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 your 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 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 line. 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 does the underlined words“ backup computer” probably mean?

A. A computer that will be brought back soon.  

B.A second-hand computer that is still in use.

C. An advanced computer that never breaks down..   

D. A computer ready for use when the main one does not work.

3. The last paragraph implies 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

 

【答案】

 

1.A

2.D

3.C

【解析】略

 

練習(xí)冊(cè)系列答案
相關(guān)習(xí)題

科目：高中英語 來源： 題型：

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

    2. <pre id="epgai"></pre>
      4.     
           
      

			
      

			
      
			查看答案和解析>>		
				
		
      
			
      
				科目：高中英語
				來源：2016屆浙江省高一上學(xué)期期中英語試卷（解析版）
				題型：單詞拼寫
			
      

						
      單詞拼寫
      


      1.Last week, I s______________ my newly-bought sweater
for one in another color.
      


      2.It u__________ him that nobody told him about the
whole thing.
      


      3.He asked several questions c______________ the
future of the company.
      


      4.We can tell what people think from their facial
e________________.
      


      5.Whether it is safe or not is one of the most
f________________ asked questions about the Internet.
      


      6.Our president will make an o______________ visit to
Tokyo in March and will attend a lot of meetings there.
      


      7.We had planned to complete the new bridge in 2012,
but it was finished two years ahead of s______________.
      


      8.He is the chairman of a large international
o________________.
      


      9.The temperature is f__________ to reach as low as 4℃ and warm
clothes will be needed.
      


      10.Light travels faster than sounds, so we see
l________________ followed by thunder on rainy days.
      


       
      

			
      

			
      
			查看答案和解析>>		
      
				
		
      
			
      
				科目：高中英語
				來源：2011-2012學(xué)年黑龍江省高三9月月考英語題
				題型：其他題
			
      

						
      To send and to read email has
quickly become one of the most common daily activities around the world, either
for business or pleasure.    1.   
      


      Several reasons why email has
become a great tool is that it is fast, convenient, and affordable.  2.  In the past, teachers often organized pen
friends project where their students would exchange letters with another group
of students in another country   3.  And by that time, students might lose
interest in the project or the class might and before a serious of meaningful
exchanges can take place.   4.  With email, however, messages can be sent at
a click of a button at school, home, or an Internet café,
and if you are using a free email account, the cost is free(not taking into
account any Internet Service Provider fees that you have to pay).
      


        5.  Email has a lot to offer, for language
learners and teachers in the classroom.
      


      A．In addition, students have to pay imitational
postage to send the letters.
      


      B．However, the turn-arcund time for sending and
receiving traditional letters can take up months.
      


      C．Now, more students are using this form of
communication to improve their language skills.
      


      D．Students can develop friendships with people
from around the globe.
      


      E．While chatting online, never give out
personal information including your age.
      


      F．One particular activity that takes advantage
of these points is a key pal exchange.
      


      G．Instead of waiting days or
weeks for a response, students can receive a reply quickly.
      


       
      

			
      

			
      
			查看答案和解析>>		
      
				
		
      
			
      
				科目：高中英語
				來源：期中題
				題型：填空題
			
      

						
      單詞拼寫
      1. A__________(學(xué)術(shù)的)studies have proved that one's hard work is the key to success.
      2. Hearing the noise, they i__________(立即)stopped talking.
      3. Life was tough for millions of u__________(失業(yè)的)workers in cities and peasants in remote areas 
      during the economic depression.
      4. High-quality radio c__________(錄音帶)recorders made in China are water-proof, shock-resistant 
      and antimagnetic.
      5. After heated discussion, we took a group photo as a s__________(紀(jì)念品)and then the meeting 
      finished.
      6. She received an e__________(熱烈的)welcome from the audience. 
      7. A s__________(調(diào)查)of 100 winter-swimmers in different age groups indicates that 80 percent 
      originally suffered from diseases of some kind.
      8. Every bit of Huangshan Mountain s__________(景色)is worth painting.
      9. I was in the e__________(尷尬的)position of having completely forgotten her name.
      10. With the changes in the world's climate, dinosaurs died but many smaller animals lived on. It was 
      s_________(生存,幸存)of the fittest.
      11. In s__________(總結(jié)), the two universities have some things in common.
      12. This palace is an example of early ancient Chinese a__________(建筑)
      13. I am wrong. S_________(同樣地), you are to blame.
      14. You misunderstood the i__________(要求、說明).
      15. Students will have to learn English from the 1st grade, while some from the very beginning in the 
      k__________(幼兒園).
      16. Some young children achieve great f__________(流利)in their reading.
      17. Many women are too e__________(疲憊不堪的)by their double career (home and office) to enjoy 
      either one.
      18. The famous Italian traveler Marco Polo was so impressed by the beauty of Hangzhou that he 
      described it as "the most f__________(迷人的)city in the world where one feels that one is in paradise".
      19. She delivered her speech with a vote of thanks to the c__________(委員會(huì)).
      20. We listened to Philip's d__________(描述)of the wedding.
      

			
      

			
      
			查看答案和解析>>		
      
				
		
      
			
      
				科目：高中英語
				來源：
				題型：閱讀理解
			
      

						
      閱讀下列短文，根據(jù)以下提示：1）漢語提示，2）首字母提示，3）語境提示，在每個(gè)空格內(nèi)填入一個(gè)適當(dāng)?shù)挠⒄Z單詞，并將該詞完整地寫在右邊相對(duì)應(yīng)的橫線上。所填單詞要求意義準(zhǔn)確，拼寫正確。
          
                                  Most  Americans don’t like to get advice from members of their
          
      family.  They get advice _______ “strangers”. When they need advice, they                    76.  __________
          
      don’t  usually go to people they know.        ,  many of them write letters            77.  __________
          
      to  newspapers and _______（雜志）that give advice on  many different                78.  __________
          
      subjects  i       family problems, the use of  language, health, cooking,                79.  __________
          
      child  care, clothes, and        _ on how to  buy a house or a car. Most                      80.  __________
          
      newspapers  r        print letters from readers  with problems. Along                   81.  __________
          
      with  the letters there are answers written by people who are s          to            82.  __________
          
      know  how to _______（解決）such problems. Some  of these writers are                    83.  __________
          
      doctors,  others are lawyers or educators. But two of the most f       _ writers            84.  __________
          
      of  advice are women without special _______（訓(xùn)練）  for this kind of work.              85.  __________
          
      Anyway,  these writers are mostly specialists popular with the public.
          
      

			
      

			
      
			查看答案和解析>>		
      
			
	
      
		
      


      同步練習(xí)冊(cè)答案