Myfather couldn't do a regular job. To make ends meet, he and I picked beansevery summer on farms. It was hard work, and they paid by the pound, not thehour.

Bottombeans were harder to pick. My father and I alway picked on opposite sides ofthe same row, and his constant, gentle reminders to “pick from the bottom up”still ring in my ears.

Wehad row bosses who would part the vines and step into our world quietly. Theywould check the area we had picked and if it wasn't picked clean, they sent usback. At first, I was

sentback a lot by the bosses. When that happened, my father would step through thevines and pick back toward me until we had cleaned up my mess. The vines wereso thick that we

couldn'tsee each other, but we always talked while working. His voice would come, “Areyou picking clean?”

......

Themoney we earned in the bean fields was barely enough to be worthwhile.

Butthe lessons I got -pick clean, bottom up, both hands - were principles of myfather's life that shaped mine.

有幾處不可以理解：

1)and they paid by the pound - they 和 paid 不可以理解，這里的they指的是什么呢？我看到網(wǎng)上另外一個(gè)版本篇寫的是thefarmers paid by...所以，這里的they指代的是the farmers 還是 beans呢？

另外，這里應(yīng)該用paid還是were paid呢？

2)on opposite sides of the same row - 應(yīng)該是 on "the"opposite sides of the same row? - 缺少定冠詞the嗎？前面用了一般過(guò)去時(shí)，stillring... 動(dòng)詞時(shí)態(tài)指目前嗎？

??? The money we earned in the bean fields wasbarely enough to be worthwhile. -這句話好難理解？

3)we had picked and if it wasn't picked clean...為何用過(guò)去完成時(shí)？奇怪的是，為何 if itwasn't picked clean 卻不用過(guò)去完成時(shí)？until we had cleaned up my mess - 這個(gè)時(shí)態(tài)應(yīng)該用一般過(guò)去時(shí)？！

??? 最后應(yīng)該是shaped me, 而不是shapedmine ?

謝謝老師！

1.這里they顯然指farms. 是主動(dòng)形式，不是被動(dòng)形式。假如改用they were paid by the pound, they 就指父子了。

2.這里習(xí)慣上不需要冠詞。比如：on both sides of the road. still ring in my ears.是一種生動(dòng)的描述，表時(shí)說(shuō)話時(shí)仍然ring in his ears.也可以把這種使用方法看作是“歷史目前時(shí)”（Historical present)

?barely enough to be worthwhile. 指掙到的錢幾乎不值。

3. we had picked up 指在check 前已經(jīng)完成。?if it wasn't picked clean..在是條件句，一般用一般時(shí)，即這里的一般過(guò)去時(shí)。until we had cleaned up my mess，until 從句常常接完成時(shí),用一般時(shí)也對(duì)。最后的shaped mine?是正確的，由于是shaped my life.?