本文选自《新东方英语》的博客，点击查看博客原文

　　◎ From 2spare.com & wikipedia.org  译 / 张丽 

　　本文摘自《新东方英语·中学生》(2009年3月号)

　　李宗盛在他的《真心英雄》中这样写道：“不经历风雨，怎么见彩虹。没有谁能随随便便成功……”的确，每个成功的人背后都有着许多的艰辛和付出，名人同样如此。一起来看看名人们成名前都做过什么样的工作吧！

　　* Michael Dell, the dishwasher

　　Michael Dell, founder and chairman of Dell Computer Corp., was a dishwasher at a Chinese restaurant earning $2.30 an hour. He is grateful for his early experience: “The best part was the wisdom of the restaurant owner, which I could capture if I came to work a little early. He took great pride in his work and cared about every customer who came through his door。”

　　* Oprah Winfrey, the young reporter

　　“Talk show queen” Oprah Winfrey was born in Kosciusko, Mississippi. Her grandmother taught her to read before the age of three and took her to the local church, where she was nicknamed “The Preacher” for her ability to recite Bible verses. Winfrey was self-helping her way to the top. Arriving at a radio station to collect a watch she had won through a contest, a 16-year-old Winfrey read for producers and secured herself a job as an on-air reporter earning $100 per week。

　　* Teri Hatcher, the Cheerleader 

　　American actress Teri Hatcher played Bond Girl Paris Carver in Tomorrow Never Dies in 1997, and Susan Mayer on the television series Desperate Housewives in 2005, which won her the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress. One of her early jobs (in 1984) was as a cheerleader with the San Francisco 49ers。

　　* Sylvester Stallone, the lion cage cleaner

　　Sylvester Stallone, always the tough guy, was once employed as a lion cage cleaner. At 15, his classmates voted him the one “most likely to end up in the electric chair。”In the 1960s, Stallone attended the University of Miami but soon he dropped out and began his pursuing of acting career. He became one of the biggest box office draws in the world from the 1970s to the 1990s, as well as an icon of machismo and Hollywood action heroism. He has played two characters that have become a part of the American cultural lexicon： Rocky Balboa, the boxer who overcame all odds to fight for love and glory, and John Rambo, a brave soldier who specialized in violent rescue and revenge missions。

　　* Dan Brown, the High School Teacher

　　Dan Brown, born June 22, 1964, is an American author of thriller fiction, best known for the 2003 bestselling novel, The Da Vinci Code and the 2000 bestselling novel, Angels & Demons. His novels have been translated into more than 40 languages. But prior to papering the world many times over with his The Da Vinci Code, Brown sculpted young minds as a high school English teacher。

　　* Jennifer Lopez, the Legal Assistant

　　Jennifer Lynn Lopez, born July 24, 1969, is an American Golden Globe-nominated actress, Grammy Award-nominated singer, record producer, dancer, fashion designer and television producer. She is the richest person of Latin American descent in Hollywood according to Forbes. Yet, long before Jennifer Lopez sang, danced and acted her way to superstardom, she worked at a law office as a legal assistant. From the age of 19, she had already paid singing and dancing lessons for herself。