美語情景對話 第549期:Part Time Job 打工

Todd: Hey, so, Greg, growing up in the states, did you have any part-time jobs like in high school and stuff?

託德：嗨，格雷格，你在美國長大，你上高中的時候有沒有打過工？

Greg: Oh, I've had part-time jobs ever since I was a child.

格雷格：哦，我從小就一直在打工。

Todd: Right, me too.

託德：我也是。

Greg: My first actually, I used to work for the American Seed Company. Do you know that?

格雷格：我打的第一份工是在美國種子公司工作。你知道這家公司嗎？

Todd: I can imagine. No. I mean it's just a seed company, right.

託德：我可以想象。我想那就是一家種子公司。

Greg: Yeah. Yeah. Well, I actually wasn't paid in money. They would send me flower seeds, and vegetable seeds and then I would go door-to-door, I would knock on people's doors, "Excuse me, I'm with the American Seed Company, would you like to buy some seeds?", and people would see this, I was probably ten or nine at the time, this young kid trying to sell seeds, and you know they would buy a couple packs, and if I sold, say twenty packs of seeds, then I could choose from a list of toys or things (Whoa) soccer ball, or a dart board, and so I sold a lot of seeds. I liked it.

格雷格：對，是的。實際上他們並不付我工錢。他們會給我鮮花種子還有蔬菜種子，然後我要拿着這些種子挨家挨戶去推銷，我會去敲人們的房門，然後說：“打擾一下，我是美國種子公司的員工，您想買些種子嗎？”當時人們看到的是一個九、十歲左右的男孩努力地賣種子，你知道通常他們都會買幾包種子，舉個例子，如果我賣了20包種子，那我就可以從玩具清單中選擇我喜歡的玩具，像足球或是飛鏢盤之類的，所以我賣了很多種子，我喜歡這份工作。

Todd: How old were you?

託德：那時你多大？

Greg: I was maybe nine or ten then. (Really) and another thing I would do, around Christmas time, you know America is the tradition of putting mistletoe up on the roof for Christmas, well I would climb trees, cut the mistletoe and then again I would walk door-to-door and say, "Would you like to buy some mistletoe?"

格雷格：我大概九歲或十歲。（真的嗎）你知道聖誕節的時候美國的傳統是把槲寄生放在屋頂，所以聖誕節的時候我會爬到樹上去剪槲寄生，然後挨家挨戶去問：“您想買槲寄生嗎？”

Todd: You were quite the entrepreneur. The young businessman. (Yes) Did you make a lot of money with that job?

託德：你太有商業頭腦了。年輕的企業家。（嗯）那份工作掙到了很多錢嗎？

Greg: For me it felt like a lot of money at that time.

格雷格：當時對我來說那是很大一筆錢了。

Todd: Right, well, I got to ask, did you ever work at a fast-food company, like McDonalds or Wendy's?

託德：好，我想問，你在麥當勞或是溫蒂漢堡這樣的快餐公司打過工嗎？

Greg: I've never worked at a fast-food company.

格雷格：我從來沒在快餐公司打過工。

Todd: Oh, I did. It's the worst job ever. It's terrible.

託德：哦，我幹過。那是最糟糕的一份工作。非常糟糕。

Greg: Did you get to eat free food though?

格雷格：你可以免費吃快餐吧？

Todd: Ah, I did, actually, that was the big allure of the job, like I won't say the name of the company, but I worked for a major, major fast food chain around the world, and I thought, oh, I can eat all the hamburgers I want.

託德：對，可以，這是那份工作最誘人的地方，我就不說我打工的那家快餐店的名字了，我曾在世界上一家主要快餐連鎖店工作過，當時我想我可以吃到所有的漢堡了。

Greg: You probably got sick of eating hamburgers.

格雷格：你可能會吃膩漢堡的。

Todd: No, are you kidding, I was 15, I didn't care like the more hamburgers the better, and uh, then actually I lost the job because I lied about my age and they fired me, but yeah, I wanted a job, I was like 13 or 14 or something like that. So how about, did you ever do the paperboy job?

託德：你開玩笑吧，當時我15歲，我並不認爲漢堡越多越好，之後我丟掉了那份工作，因爲他們發現我謊報了年齡所以他們開除了我，當時我好像13歲還是14歲，我只是想要一份工作。你有送過報紙嗎？

Greg: Yes. Yes. For a couple of years I delivered newspapers in the morning.

格雷格：有，送過。有幾年的時間，我每天早上都去送報紙。

Todd: Right. How early did you have to get up to deliver the papers?

託德：好。你送報紙的時候幾點起牀？

Greg: I don't remember, maybe around 6 o'clock. (Right) It's amazing I did that cause I hate waking up early now.

格雷格：我記不清了，大約6點左右吧。（好）。我做這份工作有點令人吃驚，因爲我討厭早起。

Todd: Right, yeah, yeah. That job's the worst just cause of the weather, like you have to do it in the rain. I was the paperboy too, and in the rain, it's just awful. You have the big plastic bags and, and you're out there throwing the papers, and yeah, it's not a fun job.

託德：好，好的。在天氣不好的時候，比如下雨天還要送報紙的時候，這份工作非常糟糕。我也送過報紙，下雨天的時候真的很糟。你要套着大塑料袋去送報紙，那並不是一份有意思的工作。

Greg: Yeah, and sometimes dogs chase you.

格雷格：對，而且有時還會有狗追你。

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重點講解：
1. go door to door
挨家挨戶；
例句：On that night, children dress up and go door to door asking for treats or playing tricks.
在那天晚上，裝扮好了的孩子們會挨家挨戶地敲門，他們向主人要求款待，要不就會搗蛋。
2. knock on
敲；擊；
例句：I duly knocked on his door at three o'clock.
我準時在三點鐘敲了他的門。
3. the more
句型；常表示“越……就越……”；
例句：The higher we climbed, the more awe-inspiring the scenery became.
我們爬得越高，風景越是讓人歎絕。
4. get sick of
厭倦的；厭煩的；厭惡的；
例句： I get sick of hearing that music all the time.
我對整天聽那音樂感到厭煩。