穷爸爸富爸爸 RichDad,PoorDad 第4课

At 7:30 Saturday morning, I caught the bus to the poor side of town.
Mike and I met with his dad that morning at 8 o'clock. He was already busy and had been at work for more than an hour. His construction supervisor¹ was just leaving in his pickup² truck as I walked up to his simple, small 
and tidy home. Mike met me at the door.
"Dad's on the phone, and he said to wait on the back porch³[1]," Mike said as he opened the door.
The old wooden floor creaked[2] as I stepped across the threshold[3] of this aging house. There was a cheap mat just inside the door. That mat was there to hide the years of wear from countless⁴ footsteps that the floor had supported. Although clean, it needed to be replaced.
I felt claustrophobic as I entered the narrow living room, which was filled with old musty overstuffed furniture that today would be collector's items. Sitting on the couch⁵ were two women, a little older than my mom. Across from the women sat a man in workman's clothes. They smiled as Mike and I walked past them, heading for the kitchen, which lead to the porch that overlooked⁶ the back yard. I smiled back shyly.
"Who are those people?" I asked.
"Oh, they work for my dad. The older man runs his warehouses⁷, and the women are the managers of the restaurants. And you saw the construction supervisor, who is working on a road project about 50 miles from here. His other supervisor, who is building a track of houses, had already left before you got here."
"Does this go on all the time?" I asked.
"Not always, but quite often," said Mike, smiling as he pulled up a chair to sit down next to me.
"I asked him if he would teach us to make money," Mike said.
"Oh, and what did he say to that?" I asked with cautious⁸ curiosity.
"Only a funny look on his face at first, and then he said he would make us an offer."
"Oh," I said, rocking my chair back against the wall; I sat there perched on two rear⁹ legs of the chair. Mike did the same thing.
Suddenly, Mike's dad burst through the rickety[4] screen door and onto the porch. Mike and I jumped to our feet, not out of respect but because we were startled¹⁰.
"Ready boys?" Mike's dad asked as he pulled up a chair to sit down with us.
We nodded our heads as we pulled our chairs away from the wall to sit in front of him.
He was a big man, about 6 feet tall and 200 pounds.
"Mike says you want to learn to make money? Is that correct, Robert?"
I nodded my head quickly, but with a little intimidation¹¹. He had a lot of power behind his words and smile.
"OK, here's my offer. I'll teach you, but I won't do it classroom-style. You work for me, and I'll teach you. You don't work for me, I don't teach you. I can teach you faster if you work, and I'm wasting my time if you just want to sit and listen, like you do in school. That's my offer. Take it or leave it."
"Ah... may I ask a question first?" I asked.
"No. Take it or leave it. I've got too much work to do to waste my time. If you can't make up you mind decisively¹², then you'll never learn to make money anyway. "
"Take it," I said.
"Take it," said Mike.
"Good," said Mike's dad. "Mrs. Martin will be by in ten minutes. After I'm through with her, you ride with her to my superette and you can begin working. I'll pay you 10 cents an hour and you will work for three hours every Saturday."
"But I have a softball game today," I said.
Mike's dad lowered his voice to a stern¹³ tone¹⁴. "Take it or leave it," he said. "I'll take it," I replied, choosing to work and learn instead of playing softball.

By 9 a.m. on a beautiful Saturday morning, Mike and I were working for Mrs. Martin. She was a kind and patient woman. She always said that Mike and I reminded her of her two sons who were grown and gone. Although kind, she believed in hard work and she kept us working. She was a task master. We spent three hours taking canned goods off the shelves and, with a feather duster, brushing each can to get the dust off, and then re-stacking them neatly¹⁵. It was excruciatingly[5] boring work.

For three weeks, Mike and I reported to Mrs. Martin and worked our three hours. By noon, our work was over, and she dropped three little dimes¹⁶ in each of our hands. Now, even at the age of 9 in the mid-1950s, 30 cents was not too exciting. Comic books cost 10 cents back then, so I usually spent my money on comic books and went home.
By Wednesday of the fourth week, I was ready to quit. I had agreed to work only because I wanted to learn to make money from Mike's dad, and now I was a slave for 10 cents an hour. On top of[6] that, I had not seen Mike's dad since that first Saturday.
"I'm quitting," I told Mike at lunchtime. The school lunch was miserable¹⁷. School was boring, and now I did not even have my Saturdays to look forward to. But it was the 30 cents that really got to me.
Mike smiled.
"Dad said this would happen. He said to meet with him when you were ready to quit."
"What?" I said indignantly¹⁸. "He's been waiting for me to get fed up?"
"Sort of," Mike said. "Dad's kind of different. He teaches differently from your dad. Your mom and dad lecture a lot. My dad is quiet and a man of few words. You just wait till this Saturday. I'll tell him you're ready."
"You mean I've been set up?"
"No, not really, but maybe. Dad will explain on Saturday."

