(AFA - 2009)
The Car Washer Who Became An Executive
Robert L. Johnson is the CEO (Chief Executive Officer) of BET. Black Entertainment Television, a cable TV channel in the United States, BET specializes in producing programs for the African-American community.
[5] Read what this successful executive says about his first job.
“I ________ in Freeport, Illinois. My first job was at the local carwash. I ________ sixteen years old. I ________ every day, all summer, for a dollar an hour. I worked with ten other [10] guys. All of us ________from different racial, religious and economic backgrounds. We had to clean cars in teams, and we quickly learned to work together.
I learned the better way to become indispensable: you know how to do all aspects of your job. At the carwash, ‘all [15] aspects’ included vacuuming the interior, scrubbing whitewalls and polishing chrome until it shined. Sixteen years later, when I started my own business, I again had to know how to do every job in the company – advertising, marketing, producing and negotiation contracts.
[20] Working at the carwash taught me that there is a direct connection between work and a feeling of self-esteem. Young people who refuse jobs that they consider inferior or low-paying are only hurting themselves. As long as you do your best, every job is a learning experience and a step to a better job.”
(Adapted from Reader’s Digest, January, 1999)
Mark the option that completes the gaps respectively
woke up / were / came back / came
was born / had / traveled / got
grew up / was / worked / were
lived / got / tried / lived
Gabarito:
grew up / was / worked / were
a) Alternativa incorreta. Woke up (acordei) não faz muito sentido no contexto; were não é a conjugação da primeira pessoa do singular o correto seria was); came back, apesar de em um contexto um pouco estranho, se encaixa; came se encaixa.
b) Alternativa incorreta. Was born está correto e se encaixa no contexto; quando falamos sobre idade, não utilizamos o verbo have e sim to be; traveled não faz sentido no contexto; got é uma colocação inadequada, o que se pode perceber na formação da expressão got from, geralmente utilizada quando falamos de onde compramos algo.
c) Alternativa correta. Todas as expressões da alternativa fazem sentido dentro do contexto das lacunas e estão corretas gramaticalmente.
d) Alternativa incorreta. Lived faz sentido no contexto, mesmo que seja um pouco incomum; ao falarmos sobre idade, não utilizamos o verbo get, mas sim o to be; tried não faz sentido no contexto; lived não faz sentido no contexto.