Question

Lynn was a young French Canadian girl who grew up in the farming community. At the age of l6, her father thought that she had enough schooling and forced her to drop out of school to contribute to the family income. In l922, with limited education and skills, the future didn’t look bright for Lynn. Her father demanded that Lynn find a job as soon as possible, but she didn’t have the confidence to ask for a job.

One day, Lynn gathered her courage and knocked on her very first door. She was met by Margaret Costello, the office manager. In her broken English, Lynn told her she was interested in the secretarial position. Margaret decided to give her a chance.

Margaret sat her down at a typewriter and said, “Lynn, let’s see how good you really are.” She directed Lynn to type a single letter, and then left. Lynn looked at the clock and saw that it was 11:40 a.m. Everyone would be leaving for lunch at noon. She thought she should at least attempt the letter.

On her first try, she got through one line but made four mistakes. She pulled the paper out and threw it away. The clock now read 11:45. “At noon,” she said to herself, “I’ll move out with the crowd, and they will never see me again.”

On her second attempt, things didn’t get any better. Again she started over and finally completed the letter, full of mistakes, though. She looked at the clock: 11:55—five minutes to freedom.

Just then, Margaret walked in. She came directly over to Lynn, and put one hand on the desk and the other on the girl’s shoulder. She read the letter and paused. Then she said, “Lynn, you’re doing good work!”

Lynn was surprised. She looked at the letter, then up at Margaret. With those simple words of encouragement, her desire to escape disappeared and her confidence began to grow. She thought, “Well, if she thinks it’s good, then it must be good. I think I’ll stay!”

Lynn did stay at Carhartt Overall Company…for 51 years, through two world wars and 11 presidents—all because someone had the insight to give a shy and uncertain young girl the gift of self-confidence when she knocked on the door.

1.Why did Lynn leave school at an early age?

A. To learn English well.                

B. To earn money for her family.

C. To get self-confidence.                   

D. To become a typist.

2.When Lynn applied for the job, she               .

A. could speak good English             

B. didn’t know much about typing

C. knew Margaret very well              

D. never wrote any letter

3.How many attempts did Lynn make to type the letter?

   A. One.            B. Two.            C. Three.        D. Four.

4.Who does the underlined word “someone” in the last paragraph refer to?

   A. Lynn’s father.                    B. Lynn herself.       C. A president.     D. Margaret.

5.What can we learn from Lynn's story?

A. Encouragement makes a difference.                     

B. Honesty is the best policy.

C. Virtue(美德) leads to success.       

D. Time waits for no man.

Answer

1.B

2.B

3.C

4.D

5.A

【解析】本文讲述的是Lynn在被迫离开学校后，首次求职时，一位办公室经理的鼓励给了她自信，使他在这个行业工作了51年。

1.细节理解题。根据第一段第一、二据可知答案为B.

2.细节理解题。根据文章第二至第五段，可知在她求职时，他对typing几乎一无所知。

3.细节判断题。由文章3-5段，可知Lynn共尝试了三次。

4.词义猜测题。 某个人是指曾经帮助她给她自信的人，因此答案为D.

5.推理题。通过全文我们可知，正是Margaret的鼓励给了她勇气和自信，使她在这个行业工作了一辈子。故选A。