课外阅读美文欣赏：我的第一份工作.docxVIP

我的第一份工作 Both my parents came from towns in Mexico. I was born in El Paso, Texas, and when I was four, my family moved to a housing project in East Los Angeles.?Even though we struggled to make ends meet, my parents stressed1) to me and my four brothers and sisters how fortunate we were to live in a great country with limitless opportunities. They imbued2) in us the concepts of family, faith and patriotism.?I got my first real job when I was ten. My dad, Benjamin, injured his back working in a cardboard-box factory and was retrained as a hairstylist. He rented space in a little mall and gave his shop the fancy name of Mr. Bens Coiffure3).?The owner of the shopping center gave Dad a discount on his rent for cleaning the parking lot three nights a week, which meant getting up at 3 a.m. To pick up trash, Dad used a little machine that looked like a lawn mower. Mom and I emptied garbage cans and picked up litter4) by hand. It took two to three hours to clean the lot. Id sleep in the car on the way home.?I did this for two years, but the lessons I learned have lasted a lifetime. I acquired5) discipline and a strong work ethic6), and learned at an early age the importance of balancing lifes competing interests7) — in my case8), school, homework and a job. This really helped during my senior year of high school, when I worked 40 hours a week flipping9) burgers at a fast-food joint10) while taking a full load of percolate courses.?The hard work paid off11). I attended12) the U.S. Military Academy and went on to receive graduate degrees in law and business from Harvard. Later, I joined a big Los Angeles law firm and was elected to the California state assembly. In these jobs and in everything else Ive done, I have never forgotten those days in the parking lot. The experience taught me that there is dignity13) in all work and that if people are working to provide for themselves and their families that is something we should honor.? 我的父母都来自墨西哥的小镇。我出生于得克萨斯州的埃尔帕索城。我四岁时，全家搬到