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.

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

A．falling            B．downcast          C．drop             D．dead

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

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.

 

As the sound of footsteps behind her grew louder, she quickened her pace. She didn’t want to turn around as the memory of that morning’s newspaper headline made her afraid of what she would see: “City Killer Claims Fourth Victim.”

“Why did I stop for a few drinks in the bar after work?” she thought to herself. Now it was dark and the streets deserted. She was alone and a sitting duck.

She felt as if she was walking in the rain. Her clothes were damp from nervous sweat and as each short hot breath hit the night air, it turned to steam, coating her glasses in a thin film so all she saw seemed covered in fog.

The footsteps were closer now. She needed to get off this street. Her eyes began a useless search for an open store or lighted window. Passing a small lane she looked through，for a possible escape route. But the lane was a dead - end and she laughed to herself at the irony.

The sound of a car behind her turning onto the street interrupted her self – pity. Escape was at hand. But as she was about to throw herself onto the road and shout for the car to stop, the car’s headlights cast a shadow that paralyzed （使瘫痪） her with terror.

It was the footsteps’ owner. The figure was huge and in its raised arm it held what looked like a lead-pipe, no doubt the one that was about to claim victim number five.

The shadow dissolved as the car passed by and disappeared into the distance. She felt a hand on her shoulder. It was all happening as if in slow – motion. She was waiting for her life to flash before her eyes like all those novels said it would – but it didn’t. The only thing she thought of was her dear husband. She recalled phoning him from work that very afternoon and joking about, of all things, the city killer. It was a night full of ironies.

There was a voice talking to her now but she was lost in thoughts of her fate and didn’t respond. The hand then began turning her around. It was surprisingly gentle given what was about to come. She allowed it to guide her without resistance. （抵抗；反抗）

She looked up. She recognized the face, but she didn’t know from where. Its mouth was still talking to her but she couldn’t understand. Then she remembered. The face belonged to the foreign looking man who had served her at the bar. She looked down to his hand and saw in it not a lead – pipe but a rolled up copy of a work report she had been correcting in the bar as she drank.

His words suddenly started to register in her brain and she could hear him. “Miss, Miss. Are you OK? You left this in the bar and it looked important so I thought I’d better give it to you.”

1.The woman was feeling nervous because        .

A．she had left her report in the bar

B．there was a killer in the city

C．she was being followed by someone

D．the streets were dark and empty

2.The underlined expression “a sitting duck” (paragraph 2) is closest in meaning to “        ”.

A．an easy target                          B．a frightened person

C．a foolish animal                         D．a still position

3.What is the correct order of events that happened to the woman on the day of the story?

a. She went for a drink in a bar.   b. She corrected the report.

c. She heard loud footsteps.    d. She read the newspaper.

e. She called her husband.  f. She felt a hand on her shoulder.

A．d,c,a,e,b,f         B．c,d,a,e,f,b          C．d,a,b,e,c,f         D．d,e,a,b,c,f

4.Why did the woman laugh when she looked into the lane?

A．She was excited because she thought it may be a way to escape.

B．She felt bitter because she had no chance to escape.

C．She was becoming more and more nervous.

D．She realized that she was behaving foolishly.

5.Which of the following can be inferred from the passage?

A．It was raining when she left the bar.

B．The woman had felt nervous about the city killer for days.

C．The temperature was very low that evening.

D．The woman was behaving unreasonably.

 

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(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.

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

 

Calvin Coolidge (1872 – 1933) was the thirtieth president of the United States. He looked down on a person as being unworthy of respect who was too fond of talking about the details of others people’s actions and private lives because he had no time for small talks. The following two incidents clearly show how Collidge treasured silence.

