come a breadwinner的状语。注意fortunately一词前后各有一个逗号插入had to begin 之间，使其醒目，作者强调小小出外干活其实是件“幸运”的事。
Eldest年长的
earn a living：make a living谋生
eg：He began to earn a living by himself when he was over ten years old.
他十多岁就开始自己谋生了。
注意assist与help的区别：前者表示“协助”，被协助的人起主要作用，协助人起辅助作用（养家糊口主要是他父母的责任）；
help表示为他人做一部分工作，或一起做。
eg：This academic year，Xiao Li is assisting Professor Chen in Modern British History.
这个学年，小李为陈教授的“英国现代史课”当助教。
eg：Xiao Li helped Professor Chen to carry those books to his office.
小李帮陈教授把那些书搬到他的办公室。（可能小李搬的更多。）
breadwinner挣钱的人，养家糊口的人
eg：He is the only breadwinner of the five-people family.
他是这五口之家唯一挣钱的人。
5.What I could get to do，not what I desired，was the question.I was not in a position to choose a job；I had to accept any job I could find.问题是，我能找到什么活干，而不是我想干什么活。（意思是因为人小，不易找到工作，不是人选工作，而是有什么就干什么。）
更常用的形式是：The question is = The problem is，问题是……，
eg：The problem is how to find a way through out the forest.
问题是如何找到走出森林的路。
eg：The question is whether he is competent for the job not whether he will accept the job.
问题是他是否胜任这个工作，而不是他是否愿意接受这个工作。
eg：The question is whether he would like me to assist him，not whether I'm ready to so.
问题是他是否让我协助他，而不是我是否愿意。
6.He owned no fewer than four handlooms and employed apprentices.他有四台之多的手工织布机，还雇了几个学徒。
no fewer than：不少于（表示在当时的情况下，这个数目是大的）
eg：That cool summer，they sold no fewer than 70 airconditioners.
那个凉爽的夏天，他们卖出的空调机也有70台之多。
eg：At the first class of this term，there were no fewer than 20 students in his class.
