Deep into the night,the bus pulled into a Howard Johnson’s restaurant and everybody got off the bus except Vinge.The young people began to wonder about him,trying to imagine his life:perhaps he was a sea captain;maybe he had run away from wife;he could be an old soldier going home.When they went to the bus,one of the girls sat beside him and introduced herself.After a long time,slowly and painfully,he began to tell his story. He had been in prison in New York for the last four years,and now he was going home.?

“Well,when I was in prison I wrote to my wife.I said,Martha,I understand if you can’t stay married to me.I said I was going to be away a long time,and that if she couldn’t stand it,if the kids kept asking questions,if it hurt her too much,well,she could just forget me.Get a new young man—she’s a wonderful woman—and forget all about me.I told her she didn’t have to write to me,and she didn’t,Not for the three and a half years.”?

“Last week,when I was sure freedom was coming through,I wrote to her.I told her that if she had a new young man,I would understand.But if she didn’t,if she would take me back,she should let me know.We used to live in this town,Brunswick,and there’s a great big oak tree just as you come into the town.I told her if she would take me back,she should put a yellow handkerchief on the tree,and if she didn’t want me,forgot me,no handkerchief and I’d keep going on through.”?

Soon all the others were in it.When they were 20 miles from Brunswick,the young people took over window seats on the right side,waiting for the approach of the great oak tree.Vinge stopped looking,tightening his face into the ex-con’s mask.Then it was 10 miles,and then five,and the bus became very quiet.?

Then suddenly all of the young people were up out of their seats,screaming and shouting and crying,doing small dances.All except Vinge.?

1.Vinge in the story used to be a .?

A.soldier in the war?

B.sea captain?

C.prisoner?

D.manager on business?

2.In the story,the yellow handkerchief probably means ________.?

A.happiness?

B.sadness?

C.I hate you?

D.I still love you?

3.Vinge “stopped looking,tightening his face into the ex-con’s mask.”because.

A.he was excited to think of his wife?

B.he was ashamed for what he had done?

C.he was afraid to see the handkerchief on the oak tree.?

D.he was afraid that he might not see the yellow handkerchief on the oak tree?

4.The bus became quiet when it came near the town because all the passengers.

A.goy tired after a long journey?

B.got too sad to say anything?

C.grew excited and worried to see the oak tree?

D.were attracted by the story

22. Jason didn’t turn up yesterday, because he was out on business. We all felt sorry ___      him.

--Did Mary come to your birthday party?

--No. I __________ her, but she was away on business.

   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 noticed every passenger was just standing there drinking coffee and staring at the black screen. Then I looked down on the computer and 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.
56. Where do you often hear these frightening words “Our computer is down”?
A. At the airport.          B. At the gate.             C. On business.     D. In the ticket office.
57. What could the girl in the ticket office do without asking the computer?
A. She could do nothing.
B. She could sell a ticket.
C. She could write out a ticket.
D. She could answer the passengers’ questions.
58. What does the underlined word “down” in Paragraph 1 mean?
A. White.                            B. Broken.             C. Black.                D. Dark.
59. We can learn from the last paragraph that _______.
A. a modern computer won’t be down
B. computers can take the place of human
C. there will be great changes in computers
D. sometimes a computer may bring suffering to people
60. The best title for the article is _______.
A. Asking the Computer                              B. When the Computer Is Down
C. The Computer of the Airport                         D. The Most Frightening Words

 (2010年南通二模)—Sorry indeed，I________to your birthday party if...

—Forget it.I know you were out on business.

A．must come                          B．would come

C．must have come                   D．would have come