me how to do it right, telling me to ask the customer if I’d done a good job and to offer to reshine the shoes if the customer wasn’t satisfied.

5. Language Points: Text run: a) to manage 他们开了一家小餐馆。 They run a small hotel. 不要试图主宰我的生活。 Don’t try to run my life. 他在一家经营良好/不好的公司。 He works in a well-run/badly run company. b)to operate, be in charge of 机器运转的时候不要去碰它。 Don’t touch the machine while it’s running.

6. Language Points: eatery:American slang, a restaurant of other commercial establishment serving food diner: a person who dines, especially in a restaurant. In American English, it is more commonly used to mean a type of restaurant. This type of restaurant is usually informal, cheap, and popular with families, for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The atmosphere there is less formal than the expensive restaurants.

7. Language Points: offer: a) to hold out (to a person) for acceptance or refusal 我可以提一个建议吗？ May I offer a suggestion? 给客人端些咖啡来。 Offer some coffee to the guests. b) express willingness 他表示愿意开车送我回家。 He offered to drive me home.

8. Language Points: reshine: to shine again re--: to do sth again. e.g. Rewrite, reread, reelect shine: a) to produce light 他们肯定在家。睡房里有灯亮着呢。 They must be at home---there’s light shinning in the bedroom b) to polish, make bright by rubbing 出门前把鞋子擦亮点。 Shine your shoes before going out.

9. text • My duties increased as I grew older. By age ten, I was clearing tables and working as the janitor. Dad beamed when he told me that I was the best “mop guy” he’d ever had. • Working in the restaurant was a source of great pride because I was pitching in for the good of the whole family. But my farther made it clear I had to meet certain standards to be part of the team. I had to be punctual, hard-working. and polite to the customers.

10. Language Points: satisfy: please someone, esp. by giving them enough e.g 有些人是很难使之感到满足的。 Some people are very hard to satisfy. duties: work load, responsibilities janitor: a person who guards the main door of a large building

11. Language Points: beam: smiled broadly e.g. 他爸爸眉开眼笑表示满意。 His father beamed with satisfaction. Reference words: a)smile: to have or form a smile b)grin: to draw back the lips and bare the teeth, as in mirth or good humor c)laugh: to express certain emotions, especially mirth, delight, or derision d)giggle: to laugh with repeated short, fitful sounds e)leer: to look with a sidelong glance, indicative especially of sexual desire or sly and malicious intent f) guffaw: to laugh heartily and boisterously.

12. Language Points: I was pitching in for the good of the whole family: I made my contribution to the growth of my family restaurant. pitch in: set to work with energy e.g. 如果你想成功就要努力。 You should pitch in if you want to win success. good: do good: Social workers do a lot of good. for the good of: He works for the good of the country. do sb good: Smoking does you more harm than good. for good: permanently, for ever He says that he’s leaving the country forgood.

13. Language Points: But my father made it clear I had to meet certain standards to be part of the team. “it” refers to “I had to meet certain standards to be part of the team” make …. clear: express or explain something clearly I’ve made it clear that everybody must hand in his/her report tomorrow. Similar structures: I found it pleasant to work with him. I don’t think it worthwhile taking such trouble.

14. Except for the shoe shining job, I was never paid for any work I had at the restaurant .One day, I made the mistake of telling Dad I thought he should give me $10 a week. He said,“ Okey, then how about you paying me for the three meals a day you eat here? And for the times you bring in your buddies for free sodas?” He figured I owed him about $40 a week. This taught me that when you negotiate, you’d better know the other side’s arguments as well as your own.

15. Language Points: except for: used when what is excluded is different from what is included e.g. 你的文章很好，除了有些拼写错误。 Your essay is good except for the spelling. 除了一位老太太，公车上就没人了。 The bus is empty except for the old lady.

16. Language Points: how about: a colloquial expression for making a suggestion or an offer. One may also say “What about…?” e.g. 我们周末一起去怎么样？ How about we go together this weekend? buddy: a close friend, especially a male friend of a man; used in formal English. soda: a drink of soda water, or other flavoring drinks such as Sprite, Coca-Cola or fruit juice in American English.

17. Language Points: figure:to calculate; think e.g. 他计算了一下费用。 He figured the expenses. 我想他很快就会回来。 I figure he’ll be back soon.

