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(備用) 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
1.A
2.D
3.B
4.C
【解析】
試題分析：文章主要講的是當電腦死機，不能啟動的時候人們所能做的事情，確實給人們帶來了困擾和麻煩。
1.主旨大意題文章主要講的是當電腦死機，不能啟動的時候人們所能做的事情，因此選A。
2.推理判斷題根據文章的對話部分可知，當電腦死機時，售票員無任何辦法，只能等電腦恢復過后，才能售票。因此選D。
3.推理判斷題根據他們的對話可知，沒有備用電腦指可能是備用電腦的花費比較高。選B
4.推理判斷題最后一段告知我們當電腦死機時，人們無可奈何，只能等待，給人們帶來了無限的煩惱和麻煩。選C。
考點：考查日常生活類短文
點評：文章的主旨大意即是文章的中心思想。做閱讀理解題首先要明確文章的中心意思，只有明確了中心意思，那么做閱讀理解的試題才能做到游刃有余。閱讀理解的主旨大意題其實主要考查考生把握全文內容或理解文章中心思想的能力以及分析歸納文章段落大意、重要情節、人物特征和寫作特點等方面的能力。文章的主旨大意明確了，若還具備分析長難句的能力，難的試題也會迎刃而解。
天天向上一本好卷系列答案
小學生10分鐘應用題系列答案科目：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
