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 at the counter and every passenger was just standing there drinking coffee and staring at the black 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 with us 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 backup computer, I said, “Let’s forget the computer. What about your planes? They are still flying, aren’t they?”

       “I can’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 desk screen. “Only IT knows. It can’t tell me.”

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

46. The word “down” in the sentence ‘Our computer is down.’ means _____________.

   A. falling                        B. downcast                 C. drop                 D. dead

47. The best title of the article is _________.

   A. Asking the Computer                                      B. The Computer of the Airport

   C. The Most Frightening Words                           D. When the Computer Is Down

48. 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 a ticket.                                    D. She could write out a ticket.

                               

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