A
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 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'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.
语篇解读：文章主要讲的是当电脑死机，不能启动给人们带来了困扰和麻烦。
1．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.
解析：选D 细节理解题。根据第四段“I can't write you out a ticket. The computer is the only one allowed to do so.”可知，当电脑死机时，售票员无任何办法，只能等电脑恢复过后，才能售票，故选D。
2．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 trouble to people
D．there will be great changes in computers
解析：选C 推理判断题。根据最后一段内容可知当电脑死机时，人们无可奈何，只能等待，即电脑死机给人们带来了烦恼和麻烦，故选C。
3．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．A Different Travel
解析：选A 标题归纳题。文章主要讲的是当电脑死机，不能启动时给人们带来的一系列困扰和麻烦，故选A。
