The most frightening words in the English

题目内容：

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.

小题1:The word “down” in the sentence ‘Our computer is down.’ means _____________.

A．falling

B．downcast

C．drop

D．dead小题2: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小题3: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.

最佳答案：

小题1:D

小题2:D

小题3:B

答案解析：

本文主要讲述的是自己在机场遇见的一幕，说明我们人类已经被计算机给严重地影响了。

小题1:D 推理题。根据本句I’m sorry, I can’t sell you a ticket. Our computer is down.说明这里的down是指电脑死机了，故D正确。

小题2:D 主旨大意题。本文主要讲述的是自己在机场遇见的一幕，说明我们人类已经被计算机给严重地影响了，故D正确。

小题3:B 细节题。根据文章内容可知没有了计算机，这位服务员什么也做不了，故B正确。

点评：本文解释了“our computer is down.”这句话对人的影响。本文主旨鲜明,很容易在文中找到答案。做题时要注意文章的首段和每一段的首句或尾句，因为它们往往就是文章的主题句。阅读中要注意要点之间的关系。然后带着问题，再读全文，找出答题所需要的依据，完成阅读任务。

考点核心：

人物传记类文章的文体特征：

人物传记是记叙文体的一种，主要描写某人的生平事迹、趣闻轶事、生活背景、个性特征、成长奋斗历程等，包含记叙文的时间、地点、人物、事件等要素。其特点是以时间的先后或事件的发展为主线，空间或逻辑线索贯穿文章始终，脉络清楚，可读性较强。