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The Parking-Lot(停车场)Sweeper
Both my parents came from towns in Mexico．I was born in E1 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 stressed to me and my four brothers and sisters how 1 we were to live in a great country with limitless opportunities．They 2 us with the ideas of family, faith and love．
I got my first 3 job when I was ten．My dad injured his back working in a cardboard-box factory and was retrained as a hairstylist．He 4 space in a little shopping center and gave his shop the flowery name of Mr. Ben’s Coiffure．
The owner of the shopping center 5 my Dad’s payment for cleaning the parking lot three 6 a week, which 7 getting up at 3 a.m. Mom and I helped 8 dustbin and pick up rubbish by hand．It took two to three hours to clean the lot．I 9 sleep in the car on the way home．
I did this for two years, but the lessons I learned have 10 a lifetime．I obtained discipline(自律)and the importance of work, and learned at a(n) 11 age the importance of balancing life’s competing interests——in my 12 , school, homework and a job．This 13 helped during my school years, when I worked 40 hours at a fast-food restaurant while taking a 14 of college preparation courses．
The hard work 15 off．I attended the U．S．Military Academy and went on to 16 graduate degrees in law and business from Harvard． 17 , I joined a big Los Angeles law firm and was elected to the California state assembly(州议会)．In these jobs and in everything else I’ve done, I have 18 forgotten those nights in the parking lot．The experience taught me that there is value in all work and that if people are working to 19 for themselves and their families, that is 20 we should honor．
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