1 supervisor   

n.监督人，管理人，检查员，督学，主管，导师

参考例句：

• Between you and me I think that new supervisor is a twit.我们私下说，我认为新来的主管人是一个傻瓜。
• He said I was too flighty to be a good supervisor.他说我太轻浮不能成为一名好的管理员。

2 pickup   

n.拾起，获得

参考例句：

• I would love to trade this car for a pickup truck.我愿意用这辆汽车换一辆小型轻便卡车。||The luck guy is a choice pickup for the girls.那位幸运的男孩是女孩子们想勾搭上的人。

3 porch   

n.门廊，入口处，走廊，游廊

参考例句：

• There are thousands of pages of advertising on our porch.有成千上万页广告堆在我们的门廊上。
• The porch is supported by six immense pillars.门廊由六根大柱子支撑着。

4 countless   

adj.无数的，多得不计其数的

参考例句：

• In the war countless innocent people lost their lives.在这场战争中无数无辜的人丧失了性命。
• I've told you countless times.我已经告诉你无数遍了。

5 couch   

n.睡椅，长沙发椅；vt.表达，隐含

参考例句：

• Lie down on the couch if you're feeling ill.如果你感觉不舒服就躺到沙发上去。
• The rabbIt'sprang from its grassy couch.兔子从草丛中跳出。

6 overlooked   

v.忽视( overlook的过去式和过去分词 )；监督；俯视；（对不良现象等）不予理会

参考例句：

• He seems to have overlooked one important fact. 他好像忽略了一个重要的事实。
• This is a minor point, but it must not be overlooked. 此事虽小，然亦不可忽视。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

7 warehouses   

仓库，货栈( warehouse的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The whisky was taken to bonded warehouses at Port Dundee. 威士忌酒已送到邓迪港的保稅仓库。
• Row upon row of newly built warehouses line the waterfront. 江岸新建的仓库鳞次栉比。

8 cautious   

adj.十分小心的，谨慎的

参考例句：

• We should not only be bold,but also be cautious.我们不仅要大胆，而且要谨慎。
• He was cautious about his work.他对工作非常谨慎。

9 rear   

vt.抚养，饲养；n.后部，后面

参考例句：

• We had to rear it in a nursery and plant it out.我们不得不在苗棚里培育它，然后再把它移植出来。
• The hall is in the rear of the building.礼堂在大楼的后部。

10 startled   

adj.受惊吓的v.使惊跳，使大吃一惊( startle的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• A crowd of 2000 was startled near the end of the concert. 2000名观众在音乐会将近结束时大吃一惊。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Startled by the sudden whistle of the train, the horse broke away. 火车突然鸣笛，那匹马受惊脱逃。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 intimidation   

n.恐吓，威胁

参考例句：

• The Opposition alleged voter intimidation by the army.反对党声称投票者受到军方的恐吓。
• The gang silenced witnesses by intimidation.恶帮用恐吓的手段使得证人不敢说话。

12 decisively   

决然地，果断地

参考例句：

• The proposed bill was decisively defeated in Parliament. 提案在议会中遭断然否决。
• "I know nothing whatever about mechanics," he said decisively. “我对机械一窍不通。”他肯定地说。

13 stern   

adj.严厉的，严格的，严峻的；n.船尾

参考例句：

• The ship was in a blaze from stem to stern.整艘船从头到尾都着火了。
• The headmaster ruled the school with a stern discipline.校长治校严谨。

14 tone   

n.语气，音调，气度，色调；vt.（up）增强

参考例句：

• There was a tone of mockery in his voice.他说话的语气含有嘲笑的意味。
• Holmes used an informal,chatty tone in his essays.霍姆斯在文章中语气轻松随便。

15 neatly   

adv.整洁地，干净地，灵巧地，熟练地

参考例句：

• Sailors know how to wind up a long rope neatly.水手们知道怎样把一条大绳利落地缠好。
• The child's dress is neatly gathered at the neck.那孩子的衣服在领口处打着整齐的皱褶。

16 dimes   

n.（美国、加拿大的）10分铸币( dime的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Pennies, nickles, dimes and quarters are United States coins. 1分铜币、5分镍币、1角银币和2角5分银币是美国硬币。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• In 1965 the mint stopped putting silver in dimes. 1965年，铸币厂停止向10分硬币中加入银的成分。 来自辞典例句

17 miserable   

adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的

参考例句：

• It was miserable of you to make fun of him.你取笑他，这是可耻的。
• Her past life was miserable.她过去的生活很苦。

18 indignantly   

adv. 愤慨地, 义愤地

参考例句：

• "I don't agree at all,'she answered indignantly. “我压根儿不同意，”她气愤地答道。
• He snorted indignantly and walked away. 他气愤地哼了一声，走开了。