【慢速生活英语口语广播19：高中的打工经历(MP3)】 日语常用口语1000句
high school jobs高中的打工经历
I got my first part-time job when I was 15 working at a car wash in the summertime. A friend of mine, Rob, worked there and got me the job. I think it paid $2.90 an hour, which I considered a fortune. There were no allowances in my family, so most of my brothers and sisters started working as soon as they could to get spending money. I hated working at the car wash, drying cars all day. After only about six weeks working there (though it seemed much longer), I up and quit one day. I felt badly about not giving a two-week notice, but I had it up to here with the job. Luckily, another friend of mine got me a job working at a nursing home, washing dishes in the kitchen. I started the day after my 16th birthday, qualifying me for a slightly higher minimum wage.
我在15岁的时候找到了我个兼职工作，夏天在一家洗车行洗车。我的一个朋友叫ROB，在那工作并把我介绍到那去的。当时的时薪是2.9美元，在我眼里是个不小的数目。我们家的孩子都没有零花钱，所以我的兄弟姐妹们都早早工作给自己赚点钱。我讨厌在车行里整天擦车的工作。在那工作了也就六周的时间，有一天我突然决定辞职。虽然我有些歉意没有提前两周通知我的辞职，我还是下决心辞掉这个工作。幸运的是，我另外一个朋友给我在养育院找了个在厨房涮盘子的工作。过了16岁生日，我开始了这份工作，因为这样才满足就业的年龄要求。
Life scrubbing pots and pans was no picnic, let me tell you. I lasted there for only three months, working after school and on weekends while trying to keep up with my homework in high school. My next job was much better: Making keys at a locksmith. The working conditions were much better, and I had flexible hours around my school schedule. I stayed at that job for nearly seven years, right through my college years at the University of Minnesota. To this day I still know the names of all the common key blanks, but it doesn"t come in handy very often!
我可以告诉你，整天洗碗与碟的日子真不怎么样。我在那仅坚持了三个月，一方面要跟上学校的学业，一方面课后要工作，还没有周末。我的下一个工作就好多了，在一个锁匠那里做钥匙。工作环境要好很多，而且我的工作时间也很灵活，可以安排好我的学业。那个工作我一做就是七年，包含了我在明尼苏达大学学习的整个时间。直到今天我能叫得出所有常见钥匙胚子的名字，只是这种能力通常是没有什么用武之地。