The most frightening 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 the counter(柜台)and every passenger was just standing there drinking coffee and staring at the blank screen. Then I asked her,” What do you do?”
“We give the computer the information about your trip, and then it tells us whether you can fly or not.”
“So when it goes down, you go down with it.”
“That ‘s right, 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 is 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 spare 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 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 words soon spread to other travelers that the computer was down Some people went, some people started to cry and still others kicked(踢) their luggage.
The best title for the passage is ______.
A. Asking the computer B. The computer of the airport
C. The most useful words D. When the computer is down
What could the girl in the ticket office do for the passengers without asking the computer?
A. She could answer the passengers’ questions B. She could do nothing
C. She could sell tickets D. She could write out tickets
The last paragraph suggests that _____.
A. modern computers won’t be down
B. computers can take the place of humans
C. computers may bring trouble to people
D .there will be great changes in computers
同步奥数系列答案科目：高中英语 来源： 题型：
Directions: Read the following text and choose the most suitable heading from A—F for each paragraph. There is one extra heading which you do not need.
| Do established musicians have a responsibility to guide and assist young up-and–coming musicians? Did anyone promote your musical education when you were growing up? What kind of “world music” do you enjoy? What’s your comment on pop music? Does the contemporary music press give jazz the coverage it deserves? What’s wrong with the music on the radio? |
An interview with Wynton Marsalis, a noted jazz musician
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