I had applied for the nuclear submarine  program, and Admiral Rickover was interviewing me for the job. It was the first time I met Admiral Rickover, and we sat in a large room by ourselves for more than two hours, and he let me choose any subjects I wished to discuss. Very carefully, I chose those about which I knew most at the time - recent events, seamanship, music, literature, naval tactics , electronics, gunnery  - and he began to ask me a lot of questions that were more difficult. Every time after my answers, he soon showed that I knew rather little about the subjects I had chosen. He always looked right into my eyes, and he never smiled. I was _ with cold sweat. Finally, he asked me a question and I thought it was my turn to show myself off. He said, "How did you stand in your class at Georgia Tech before entering Annapolis as a first year student?" I had done very well, and I threw my chest with pride and answered, "Sir, I stood thirty-ninth in a class of 820!" I sat back to wait for the congratulations - which never came. Instead, the question: "Did you do your best?" I started to say, "Yes, sir," but I remembered who this was, and thought of several of my times at the Academy when I could have learned more about our allies , our enemies, weapons strategy  and so on, so I finally said, "No, Sir, I didn't always do my best." He looked at me for a long time, and then turned his chair around to end the interview. He asked one final question, which I have never been able to forget - or to answer. He said, "Why not?" I sat there for a while, shaken, and then slowly left the room. The passage suggests that   _  .
the atmosphere of the interviews was very serious the author always did his best in doing everything the author and Admiral Rickover were good friends Admiral Rickover knew the author quite well