18. text • I remember coming home to Charleroi after being away in the Army about two years. I had just been promoted to captain and was full of pride as I walked into my parents’ restaurant. The first thing Dad said was, “It’s the janitor’s day off. How about you cleaning up tonight?” I can’t believe this! I thought. I’m an officer in the United States Army! But it didn’t matter. As far as Dad was concerned, I was just another member of the team. I reached for the mop. Working for Dad had taught me that loyalty to a team comes first. It doesn’t matter whether that team is involved in a family restaurant or Operation Desert Storm.

19. Promote: vt.(1)raise sb. to a higher position or rank (提升，晋升) e.g. she worked hard and was soon promoted. 她工作很努力，很快便获得提升。 (2)help the progress of sth; encourage or support (促进，增进，鼓励，支持) e.g. the organization works to promote friendship between nations. 该组织旨在促进各国之间的友谊。 promotion (n) promotional (adj)

20. Language Points: as far as Dad was concerned:in my father’s opinion e.g. 就我认为，这篇文章写得不错。 As far as I am concerned, the composition is not bad. Be concerned about/ for sb/ sth: worry, trouble e.g. 请别为我担心。 Please don’t be concerned about me. 我们都很担心她的安全。 We are all concerned for/about her safety.

21. Language Points: reach for:stretch out the hand for and take sth. e.g. 他伸手去拿刀，但是太远了。 He reached out his hand for the knife, but it was too far away. 他伸手去拿字典。 He reached for the dictionary.

22. Language Points: involve: vt. e.g. 你犯的错别把别人扯进来。 Don’t involve other people in your mistakes. 不管我们想不想，我们都被卷进来了。 We are all involved, whether we like it or not. Be involved in/with He is deeply involved in trouble. He is deeply involved with her and felt he must marry her because everyone expects it.

23. 1 Comprehension workA Read the text carefully again and discuss the following questions. • What kind of family was the narrator from?Give a brief account of his family background. • How did the father teach him to do a good job? • How did the boy feel about working in the family business? • What was the mistake the boy made one day? • What lesson did he learn from his mistake? • What kind of reception was the writer expecting when he returned home • What was the lesson the writer learned from working for his father?

24. 2 Language workA Fill in the blanks with word(s) from the text that match the descriptions below. • A place where one can buy meals to eat. eateryrestaurant • A person who buys the meal and eats it in a restaurant. customer diner • A person whose job is looking after a building or a business place. • A man’s close friend, especially a male friend, can be called his buddy in informal American English. • A man or a boy is referred to as a guy in inform English. • A man can be addressed as boy, especially by someone who is his superior, in informal English.

25. . Dictation • Zhang Gang pitched in as soon as he got a job at a hotel. He had to be punctual, hard working and polite to the guests, so as to meet the hotel’s standards, as he couldn’t afford to lose the job. He still owed a friend of his 800 yuan. He needed money. As he had just started, there was no hope of being promoted and it was not wise to bargain with the manager. His pay was 400 yuan a money. He figured that he would be able to play back the money he had borrowed in few months’ time .He cleaned up the dining-hall-nice a day and carried luggage for guests. His family didn’t like his taking a job as a janitor. Yet, for him, working at a hotel has a source of pride because he could earn money through honest labor. He beamed when he got his pay at the end of the first month.

26. Translation Put the following sentences into English． 1.经理先生，明天我可以不来上班吗?我母亲要来看我。(off) 2.警察悬赏捉拿抢劫银行罪犯的线索。(offer) 3.上周我生病时，她主动提出来帮助我照顾孩子。 (offer)． 4.除了厨房以外，这套公寓应该说是非常令人满意的了。 (except for) 5.她去年被提升为部门经理。(promote) 6.人人都累极了，只有约翰没事。(except) 7.谁在经营这家公司? (run) 8.他伸手到口袋里去拿钱包。(reach for)

27. Answer 1.Mr. Manager, may I take a day off tomorrow? My mother is coming to see me. 2.The police offered a reward for clues about the bank robbers. 3.When I was ill last week, she offered to look after my child. 4.Except for the kitchen, the flat is satisfactory. 5. She was promoted to branch manager last year. 6. Everyone was exhausted except John. 7. Who’s running this company? 8. He reached into his pocket for the wallet.