When he was vice president, Coolidge had plenty of opportunities to participate (参加) in Washington’s social life, especially the many dinner parties. As be ignored the art of conversation, he couldn’t exactly make himself dear to his hostesses. One lady felt she could solve this problem. She placed him next to Alice Roosevelt Longworth, daughter of the former President Roosevelt. Mrs. Longworth, a very brilliant conversationalist (谈话者), began to talk in her usual charming manner, but all attempts to a wake the interest on the part of the vice president were unproductive. Finally, being shamed into anger, she said, “I’m sure that going to as many dinners as you do, you must get terribly bored.”

Without lifting his eyes from his plate, Coolidge said not very clearly, “Well, a man has to eat somewhere.”

Later, when he was president and once again at a dinner party, Collidge was seated next to an outstanding society woman, one of those busybodies, who seemed to take delight in trying to change the lives of everyone they met. “Oh, Mr. President,” she spoke with too much enthusiasm, “you are always so quiet. I made a bet (打赌) today that I could get more than two words out of you.”

President Collidge considered those people as being unworthy of respect          .

       A．who liked to talk about the affairs of others

       B．who never talked about anything serious

       C．who often spoke insincerely

       D．who talked much but did little

The hostesses thought Collidge was unfriendly because        in her eyes.

       A．he treated women coldly and rudely

       B．he paid no attention to conversational skills

       C．he was too serious to please any women

       D．he was pretty easy and quick to get angry

Mrs. Longworth got shamed and angry because         .

       A．the vice president took part in too many dinner parties

       B．the vice president didn’t lift his eyes from his plate

       C．the vice president didn’t speak exactly and clearly

       D．the vice president didn’t react to all her efforts

The underlined sentence “Well, a man has to eat somewhere” probably means        .

      A．Mr. Coolidge didn’t want to talk with Mrs. Longworth at all

       B．Mr. Coolidge had really got tired of so many social dinners

       C．Mr. Coolidge was unhappy with the dinner he was eating that day

       D．Mr. Coolidge was really hungry and had to find something to eat

Outside our hotel in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, a seemingly ancient woman waited beside the door with her hand outstretched. Every day I put my hand in hers as our eyes met. She never failed to return my smile, my grasp, and my greeting.
On the last day of our visit, I found myself alone on a busy corner across the street from our hotel. Bicycles and motorbikes rushed in front of me. As I hesitated on the sidewalk, I felt a hand on my elbow and looked down to see the smile of my small beggar friend looking up at me. She nodded her head toward the street, indicating that she would take me across. Together, we moved slowly into the chaos.
Then we moved on toward the sidewalk, where she pulled my face down to hers, kissed me on both cheeks, and then left, still smiling and waving back to me.
Traveling in poorer nations, I have witnessed a variety of ways to deal with beggars. The most common response of tourists faced with the poverty-stricken is to ignore them and focus their eyes elsewhere. I have seen people push away an outstretched hand in angry annoyance. A few may drop a few coins into the hand in a hurry, hoping that other ragged pursuers won’t immediately appear on the scene.
For many reasons, giving money is not the best response to an outstretched hand. Many world travelers have discovered that the greatest gift they can give is their time and respect. Everyone needs recognition, to be seen as worthy of being known, to feel appreciated and loved. And I believe that everyone is worthy and worth knowing.
【小题1】The woman beggars helped the author go across the busy street because __________.

A．the author gave her material assistance

B．the author treated her kindly and friendly

C．the author would help her as a reward

D．the author was a foreigner

【小题2】From the story, what position of the beggars in the author’s mind might be?

A．equal

B．superior

C．lower

D．valuable

【小题3】In common cases, people will do the following things to the beggars EXCEPT for ________.

A．pretending to see nothing

B．handing out some money

C．refusing them angrily

D．greeting them normally

【小题4】According to the author, the most important things beggars really need are _________.

A．mercy and pity	B．money and food
C．smile and greeting	D．attention and respect

【小题5】The purpose of the passage is to _________.

A．show how poor the beggars are in Vietnam

B．offer some advice on dealing with begging

C．express what we should offer the beggars

D．describe an experience with a beggar