One fine afternoon I was walking along Fifth Avenue when I remembered that it was necessary to buy a pair of socks．I turned into the first sock shop that caught my eye, and a boy clerk who could not have been more than seventeen years old came forward．“What can I do for you, sir? ” “I wish to buy a pair of socks．” His eyes glowed．There was a note of passion in his voice．“Did you know that you had come into the finest place in the world to buy socks? ” I had not been aware of that, as my entrance had been accidental．“Come with me, ” said the boy．I followed him to the rear of the shop, and he began to take down from the shelves box after box, displaying their contents．
“Hold on, lad, I am going to buy only one pair! ” “I know that, ” said he, “but I want you to see how beautiful these are．Aren't they wonderful? ” I became far more interested in him than in the socks．I looked at him in amazement．“My friend, ” said I, “if you can keep this up, if this is not merely the enthusiasm that comes from novelty(新奇性), from having a new job, if you can keep up this zeal and excitement day after day, in ten years you will own every sock in the United States．”
My amazement at his pride and joy in salesmanship will be easily understood by all who read this article．In many shops the customer has to wait for someone to wait upon him．And when finally some clerk does deign to notice you, you are made to feel as if you were interrupting him．Either he is absorbed in profound(深刻的)thought in which he hates to be disturbed or he is skylarking with a girl clerk and you feel like apologizing for thrusting yourself into such intimacy．
He displays no interest either in you or in the goods he is paid to sell．Yet possibly that very clerk who is now so cold began his career with hope and enthusiasm．The daily grind(苦差事)was too much for him; the novelty wore off; his only pleasures were found outside of working hours．He became a mechanical salesman．After being mechanical, he became incompetent(不称职的); then he saw younger clerks who had more enthusiasm in their work, promoted over him．He became sour．That was the last stage．His usefulness was over．
I have observed this sad decline in the lives of so many men in so many occupations that I have come to the conclusion that the surest road to failure is to do things mechanically．
(1)
What does the underlined word “that” in the first paragraph probably refer to?
[ ]
A．
I turned into the first sock shop．
B．
The boy's shop was the finest to buy socks．
C．
The boy led me to the rear of the shop．
D．
The boy displayed socks to me enthusiastically．
(2)
What can be inferred from the third paragraph?
[ ]
A．
The salesmen are often interrupted by customers．
B．
Customers should wait to be waited upon．
C．
The salesmen are good at profound thought．
D．
In many shops customers are treated coldly．
(3)
Which of the following is NOT the reason for clerks’ lack of passion?