When I turned twelve, I worked summers at my father's small brick cleaning business. I remember the harsh acid smell of the cleaning solution, and the scraping sound of stiff iron brushes against rough brick. It was tempting to hurry a job, just finish.  19  But anybody who worked for Thomas Kahoon had to meet his standards, and that included me. If I messed up, he made me stay late until I got it right. My father wasn't being mean. He demanded the same of himself. Every brick he cleaned on the house stood out like a red jewel in a white setting. It was his signature.
In 1970, when I was twenty, I got married. I moved out my parents' modest place into a housing project.  20  Drugs and gang violence were just beginning to plague the projects. Some of my friends went to jail. Some were killed. My wife Verllen was 18, and nobody gave our marriage a chance. But we believed in each other. And our faith made us strong.
When we married, I worked as a stock clerk at Southwest Super Foods.  21  It was hard, tedious work. Each Friday night a truck came, with cases of food that had to be unloaded, priced and placed on shelves. Most of stock clerks tried to get Friday night off. But I was always ready to work. By Saturday morning, all the cans and jars in my aisle were placed with the labels facing smartly out, like a line of soldiers on review. That was my signature. I took pride in a job nobody wanted.

当我12岁的时候，我暑假在我父亲的小型砖块清洁公司工作。我还记得清洗液的刺鼻酸味，还有硬铁刷在粗糙砖头上的刮擦声音。能把工作赶快做完就已经够吸引人的。 19  但任何为托马斯·卡洪工作的人都必须达到他的标准，包括我在内。如果我搞砸了，他会让我待到很晚，直到我把事情做好。我父亲并不是刻薄。他也这样要求自己。他所清理过的房子上的每一块砖都像一颗红色的宝石，在白色的背景下显得格外耀眼。这是他的标志。
1970年，我20岁的时候结婚了。我从父母那简陋的房子里搬到了（由政府为贫困家庭建造的）住宅区。 20  毒品和帮派暴力刚刚开始扰乱这片住宅区。我的一些朋友进了监狱，一些被杀害了。我妻子维伦，18岁，没有人看好我们的婚姻。但我们彼此信任。我们的信任使我们变得坚强。
我们结婚时，我在西南超级食品公司做存货管理员。 21  这是一项艰苦而乏味的工作。每周五晚上都会来一辆卡车，里面装着一箱箱的食品，这些食品需要卸货、标价，然后摆到货架上。大部分存货管理员都想在星期五晚上休息。但我时刻准备着迎接工作。到了星期六早上，我负责的过道里的所有的瓶瓶罐罐都会被贴上标签，标签整齐朝外，就像一排接受检阅的士兵。那是我的标志。我为一份没人想要的工作而感到自豪。

19.关于讲话者的父亲，我们了解到了什么？

A)他是个严厉的人。

B)他对别人很刻薄。

C)他对工作要求很高。

D)他通常工作到很晚。

20.关于住宅区，讲话者说了什么？

A)他搬出去并离婚了。

B)它饱受毒品和帮派暴力的困扰。

C)他在那里住了20年。

D)他的父母会搬进他的新房子。

21.对于作为存货管理员的讲话者，我们了解到了什么？

A)他只负责卸货。

B)他必须在每个标签上签上自己的名字。

C)这是一项艰苦而乏味的工作。

D)他被要求在星期五晚上工作。