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 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 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
　　参考答案：C
　　参考解析：推断题。根据文章最后一段的描述：电脑死机，旅客们感到恐惧、忧郁、不安，故本题选择C。
　　2、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
　　参考答案：A
　　参考解析：主旨题。根据文章第一句中的“0ur computer is down”(我们的电脑宕机了)及后面的文章关于机场电脑宕机后的一些对话内容可知，文章主要讲述的是机场电脑宕机后发生的一些事情，故本题选择A。
　　3、What did passengers do when the computer was down?
　　A.They left home and went home.
　　B.They drank coffee and stared at the black screen.
　　C.They began to talk to each other.
　　D.None above.
　　参考答案：B
　　参考解析：细节题。文中第四段第一句“every passenger was just standing there drinking coffee and staring at the black screen.”(乘客们站在那儿，喝着咖啡，眼睛盯着那个黑掉了的屏幕)。故本题选择B。
　　4、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.
　　参考答案：B
　　参考解析：主观题。没有备用电脑，最有可能是因为设备比较贵。故本题选择B。
　　5、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.
　　参考答案：D
　　参考解析：细节题。根据文章中的对话“When it[computer]goes down.you go down with it.”(若电脑宕机了，你们也工作不了了。)可知，机场售票员什么都不能做。故本题选择D。
　　参考译文
　　英语中最令人恐惧的句子是：“我们的电脑宕机了。”在出差的时候，这样的消息你听到的越来越多。前几天我在机场排队买去华盛顿的票。售票窗口的女孩说：“对不起，我们现在不能卖票。我们的电脑宕机了。”“要是电脑坏了，你就给我填一张票吧。”
　　“我无法给你填票。我们只能用电脑出票。”
　　我看着那台电脑。乘客们都站在那里，喝着咖啡，盯着那已黑了的屏幕。然后我问她：“你们这些人都是干什么的?”
　　“我们把你旅途的信息输入电脑，然后它就会显示是否有合适你的航班。”
　　“所以要是电脑宕机了，你们就什么都不能干了。”
　　“是的。先生。”
　　“电脑宕机要持续多久?”我问道。
　　“我不清楚。有时十分钟，有时两个小时。要是不Pl电脑我们什么信息都不知道。既然现在它宕机了，它就不会回应我们了。”
　　从女孩那里得知没有备用电脑后，我说：“我们先别管电脑这事。你们的飞机呢?它们还在飞，是吗?”
　　“没有电脑，我就无法回答你。”
　　“或许我可以去大门那问飞行员是否要飞往华盛顿。”我暗示道。
　　“我不知道让你去哪个门找他。即使飞行员飞往华盛顿，要是没有机票.他也不会让你登机。”
　　“接下来的几个小时还有其他去华盛顿的航班吗?”
　　“我无法回答你，”她说着，顺便指指那黑了的屏幕，“只有‘它'知道.而它现在无法告诉我。”
　　现在已经没多少人排队了。电脑宕机的消息迅速传到了其他旅行者那里。一些人惊得脸都白了，有一些人开始大叫，还有一些人愤怒地踢他们的行李。