Istareddownatthe$14.86leftinmyhandafterpayingtheweeklyr...

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I stared down at the $14.86 left in my hand after paying the weekly rent for the small house we’d found. We had only a small amount of food in our kitchen. I wondered how I could have gotten my eight-year-old daughter and me to the point where we were so close to homelessness. I made one or two wrong assumptions about being able to find new employment. It seemed that I was on a ladder sliding downward, with no end in sight.

Staying here were single moms trying to escape from bad marriages, alcoholics and people who just seemed to have a hard time fitting in. I fell normal, so what was I doing here? More importantly, was there something these people could teach me about surviving until I could climb out of my difficult situation? I swallowed my pride and began to knock on doors. Whether they were single parents or travelers, I was told how to donate blood to earn a bit of money and how one family worked at a local temp(临时雇员) agency that paid daily. Doing everything they recommended allowed me to keep going.

The whole time I continued to go to interview after interview in search of a regular job. I landed a job as a receptionist. I saw all the business partners as they came and went. Whenever I had an opportunity to make any kind of a positive impression, whether offering to return calls, making reservations, recommending a solution to a caller’s problem or anything else, I did so. The effort paid off. My temp-to-perm job was lengthened for another two-week period. I was moved from the reception desk to the second assistant for one of the partners. This gave me the opportunity to see even more of what went on in the firm. I offered the executive assistant help in completing her work so that we could both go home at a more reasonable time.

Even though I knew it was rare for this firm to move anyone from a temporary position to a permanent one, I decided I’d do my job as if it were already mine. I organized the file. I set up a follow-up calendar(日程表). I made sure whatever was needed for meeting was there beforehand. I figured that if I could keep working there for over four months, I might have a chance.

I had been working there for eight weeks when the executive assistant became ill and was in hospital. Since she was expected back shortly, I offered to step in and do her tasks as well as my own task. Sadly, the executive assistant never did fully recover from her sickness. After working for six of the hardest months of my life, I was permanently offered her position. It provided benefits, stability and eventually the opportunity to move into a better and closer apartment. I worked for that firm for almost five years. I eventually took over the operation of a department and was promoted to the position of manager. Who could have imagined that?

My time as a nearly homeless person had given me new compassion(同情) for people in trouble. Instead of simply evicting(驱逐) everyone who couldn’t pay, my apartment developed an awarding-winning program which allowed them to work off their rents by providing needed services, such as cleaning, gardening or painting, somewhere in our apartment buildings.

I went on to have other corporate jobs, and I now live in my house. Whenever I see a person who needs help today, I wonder what his story is. And I try to offer him at least a warm cup of coffee or something to eat. Who knows, some day it might be me again. I’d like to think that someone would help me if they could.

65. According to Paragraph 1, what happened to the author?

A. She was out of work. B. She didn’t have any food to eat.

C. She hurt herself falling off a ladder. D. She couldn’t afford to pay the rent.

66. The author knocked on other people’s doors in order to _____________.