My father was a foreman of a sugar-cane plantation(甘蔗种植园) in Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico. My first job was to drive the oxen that ploughed(耕) the cane fields. I would walk behind an ox(牛), guiding him with a broomstick. For $ 1 a day, I worked eight hours straight, with no food breaks.
It was very tedious work, but it prepared me for life and taught me many lasting lessons. Because the plantation owners were always watching us, I had to be on time every day and work as hard as I could. I’ve never been late for any job since. I also learned about being respectful and faithful to the people you work for. More important, I earned my pay; it never entered my mind to say I was sick just because I didn’t want to work.
I was only six years old, but I was doing a man’s job. Our family needed every dollar we could make because my father never earned more than $ 18 a week. Our home was a three-room wood shack with a dirty floor and no toilet. Nothing made me prouder than bringing home money to help my mother, father, two brothers and three sisters. This gave me self-esteem(自尊心), one of the most important things a person can have.
When I was seven, I got work at a golf course(高尔夫球场) near our house. My job was to stand down the fairway and spot the balls as they landed, so the golfers could find them. Losing a ball meant you were fired, so I never missed one. Some nights I would lie in bed and dreamt of making thousands of dollars by playing golf and being able to buy a bicycle.
The more I dreamed, the more I thought. Why not? I made my first golf club out of guava limb(番石榴树枝) and a piece of pipe. Then I hammered an empty tin can into the shape of a ball. And finally I dug two small holes in the ground and hit the ball back and forth. I practiced with the same devotion and intensity. I learned working in the field — except now I was driving golf balls with club, not oxen with a broomstick.
【小题1】The word “tedious” in Paragraph 2 most probably means .A．easyB．boringC．interestingD．unusual【小题2】The writer learned that from his first job.A．he should work for those who he liked mostB．he should work longer than what he was expectedC．he should never fail to say hello to his ownerD．he should be respectful and faithful to the people he worked for【小题3】 gave the writer self-esteem.A．Having a family of eight people B．Owning his own golf courseC．Bringing money back home to help the familyD．Helping his father with the work on the plantationB
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(答案→)B
解析：本文主要介绍父亲是一名里约种植园的工头。我的第一份工作是在甘蔗地里赶牛耕地。这工作需要一连干八个小时不能休息，一天也只有一美元的收入，虽然工作很乏味单调，但是我学会了为人生做准备：坚持、尊重人、待人诚恳和有自尊心。我只有六岁但却干着成年男人的工作。七岁时我去了家附近的高尔夫球场做球童，由此产生了当成功的高尔夫球手的梦想。于是我拼命练习自己喜欢的高尔夫，终于我学会了在田野里工作。---现在握住的是高尔夫球杆而不是赶牛的扫帚柄。
【小题1】推理题：根据上下文语境判断，作者的工作是跟在耕牛后用扫帚把赶牛。应该不累，但是持续时间长而且中途不能休息即使吃饭也不可以。因此可知这份工作很枯燥。故选B。
【小题2】细节题：根据第二段中“I also learned about being respectful and faithful to the people you work for.”可知作者从他的第一份工作学会了对他的雇主要恭敬和诚实守信。故选D。
【小题3】细节题：根据第三段中“Nothing made me prouder than bringing home money to help my mother, father, two brothers and three sisters.”可知把钱带回家帮助家人给了作者自尊心。故选C。