Question

【题目】The most awful words in the English language are, "Our computer is down." You hear it more and more when you are on business. The other day I was at the airport waiting for a ticket to Washington and the girl in the ticket office said, "I'm sorry, I can't sell you a ticket. Our computer is down."

"If your computer is down, just write me out a ticket."

"I can't write you out a ticket. The computer is the only one allowed to do so."

I looked down on the computer and every passenger was just standing there drinking coffee and looking at the black screen. Then I asked her, "What do all you people do?"

"We give the computer the information about your trip, and then it tells us whether you can fly with us or not."

"So when it goes down, you go down with it."

"That's good, sir."

"How long will the computer be down?" I wanted to know.

"I have no idea. Sometimes it's down for 10 minutes, sometimes for two hours. There's no way we can find out without asking the computer, and since it's down it won't answer us."

After the girl told me they had no backup (备用) computer, I said. "Let's forget the computer. What about your planes? They're still flying, aren't they?"

"I couldn't tell without asking the computer."

"Maybe I could just go to the gate and ask the pilot if he's flying to Washington," I suggested.

"I wouldn't know what gate to send you to. Even if the pilot was going to Washington, he couldn't take you if you didn't have a ticket."

"Is there any other airline(航空公司) flying to Washington within the next few hours?"

"I wouldn't know," she said, pointing at the dark screen. "Only 'IT' knows. 'It' can't tell me."

By this time there were quite a few people standing in lines. The word soon spread to other travelers that the computer was down. Some people went white, some people started to cry and still others kicked their luggage (行李).

【1】The best title for the article is _____.

A. The Most Awful Words B. When the Computer Is Down

C. The Computer of the Airport D. Asking the Computer

【2】What could the girl in the ticket office do for the passengers without asking the computer?

A. She could sell a ticket.

B. She could write out a ticket.

C. She could answer the passengers' questions.

D. She could do nothing.

【3】What did passengers do when the computer was down?

A. They left the airport and went home.

B. They drank coffee and watched the black screen.

C. They began to talk to each other.

D. None above.

【4】The last paragraph suggests that _____.

A. a modern computer won't be down

B. computers can take the place of humans

C. sometimes a computer may drive people mad

D. People can do more things without a computer

Answer 1

【答案】

【1】 B

【2】 D

【3】 B

【4】 C

【解析】

本文主要讲述英语中最糟糕的词是“我们的电脑坏了”。作者讲述去买飞机票的经历。前几天作者在机场等去买华盛顿的机票，售票处的女孩说：“对不起，我不能卖票给你。我们的电脑坏了。”作者问你能否开出一张票， 售票员说：“我不能给你开出一张票。计算机是唯一允许这样做的。”作者想知道在接下来的几个小时内还有其他航空公司飞往华盛顿航班吗? 售票员指着黑暗的屏幕说：“我不问电脑就什么也说不出话来。我不知道，只有‘它’知道，它不能告诉我。”这时有不少人站成一排。“电脑坏了”这个词很快就传到了其他游客那里。有些人脸色发白，有些人开始哭，还有些人踢着行李。

【1】题意：这篇文章最好的标题是_________________。考查主旨理解题。A. The Most Awful Words最可怕的话；B. When the Computer Is Down当电脑坏了；C. The Computer of the Airport飞机场的计算机；D. Asking the Computer 问电脑去。本文作者讲述了买去华盛顿的机票，当售票员说“电脑坏了”发生的情景。由此可知这篇文章最好的标题是“当电脑坏了时”；故选B。

【2】题意：售票处的女孩不问电脑，还能为乘客做些什么？考查细节理解题。A. She could sell a ticket. 她可以卖票；B. She could write out a ticket.她可以手写一张票；C. She could answer the passengers' questions. 她能回答乘客的问题。D. She could do nothing.她什么也不能做。作者去买票，售票员说电脑坏了不能售票。当作者询问售票员你能否开一张票，和作者想知道在接下来的几个小时内还有其他航空公司飞往华盛顿航班，售票员说不问电脑什么都不可以。可知售票处的女孩不问电脑，她为乘客什么也不能做；故选D。

【3】题意：当电脑坏了的时候，乘客们做了什么？考查细节理解题。A. They left the airport and went home. 他们离开机场回家了；B. They drank coffee and watched the black screen. 他们喝咖啡，看着黑色的屏屏；C. They began to talk to each other. 他们开始互相交谈；D. None above.

以上都不能做。根据第三段第一句I looked down on the computer and every passenger was just standing there drinking coffee and looking at the black screen.（我低头看着电脑，每个乘客都站在那里喝咖啡，看着黑色屏幕。）可知答案是B。

【4】题意：最后一段话表明_______________________。考查细节理解题。A. a modern computer won't be down现代计算机不会下降；B. computers can take the place of humans计算机可以代替人类；C. sometimes a computer may drive people mad有时电脑会使人发疯；D. People can do more things without a computer 没有电脑，人们可以做更多的事情。根据最后一段最后一句当听说电脑坏了人们的反应Some people went white, some people started to cry and still others kicked their luggage (有些人脸色发白，有些人开始哭，还有些人踢着行李。).可知有时电脑会使人发疯；故选C。