Sentence:  At the end of work one day , the personnel man took the applicants one at a time , asked them to sit behind the receptionist 's <WSD>desk</WSD> and he then played the role of a number of people who might come to the receptionist with a number of queries and for a number of purposes . 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  a piece of furniture with a writing surface and usually drawers or other compartments