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.
小题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.小题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小题3:How many attempts did Lynn make to type the letter?
A．One.
B．Two.
C．Three.
D．Four.小题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.小题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.
