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 on the computer and every passenger was just standing there drinking coffee and staring 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 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.

1.The best title for the article is _______.

A．When the Computer Is Down

B．The Most Frightening Words

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.Why do you think they had not a backup computer?

A．Because it was easy down

B．Because it was very expensive.

C．Because it was not advanced enough.

D．Because it was not as big as the main computer.

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 bring suffering to people

D．there will be great changes in computers

 

While scientists are worried that humans are causing higher temperatures on the Earth, a Maryland man, Ace, thinks we can save the world by spraying（喷射）huge amounts of water into the air.

Ace told the McClatchy News Service that at least 1,000 places should be chosen to spray water. The water would be sprayed between 20 and 200 feet into the air. Thousands of tons of seawater would be sprayed for years at a time.

The 1,000 sites would be picked after more studies. They would be mostly in the Northern Hemisphere(北半球). Ace says he would avoid tropical（热带的）areas of the globe. He says water turns to rain too quickly in these areas for his plan to work.

The water would be changed into vapor. That process requires heat. The water vapor would rise above the Earth. The water vapor would form clouds. The clouds would help in several ways. They would cool the Earth by reflecting sunlight. They would later turn into rains. The rains would provide another way of cooling the Earth.

Ace’s plan has gotten some support from a limited scientific study. Kenneth Caldeira is a climate scientist. He works at the Carnegie Institution’s Department of Global Ecology at Stanford University in California. Caldeira tested some of the Ace’s figures on a computer program. The computer model is used by top scientists to study global climate change. The model showed that the plan might work.

“More tests are planned in 2009. Ideas like Ace’s should be considered carefully and with an open mind,” Calderira said. “Every brilliant（卓越的）invention in the history of technology looked a little bit mad when first put forward.”

65．What’s the purpose of Ace’s plan?

A. To reduce air pollution.                      

B. To make summer cooler.

C. To offer dry areas more rain.                  

D. To solve the problem of global warming. 

66．According to Ace’s plan,___________.

A. planes would be used to spray water.       

B. it would be best to spray water on rainy days.

C. seawater would be sprayed high into the sky

D.1,000 sites in the Southern Hemisphere would be chosen.

67．Why wouldn’t Ace spray water in tropical areas?

A. Water is changed into vapor too quickly.      

B. Water turns to rain too quickly.

C. It is hard for vapor to form clouds.           

D. It is bad for local plants to have too much rain.

68. It seems that Caldeira ____________.

A. takes Ace’s plan seriously                 

B. thinks Ace’s idea too crazy

C. doesn’t believe the computer’s result        

D. agrees to carry out Ace’s plan right away

 

Perhaps you have heard a lot about the Internet, but what is it, do you know? The Internet is a network. It uses the telephone to join millions of computers together around the world.

Maybe that doesn’t sound very interesting. But when you’ve joined to the Internet, there are lots and lots of things you can do. You can do with all kinds of information on the World Wide Web (WWW). You can use QQ to chat with your friends, and they will make responses in a few seconds. You can send E-mails to your friends, and they can get them in a few seconds. You can also go shopping by the Internet without going out.

There are many different kinds of computers now. They all can be joined to the Internet. Most of them are small machines sitting on people’s desks at home, but there are still many others in schools, offices or large companies. These computers are owned by people and companies, but no one really owns the Internet itself.

There are lots of places for you to go into the Internet. For example, your school may have the Internet. You can use it during lessons or free time. Libraries often have computers joined to the Internet. You are welcome to use it at your spare time.

Thanks to the Internet, the world is becoming smaller and smaller. It is possible for you to work at home with a computer in front, getting and sending the information you need. It is also possible for you to discuss some projects or assign the work on the Internet instead of at a meeting. In addition, you can buy or sell whatever you want by the Internet. But do you know 98% of the information on the Internet is in English? So what will English be like tomorrow?

1.What is the passage mainly about?

A．Internet.          B．Information.        C．Computers.        D．E-mails.

2.What’s the main idea of the second paragraph?

A．Doing with information on the Internet.

B．Using the Internet to communicate with friends.

C．Going shopping by the Internet.

D．Things we can do by the Internet.

3.Who is the owner of the Internet?

A．The headmaster.    B．The officer.        C．The manager.       D．No one.

4.Which may be the most possible place for people to work in the future?

A．In the office.                           B．At school.

C．At home.                              D．In the company.

5.What does the writer try to tell us with the last two sentences?

A．English is important in using the Internet.

B．The Internet is more and more popular.

C．Most of the information is in English.

D．Every computer must have the Internet.

 

首先请阅读下列电子产品的信息：

A. Apple iPad 2 - Thinner, lighter and faster, and with better battery life than any other tablet on the market- 64 G hard drive - Enjoy the latest movies and music that you can download from Apple’s online iTunes store - Be the first to get the latest iOS5 operating system Price: $799
B. Acer 765 laptop - Windows 7 operating system - 500G hard drive and 1.2Ghz processor - Best battery life of any laptop - Built in DVD/DC player and burner - Microsoft Office (Professional Edition) preinstalled - Internet ready Price: $1,500
C. Sony-Ericsson Anio Smartphone - Powerful phone reception - 2.3 inch screen - Wifi and 3G internet capable - Mp3 and FM radio player built in - Hands-free headset included Price: $349
D. Hewlett Packard Envy - The latest Windows 8 operating system - Cable and Wifi internet capable - 1T hard drive and 2.7Ghz processor - Latest graphic card supports all 3D movies and games - Free set of 3D glasses with purchase Price: $3,999
E. Sony Desktop: - 320 G hard drive and 1Ghz processor - Has Wifi and cable internet connectivity - DVD-CD player so you can enjoy the latest song and movies. - Comes with Windows Office (Student Edition) Price: $ 499
F. Ligo Media player - 4 Gigs of memory allows you to store up to 1500 of your favourite songs - Long lasting battery gives more than 24 hours of continuous use - Can play all common music files including mp3, wma, wav and avi Price: $65

 

以下是五个人的购买意向。请匹配个人信息与适合的电子产品。

1.Jill wants a simple and cheap computer for her daughter’s bedroom that will let her daughter access the internet and run the programme she needs to do her homework.

2.Robert needs a computer for his frequent business trips. Besides checking email, looking for information online and preparing his reports he also wants to be able to watch some of his favourite DVD movies that he takes on his trip.

3.Li Hua is going on holidays and wants a machine that is portable, internet connected and good for multi media playing. As he will be on buses and trains a lot he is looking for something that can be used for a long time without a battery recharge.

4.John always wants to be the first to have the newest technology. He has had an iPad2 for over a year and now he wants to get a machine that will let him experience the latest innovations in games and movies.

5.Karen has recently put on a lot of weight so is planning to start jogging. As she is afraid she’ll get bored she wants a small, simple and inexpensive mp3 player to let her listen to her favourite music while she exercises.

 

— Would you please give an example to show how useful a computer is?

— Sure. __________ people get __________ information from it every day.

A．The number of; a lot of	B．A huge number of; plenty of
C．Many a; a great deal of	D．Lots of; a lot